Blue Kudzu Sake Co., set to be the fourth micro-sake brewery in the entire United States, is getting ready to set up shop right here in Asheville, North Carolina.  This locally owned small business will focus on producing small batch, hand crafted, artisan sake.

What is Sake? It is a fermented beverage consisting of water, rice, yeast and koji, a mold that converts rice starch into sugar. Sake is brewed like beer, but has a higher alcohol content more like wine, and is one of the most natural beverages on Earth.

What is Blue Kudzu? Blue Kudzu will be a manufacturer of bottled and draught organic craft sakes, right here in Asheville, NC. Owners, Mary Taylor, Cat Ford-Coates, and Mitch Fortune, long time bar and restaurant fixtures in the Asheville scene, will start their business as a small production craft brewery, with a tasting room and retail store-front. Under the tutelage of Mountain Biz Works, these small business owners are ready to break ground launching a whole new brewing industry.  The products they intend to offer will be local, certified organic, gluten free, vegan, and  kosher, as well as sulfite free and macrobiotic (for certain product lines.)

What began as a discussion about sake over a dinner party a little over a year and a half ago, is about to blossom into a full fledged sake brewery right here in Beer City, U.S.A.  The thing is, they need your help.  Currently Blue Kudzu has launched a kickstarter campaign (a publicly supported fundraising platform) to help them secure the additional funds they need to get the project off the ground.  Blue Kudzu has investors lined up to back the project, but they need some additional capital, via community support, to secure the funds.  Blue Kudzu plans to open their doors in the spring of 2013, bringing fresh local sake to the Asheville area.  For more information, or to see how you can help, please visit: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/63560432/blue-kudzu-sake-company