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What is a Salt Face Mule?

Our name is inspired by a Yancey County legend and friend, Sam Jones. Our favorite part of spending time with Sam was to hear all his old Appalachian mountain sayings and he had some classics. If you were playing golf with him and someone sprayed a drive-off into the woods you might hear him say, “You’ve hit that in Aunt Tildy’s new ground”, or if you hit a shot in the water he might say, “You’ve hit it in the babbling brook.” He has a saying for just about any occasion, but our all-time favorite was when he was thirsty.  On a sweltering hot day, somewhere along the way, we would almost always hear him say, “I’m thirstier than a White Faced Mule.” When he said it we would always laugh and after hearing it numerous times we told him that we would use that saying somehow, one day.


"Thirstier than a White Face Mule"


Three decades later

More than 30 years later, that day has come as we have named our brewery after his classic mountain saying. The meaning behind Sam’s saying comes from old-timey farmers that used mules to “tend” their land. After a long day farming, man and mules would return to the barn, hot and thirsty. To cool themselves, the mules’ bodies and faces would perspire and lather up. When the lather dried, the salt of the perspiration remained which made their faces look white and crystallized - like salt. To honor all the old-timey farmers, hardworking mules, and good friends a more aptly named Salt Face Mule Brewing Co. was born, a tribute to those farmers and mules who worked hard and enjoyed a nice cold drink at the end of the day.

Giving

Staying true to the spirit of the Twisted Laurel Restaurants, Salt Face Mule Brewing Co. looks forward to giving back to our communities by not only partnering with other area organizations and businesses but also by providing a special, fun space for fundraising events to take place.