Best Place(S) to catch a beer in Asheville, NC

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balazs

balazs

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I am going to Asheville with my wife and two year old for a long weekend next week. Can anyone point me in the right direction of where to go for great beer? We will be staying in the downtown area. I've never been to Asheville before but know there is some good brews around. Thanks for the comments in advance and cheers!
 
Personally, I think The Wedge has the best beer in town and the crowd is an eclectic mix. If you want a brewery tour (and something more mainstream that a bunch of hippies knocking back Hemp Ale), Highland Brewing is the largest in the area and serves up good beer.

http://www.wedgebrewing.com/Wedge_Brewing/Welcome/Welcome.html

Barley's Taproom always has a good selection of local beers if you just want to try a bunch of different ones.
 
We have many breweries. The wedge is great when the weather is nice for siting outdoors.

But if your a real beer geek you will go to the Thirsty Monk. 2 floors. Downstairs is all Belgians. Upstairs is all American micros. By far the most interesting selections in the area.

Enjoy!
 
My wife and I honeymooned in Asheville. We love it. Downtown is great, plenty of good restaurants and plenty of good beer. Have fun.
 
Go to the Thirsty monk! Also, definitely go to the Highland Brewing company. Their tours start at like 4:30 or something and they give you a couple pints of free beer. Also, they are about the nicest guys I've met in the brewing industry.

Also, be sure to hit up Bruisin' Ales, it's an awesome beer store downtown.
 
+1 for Bruisin Ales. It's a top notch beer store. Possibly the best in NC. The selection is amazing.
 
Greenman brewing is also downtown I think. Bruisin' Ales is a must if you want to bring some good brews back home with you.
If you're there on a Friday, stop by Highland Brewery at 4:30 or 5 for a tour, then to lounge around at the brewery and listen to some live music and eat some catered food.
 
Asheville Brewing Company is also there, although I've never been. Try their "Ryehopper" if you can find it on draft anywhere. Excellent.
 
This is a short list to get you a taste of what Asheville has to offer.

Barley's Taproom
Thirsty Monk
Wedge
Jack of the Wood
Bier Garden

Here is a link to the Asheville tourism page on the subject: http://www.exploreasheville.com/whe...isine-type/brewpubs-microbreweries/index.aspx

As previously mentioned, Highland is a good place to do a tour. They, like most of the local breweries, are very involved in the community. Highland does a lot of brewing of many local award winning homebrewers work.

Also, if you're just looking to pick up a few beers to take back to the room with you and you feel like chatting homebrewing go visit Alex Buerckholtz at Hops & Vines (http://www.hopsandvines.net/) in west Asheville. In my opinion the best LHBS in Asheville. Tell him Chad sent ya. I miss that place now that I have moved to Atlanta.
 
Slightly Off Topic, but has anyone had anything from Asheville Brewing Co? A friend of mine brought me a couple of their beers that he got from some friend of a friend of a friend. I tried their Porter and APA. I thought the APA was terrible, and the Porter was so so. However, like I said, it traveled through a number of hands before I got it, so I don't know how old it was or how well it was handled and stored. Anyone have a first hand experience they can share?
 
JJL said:
Slightly Off Topic, but has anyone had anything from Asheville Brewing Co? A friend of mine brought me a couple of their beers that he got from some friend of a friend of a friend. I tried their Porter and APA. I thought the APA was terrible, and the Porter was so so. However, like I said, it traveled through a number of hands before I got it, so I don't know how old it was or how well it was handled and stored. Anyone got a first hand experience they can share?
Click to expand...

They have never been overly impressive in my opinion.
 
maida7 said:
They have never been overly impressive in my opinion.
Click to expand...

When I tried the APA, I was willing to give it a pass because all I could taste was bittering hops. All of the flavor and aroma from the hops (assuming there was any) had dissipated. So, I assumed it was old or had been stored too warm. I figured the porter should have been a little more tolerant to age and handling. But when I tried that it was still just so so.
 
JJL said:
Slightly Off Topic, but has anyone had anything from Asheville Brewing Co? A friend of mine brought me a couple of their beers that he got from some friend of a friend of a friend. I tried their Porter and APA. I thought the APA was terrible, and the Porter was so so. However, like I said, it traveled through a number of hands before I got it, so I don't know how old it was or how well it was handled and stored. Anyone have a first hand experience they can share?
Click to expand...

Their most popular brew is probably "Shiva" which is an IPA. It is a decent beer but it's not really going to blow your hair back. ABC would not be towards the top of my list of craft breweries in Asheville.
 
maida7 said:
ThickHead: Are you a MALT member?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately no. My transient nature never allowed me to get too involved when i lived in Asheville. I have recently moved to Atlanta in January and have so far spent a total of 6 days there since the move. Work keeps me globe hopping.
 
ThickHead said:
Their most popular brew is probably "Shiva" which is an IPA. It is a decent beer but it's not really going to blow your hair back. ABC would not be towards the top of my list of craft breweries in Asheville.
Click to expand...

Good to know. Was curious if it was the just the samples I got, or if they just generally produce average beer.
 
Go to Wedge, pretty much everything is good. LAB has good nitrogen porter. Avoid Green Man... ABC is good when you are watching one of their $3 movies and enjoying wings/pizza. Thirsty Monk is like heaven if you have the money to do it right.

Joe
 
ThickHead said:
This is a short list to get you a taste of what Asheville has to offer.

Barley's Taproom
Thirsty Monk
Wedge
Jack of the Wood
Bier Garden

Here is a link to the Asheville tourism page on the subject: http://www.exploreasheville.com/whe...isine-type/brewpubs-microbreweries/index.aspx

As previously mentioned, Highland is a good place to do a tour. They, like most of the local breweries, are very involved in the community. Highland does a lot of brewing of many local award winning homebrewers work.

Also, if you're just looking to pick up a few beers to take back to the room with you and you feel like chatting homebrewing go visit Alex Buerckholtz at Hops & Vines (http://www.hopsandvines.net/) in west Asheville. In my opinion the best LHBS in Asheville. Tell him Chad sent ya. I miss that place now that I have moved to Atlanta.
Click to expand...

I would have to agree with this list, in the same order.
As people previsouly said ABC isnt that great. If your there an extra day or two and have checked out everything else its great to go to.

If your looking for food also I really like Hannah Flannagans, great food, and good beer selection, although they have alot more bottled beer then draft beer. The Mellow Mushroom is also a great food spot, hefty on the wallet though.
I have found really anything in downtown asheville is most likely going to be a treat, as I lived there for 4 years going to school, and could probably count the bad experinces on on hand
 

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