Asheville NC brewery woes

[CU_tony]

Ive spent the last two nights checking out some local spots and tonight I have a tough decision to make

New Belgium brewery is 5 min from my hotel
Sierra Nevada brewery is 20 min from my hotel...

Im having a really tough time choosing between the two (and I probably shouldnt do both because I am here for work after all...)

Thoughts?

 

[Swank88]

Check out Highland Brewery

 

[Weezy]

Highland???

Wicked Weed /thread

 

[orionol73]

Sierra Nevada seems like a cooler place to me. That's where I would go if given your choice!

 

[CU_tony]

Im not too crazy about Highland beers, they also close at 8 so I could only guarantee 90 min there

 

[CU_tony]

Highland???

Wicked Weed /thread

I hit up WW last night and was thrilled to discover the tasting room downstairs before I left so I stayed for a few more!

 

[CU_tony]

Well i think I answered myself, New Belgium is only open till 8pm, so I think Sierra Nevada it is (open till 9 which means that I can enjoy ~30 more min there)

 

[woo_pig]

Screw work. Do both.

 

[pshankstar]

That is a tough decision. I would say try to hit both if you can, but plan better next time. LOL I would probably pick New Belgium if I could only do one.

Check out the hours of both the evening you plan on going out and see if one is open later than the other. Go to the one that closes earlier first then the other next, but that is if you can make it to both...

 

[dsniegocki]

Sierra Nevada is absolutely gorgeous, worth the visit. Should be really nice weather for sitting out back. But seriously, when in Asheville, how on earth can you limit yourself to just one brewery?

 

[CU_tony]

Screw work. Do both.

LOL, nope! I love my job and the fact that I am more or less getting paid to enjoy my evenings this week hitting up breweries.

Besides its not like they are the only two breweries in Asheville.
I have spent the last two nights and enjoyed some great beers at two other breweries, tonight is my last night and there is no need to rush any breweries, I couldnt try all the beers in asheville with a dedicated fortnight probably.

 

[CU_tony]

Sierra Nevada is absolutely gorgeous, worth the visit. Should be really nice weather for sitting out back. But seriously, when in Asheville, how on earth can you limit yourself to just one brewery?

You skipped the part where I was at Asheville pizza & brewing Monday and Wicked Weed yesterday ;p

Parking in downtown sucks so much that tonight I limited my search to places with parking lots (and preferably a kitchen)

 

[kh54s10]

Sierra Nevada beers have been available here for a while and New Belgium only recently. I have tried a few different beers of both. If there is another choice I would take that one. I haven't been much impressed with either SN or NB. Maybe I just had higher expectation with all the hype I heard before actually trying them....

 

[CU_tony]

Ive been able to get over a dozen varieties between the two breweries at home for years now, Im more looking for the small batch brews that dont get distributed.
Between the two breweries Id have to say that I prefer Sierra Nevada, but I also havent been terribly disappointed by either.

 

[slym2none]

Ive spent the last two nights checking out some local spots and tonight I have a tough decision to make

New Belgium brewery is 5 min from my hotel
Sierra Nevada brewery is 20 min from my hotel...

Im having a really tough time choosing between the two (and I probably shouldnt do both because I am here for work after all...)

Thoughts?

Those are two large craft breweries, my suggestion is to find the other ones that aren't so big. Green Man, French Broad, Wicked Weed, Highland, Catawba, Burial, and many more are out there.

IMHO, if you aren't visiting the Wicked Weed brewery, you're doing it wrong.

 

[slym2none]

Ah, PKUd and saw you hit a few earlier. Good job. I'd still go on a trek to find Burial before I'd visit the other two "big guys", but as I don't know your past two days there, I'd say (having to pick between the two) that SN would be my choice as well. Who closes at 8PM???

 

[CU_tony]

Who closes at 8PM???

New Belgium, French Broad and Highland for starters, lol.

I like Greenman (open till 9pm), not terribly crazy about Catawba..

Burial (open till 10) very well may be the night cap after wherever I end up earlier.

 

[bbohanon]

I just got back from Asheville as well with the wife and Sierra Nevada was beautiful, but felt gimmicky to me..very overpriced beer (I can get their Narwal cheaper at the local HT in Charlotte than at the brewery which is kind of odd) and beer trinkets.
Wicked Weed was WAY overcrowded and the beer I had there tasted like a clone of my oatmeal cookie stout which took me by surprise.

The best beer/experience/food that the wife and I had in Asheville was from the Asheville Brewing Co..The Ninjabread Man Porter was the best of the best. Even my wife who is a beer hater got one of these after sipping mine.

AB Co is a GREAT place, a bit more low(er) profile, but they make solid beer and they are priced right. You will leave full, happy and without paying too much.

I cannot recommend this place enough. My absolute fav brewery/brewpub of the trip.

 

[CU_tony]

I just got back from Asheville as well with the wife and Sierra Nevada was beautiful, but felt gimmicky to me..very overpriced beer

Thats very sad to see, I followed the construction of the new SN plant and have long admired photos of the property. Sad to hear I may have put it on a pedestal.

Thanks for the review about ABC, did you make it to hi-wire next door at all?

 

[20grit]

My bachelor weekend was spent in Asheville. Two solid days of brewery hopping. There are plenty of options downtown, all walkable from one another. I wouldn't even bother with New Belgium or Sierra Nevada given you'd have to travel.

Another nice stop is the beer garden place (can't remember name). Had a huge selection and some decent burgers.
Barley's usually has a decent selection on tap, as well.

 

[ifnotuthenwho]

One thing about New Belgium, if it's like the Fort Collins tap room, is that they won't take a tip. They prefer that you use that money to buy another beer.

 

[bbohanon]

Thats very sad to see, I followed the construction of the new SN plant and have long admired photos of the property. Sad to hear I may have put it on a pedestal.

Thanks for the review about ABC, did you make it to hi-wire next door at all?

No I did not make it to hi-wire but its on the to-do list next time we are up..
The SNevada location is a sight to see for sure scenery and accomplishment wise (they spent a LOT of money on that place), but I was really disappointed at the beer selection and pricing for it along with the swag shop in general..pricing a $50 dollar jacket with your logo cheaply screen printed on it and marking it up to $150 is just bad business but there were some suckers there paying for them so maybe I am just a cheap mofo in general.

We also got very sub-par wait service when we ordered lunch which I chalked up to a bad waiter as the folks around us were getting top-notch treatment. Food was decent, but nothing to jump for joy over.

Its worth a stop, but it was certainly the least favorite of my brewery hopping and I bought nothing to take home due to the pricing/quality.

 

[CU_tony]

Luckily Im not too into swag so thats not a deal breaker for me per-se.

I think I may hold off SN until I can enjoy it during the day sometime (likely would not get there until around sunset... which would be pretty sweet if I could ensure I had a beer and a view for sunset

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

The New Belgium tour in Ft. Collins is awesome - I wonder if the NC one is as good.

 

[CU_tony]

Last night I ended up going to New Belgium for a flight and then one more, the anniversary beer thats pretty much only at the brewhouse.
The property was beautiful and they had plenty of smaller batches available so I wasnt bored with the selection, though it seemed the majority were sours.
I then went to Burial brewing for some awesome food from Salt and Smoke and perhaps the second best black IPA Ive ever had, Black Pheonix. (2nd only to Horny Goat's Black Vanilla IPA) followed by the second flight of the evening with some more great tasters.
Lastly I wandered up the block to close out Greenman Brewing and then sauntered off to my hotel with some bombers for the future.

Thanks for all the opinions yesterday, I know I need to come back many more times to visit some more breweries as well as revisit some of the ones I made it to this week.

 

[Johow]

I visited Sierra Nevada in Asheville last year and it would be my first choice. A fabulous place, I like the Chico brewery as well...

 

[GHBWNY]

Next time you're in/near Ashville, check out French Broad Brewery.

 

[slym2none]

If only someone had mentioned that one before...