Asheville Brewery Trip

Huh?

 

Probably meant Bywater which is NOT a brewery, but a watering hole along the French Broad River, north of New Belgium. Know it is popular because of outdoor area, fire-pits, grills, dog friendly, river access, etc. but have never been. Have to get a membership because of archaic state laws.

 

D'oh! I meant Altamont. Don't know what the hell made me think Atwater.

 

Here is the issue with saying for the most part Asheville Brewery's produce average beer. I bet you can find good drinkable beer at any of them. Examples? If I want a nice Pilsner, Wedge brews the best Pilsner in Asheville. Is it the best in WNC, no, Brevard Brewing brews a better one. I wrote a review on Twin Leaf that was on the negative side, I have since been back and have found actual good small batch beer from them (I still say try before you order there). As mentioned above, Hi-Wire is high on my drain pour list, but they also have some really tasty beer as well. Point being you can find great beer almost everywhere if you know what to look for. Keeping in mind personal taste opinions.

 

I didn't realize that Asheville was this rich is craft breweries. My wife wants to go to the Biltmore in the spring and suddenly that trip is looking FAR more appealing!

 

What about LAB though?

 

I don't think "I once had a good small batch beer from a brewery where I've had a mostly negative experiences" refutes the stance that there is a lot of average beer in Asheville. I'm not saying that every beer produced by X brewery is bad or that you should never visit brewery X and give them a chance. The list was meant for people visiting Asheville with limited time and who can generally only hit up a few places. I still revisit the breweries on my shitlist occasionally to see if they've improved as well.

 

They brew beer? Joking aside, I have yet to step a foot into LAB, I can not render an opinion.

 

oh, I was not trying to refute the "a lot of average breweries" in Asheville, only trying to say, you can find some gems amongst them.Abd yea, I too go back every once in a while and revisit as well.

 

LAB's Oktoberfest is the best US style Marzen I've ever tasted. Nearly on par with the Germans. People may shit on them for being trendy, hip, or GQish, but they have a solid beer lineup and good food. Not everyone brews the triple hopped, brett, coffee infused, milk stout, soured brown IPA that the beer nerds die for.

 

Has it changed over the years? I won't call myself a huge fan of German-beer styles, but I usually like-but-don't-love a decent Octoberfest. I haven't had LABs in over 3 years but I apparently didn't think much of it. I do like other beers of theirs (Golden Strong, Triple Thread Porter, and Imperial Rye have apparently been my favorites) though I haven't been back in a while as I do think they're among the weaker of Asheville's breweries.

 

Well in that case you may not like it then, as not liking a Marzen won't sway you to liking theirs. I love the style though and have tried all of the best available in our market, and rate theirs in the top ten easily. I can't say for consistency because I only have had it once (being a seasonal, it's not always on), but it stuck with me well enough after 40+ beers on a weekend trip to stand out.

 

Good to know! I'll try to remember to look for it next Oktoberfest season.

 

That statement applies to NC in general. A LOT of shitty beer.

 

Eh. There's shitty beer everywhere.

 

Heading to Asheville this coming weekend. Hitting Sweeten Creek to try them out and making the usual stops. Curate and Rhubarb. West Asheville during the day on Saturday.

Any releases or other beer-oriented activities this weekend?

 

You read all my posts, that must have been exciting. So out of 100+ breweries I gave props to 3 and one of them is really CO. Homer.

 

Yes but I've read a few stories about how many breweries are in NC and it's spoken of like it's an accomplishment. All I think is, the abundance of homers from NC supporting "local" must like shitty beer apparently.

 

I find many excellent North Carolina beers and I do not begrudge anyone their choice of beverage, wherever it may come from. I do not know enough to proclaim that local equals shitty. Cheers!