VA/NC Itinerary

Made my reservation for Curate back on May 2. Lots of restaurants in Philly require reservations as many as three months ahead of time, so I know how to play that game.

 

I can do that. And if anyone's heading to Philly or NJ anytime soon, feel free to PM me for recommendations or answers to any questions.

 

I just saw that. I'm working a half day in the morning so the soonest we can get there is 3:30ish. Hopefully things aren't too crazy with people buying cases and cases, but I guess we'll see.

 

Got back to Philly yesterday afternoon after a great trip. Some quick thoughts:

Veil: The lack of limits wasn't an issue fortunately. Showed up around 3:30 p.m., a half hour or so before open, and was probably in the neighborhood of 75th on line. Really not too bad compared with Tired Hands lines. Hot day, but the fact that you can order drinks and bring them into the parking lot helps. Was out of there by 5 p.m. with a couple of mixed cases.

Charlottesville: Only made it to Citizen Burger Bar, where the food was solid and the service was a bit lacking, and Champion, where the Fruitless IPA was probably the best Virginia-produced beer of the trip outside of the Veil offerings. Got to check out UVA's campus a bit, but had no idea The Rotunda has been under construction for more than two years. On the way out of town we stopped at Blue Mountain and Devils Backbone. The scenery didn't disappoint, while the beers were solid if not standouts.

Fonta Flora: This is where things really started getting good. This was one of the stops I was most looking forward to, and it didn't disappoint. The fact that I was able to buy a couple of Funk and Flora bottles that were left over was a nice plus. Was also able to trade for a few different bottles so I have a nice little collection to break into sometime soon.

Asheville (breweries): As I expected, The Funkatorium and Burial were the highlights, and we spent the majority of our time there, making multiple stops. Made it through pretty much the entire list at Funkatorium and grabbed some bottles for home, and Ceremonial and Massacre of the Innocents were great at Burial. I thought Green Man was average, and Bhramari had a great atmosphere even if the beers didn't stand out to me. We ate at the main Wicked Weed location, and although everything was good, I was a little turned off by how busy it was and how it seemed like more of a restaurant with beer than a brewery that served food.

Asheville (other stuff): Biscuit Head did not disappoint on our way to Sierra Nevada, which just has a ridiculous campus. We all know about SN beer, but a BA Big Foot, an entertaining tour, and a bottle of Trip In the Woods BA Maple Scotch Ale made for a fun afternoon. Also not in Asheville exactly, Zebulon was a great place to hang out for a little bit. Really liked the pale ale with lactose and mangoes after visiting the top of Mount Mitchell. Wasn't all that impressed with Thirsty Monk; I appreciate what it is, but I couldn't help but compare it to the sea of great beer bars in Philly and didn't think it matched up. Had the obligatory BBQ meal at 12 Bones, which was really good, and made it to all three of Bruisin Ales, Appalachian Vinter and Tasty Beverage, though I purchased only one bottle (Bomb!) since I gave all of my money to Veil, FF and WW and was running out of space, ha.

Curate: This gets its own paragraph because it was one of the best meals I've had this year. Pan con tomate w/ manchego, 100% iberico ham, piquillo peppers stuffed with goat cheese, and every other dish we had were phenomenal. Very glad I stalked the reservation system and snagged a table a couple of months ago.

 

Not that my opinion matters at all in the grand scheme of things, but for the record, "average" doesn't have to be an insult. We hung out there for a bit and had a good time, no issues at all. Would I go out of my way to seek out the beer again? Probably not. If I returned to Asheville would I just spend that time at Burial or Funkatorium? Yup. But that doesn't mean Green Man's bad. Different strokes...