Local Asheville Spots

Burial Brewing

 

Not to sound snarky, but there really are lots of great threads about Asheville breweries and things to do while you're in town. Do a quick search and you can find lots of great information.

But yeah, do not miss Burial. If you're going on a Friday or Saturday, check out Zebulon in Weaverville. If you are going to visit Green Man, I recommend going to Dirty Jack's over the GreenMansion, but that's just me. Hi-Wire is doing some neat things. Wicked Weed and the Funkatorium... still pretty cool if you don't mind the whole "Supporting InBev" thing.

For me personally, I like to carve out an entire day and just brewery hop around the South Slope, doing a flight or a pint at each place before ending with too much pizza at Asheville Brewing and Pizza. Sierra Nevada, Zebulon, and Highland will require some driving (or Ubering) around to get to, though.

 

Before i start, let me caveat that I did try to find my answer among the various Asheville posts...

I'm wondering if there's a great bar in Asheville that serves other North Carolina beers, not local to AVL? Going for 4 days, and i'll support the hell out of the local stuff, but also looking to expand a bit since not sure when/if I'll ever be back to NC. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Barleys Pizza is a great option. Across the street from Wicked Weed in the heart of downtown. Great tap selection upstairs and down, and usually NC-centric.

 

Thirsty Monk upstairs serves lots of North Carolina beers. Also you can go to App Vintner for beers on tap.

 

Hillman Brewing
Sweeten Creek Brewing
Blue Ghost Brewing
French Broad River Brewing
Up Country Brewing
Oyster House Brewing
Archetype Brewing
Catawba Brewing
Hi-Wire Brewing - 2 locations
Wedge Brewing -2 locations
Twin Leaf Brewing
Pisgah Brewing
Asheville Brewing - 2 locations
Lexington Ave Brewing (LAB)
Burial Brewing
Lookout Brewing
Turgua Farmhouse Brewery
Bhramari Brewhouse

in no specific order

Most have food/food trucks. Food trucks in Asheville are also worthy of exploring, seems the breweries bring out the best in the food trucks.

 

I'll make a plug for Hi-Wire, which is quickly becoming my most often visited brewery in town. Plus its Big Top location is right by the Appalachian Vintner, which is the best beer store/bar in town. Hi-Wire consistently has good sours, great lagers, and solid IPAs and stouts, plus they are easier to visit and not as painfully hipster as some of the others in town. WW are a bunch of sellouts, so fuck 'em, and Burial is so overhyped at this point that it's typically not worth the effort of going to unless you have an early weekday afternoon to go and/or really want to say you've been there. Easier to just buy their cans at stores.

Barley's is best for a wider selection of local/regional brews. Thirsty Monk usually has several on tap as well, but unless things have changed in the past 6 months or so since I was last there, you're going to be paying a good $1-2 more per pour than other places.

Edit: Oh, and if you're into metal (or can at least put up with it), check out Black Cloud in west Asheville. They usually sell all Zebulon bottles, have a solid assortment of beers on tap (often sours) that are all $5 per pour--a great deal for most of them--and have a great vibe. While you're in the neighborhood, The UJ and WALK both have usually solid selections of local/regional brews and good food.

 

To piggyback off this thread, I'm going to Asheville this weekend and am familiar with the staples, but I've been out of the craft beer loop for a bit and am wondering if there are any newer hot bars/breweries I need to visit?

 

Friday - burial/Wakefield collab
Friday & Saturday- Zebulon Ba raspberry sour
Sunday - bootsy release

 

Thanks! Wish I was a sour or stout guy! Not that I dislike them, but I'd be way more stoked if any of those were an IPA, saison or brett forward beer.

 

Burial is also releasing a DIPA on Friday... collab with 18th Street featuring mango, coconut, lactose and DDH with citra and azacca.

 

Heading down in a week or so, have done my homework on breweries and restaurants in the area, but still am unsure of a few things..are the majority of ipa's I'm going to find West coast style or neipa? Seems to be a touchy subject on the best ipa in nc thread..also, what are nc's growler/crowler fill policys/laws? Do breweries and bottle shops fill or just breweries? Any info is appreciated..

 

I can't think of any of the breweries off the top of my head that will fill a growler that isn't there's. That causes a particular problem for Burial since they also don't sell new growlers any more I believe. Though admittedly I don't get growlers from breweries all that often.

 

Thanks for the quick responses. Sounds like my best option will be cans..

 

As an Asheville local, I'll just say most likely you'll find very few NEIPA's brewed out of Asheville and surrounding area. Some breweries have been kicking out some small batches like One World, Hi-wire, Highland, and occasionally some from Burial could be considered in that style. If that's what you're looking for, hit up Appalachian Vintner or Tasty Beverage... they'll usually have some NEIPA's on draft or in cans

 

9

Thanks alot, from reading through most of the nc threads it seemed like most were West coast style but I was still unsure. Hi-wire and burial are on my list, I'll look into one world as well.

 

I really like Blue Ghost for IPAs, but they are located out by the airport by Sierra Nevada. They will fill growlers from any brewery (unlike most in town).

 

I've had some good IPAs there, but I really dislike the pint mason jars they serve their beers in.

French Broad River Brewery will also fill growlers from any brewery.