My Brewcation 2014 featuring NC, VA, and WV

Why not head to Charlotte after Asheville? You could still hit Greensboro on your way north to Virginia.

 

Three Brothers Brewing in Harrisonburg, VA is a great place to check out and there's also a couple nice food joints downtown if you end up making your way through the area.

 

If you will be coming up I-95, Center of the Universe Brewing in Ashland, VA is right off exit 89.

Norm's Beer and Wine in Vienna, VA has an excellent bottle selection.

For brewpub in Northern Va, Mad Fox in Falls Church.

For microbreweries, you really need to check out Adroit Theory in Purcellville. Also Corcoran Brewing is a half mile from Adroit and the to be opened Jolly Belly will be 1.5 miles from Adroit.

 

Hardywood, Strangeways, Midnight and Lickinghole Creek are all great breweries in Richmond. Center of the Universe in Ashlamd has great beer.

MeKong Cafe in Richmond is a great beer bar with pretty decent Vietnamese food. There are several Capital Ale House locations in Richmond and Fredericksburg that have good food and 60+ beers on tap plus bottles. Corks and Kegs in Richmond is a good shop, as is Hop & Wine in Fredericksburg. Total Wine and Mores have good selection and are pretty frequent in the state.

If you are going up through Charlottesville Beer Run is an amazingly stacked bottle shop with a bar and restaurant attached. Plus, all within 15 miles of the city are probably the best breweries in the state. Devil's Backbone, Blue Mountain nod the under-rated Wild Wolf. DB and Blue Mountain both have 2 locations around C'Ville and have awesome food. Star Hill and Champion are also near there as well.

 

Since you're staying in my backyard, I recommend you hitting Liberty Brewery in High point for dinner. Great food and good beer to boot. You could also hit Foothills and have a few beers but their food is not as solid as Liberty. So check out the menu at both venues and make your own choice.

As for stores, hit Bestway in Greensboro. Excellent selection there with a growler station (you have to buy their jugs). City Beverage and Stella Brew (both in Winston) are also great bottle shops that have a growler station. You can bring your own (screw top) growler there and fill 'er up.

Other great food spots in the area:
High Point - Blue Zucchini, Blue Pizza (Good beer selection)
Winston - 4th St. Filling station, Carving Board, Village Tavern, Mozellles, Brixx Pizza (Great Beer selection), Mellow Mushroom (Great beer selection)
Greensboro - Bangkok Cafe, 1st St Deli, Jiacamos, Jakes (haven't had their food but great beer selection)

 

if coming to VA from Greensboro, you're likely coming up 29.
if you can come up 70>81 instead you should hit up Wolf Hills in Abingdton (far west corner of VA near the TN border) then come up 81 to 3 Brothers in Harrisonburg, then head down 64E towards C'ville and hit up Devils Backbone and Blue Mtn. in C'ville Champion and 3 Notch'd are good. if you continue 64E then hit up Lickinghole Creek in Goochland and continue to Richmond for Strangeways> Ardent> Isley (but only if they still have Venus Flytrap going)> Hardywood. Center of the Universe is good but kind of unimpressed with them lately...
(the Richmond breweries listed above are super close to each other)

bottle shops/bars in VA to hit up (I don't have the knowledge for the western part of the state so someone else will have to help you there):
C'ville - Beer Run (BS/bar)
Richmond - Mekong (bar), Cask (bar), Once Upon a Vine MacArthur (BS)

 

Come see me.

If you can't, grab some Yazoo Sue in Nashville. $5 bomber.

 

Yes - Mekong is an absolute must, in Richmond. Also check out The Birch - amazing little bar with an incredible beer menu.

 

If you make it to Harrisonburg VA or Charlottesville VA and want to do a bottleshare hit me up! I've got a group that does them regularly in Harrisonburg and we can make it happen (though I'll be living in Charlottesville then).

 

Once in Asheville, you have a lot of options. Are you staying overnight? If so, I would hit the South Slope breweries (4-5 of them) that evening, and if you don't feel like moving Wicked Weed has good eats, but if not up and down that street area, are some great eats, Doc Chey's, Noodle Shop, Barley's (which is also a tap room, but not brewery) and a great Mexican place on a side street, Eagle Street called Limones, also above Doc Chey's there is a real good Tapas Bar.

 

Hickory is almost half way from Asheville to Greensboro. Might as well stop by Olde Hickory Tap Room or Station which is just across the tracks from the Tap Room. Great food at the station.

 

On your way out of Asheville take a side trip off I-40 about 8 miles outside is Black Mountain, and visit Pisgah Brewing there. They really have some very good beer and only distribute in their county. One word of caution, depending on the days you will be in these areas, check with the breweries for hours of operation, some are only open every other day or Thurs- Sat.
Enjoy the venture.

 

I live in Winston-Salem, so I'll add a few things.

Stella Brew is a bit out of the way, but worth it. Stella is also the only place in the Triad that has a counter-pressure CO2 filling system for their growlers. City Bev is close to downtown, but more expensive. A new place has opened up right next to Foothills called Corks, Caps & Taps, and they do growler fills off of their 24 taps (mostly NC stuff). It's more wine-centered, but they do have a bunch of taps.

For food in Winston, the new hot places are The Honey Pot on 4th St (a few blocks from Foothills), and The Porch. The Porch is off the beaten path, but it is in the same building with the newest brewery in Winston, Hoots Roller Bar. Hoots hasn't put out their first batch of beer yet, but it has been brewed and is in fermentation now, so they definitely should be serving their stuff by the time of your trip. If there's a wait at the Porch, you can give them your cell phone # and go to Hoots and they'll call you when your table is ready. For classic southern soul food, you can't beat Sweet Potatoes on Trade St.

For Greensboro food, I'd add Sticks & Stones Clay Oven Pizza (right across the street from Bestway, which is a must stop location) & Hop's Burger Bar (within a 1/2 mile of Bestway).

Natty Greene's is the main brewpub, and while their bottled beers are a bit average, I like a lot of their draft-only stuff and it's a great location with good food. Go upstairs for more taps. They do special releases on Fridays at their brewery tasting room, The Bunker. The newest brewery is Pig Pounder, which I've not had a chance to try yet, but I've seen several people I know on untappd give some really good reviews to their stuff.

Enjoy your trip, and if you stop in Winston let me know and I'll buy ya'll a beer if I'm around, or at least point you towards any cool events that are happening.

 

I'd tell you to check out all the breweries around Charlottesville but someone beat me too it... they are all great. Also Legend Brewing in Richmond is a personal favorite. Beer stores, If you go close to VA Tech, there's a place called the Vintage Cellar. They claim to have a beer selection approaching 1000 different beers. Not sure how true this is, but the DO have the best selection in the area... and as a bonus, they carry several of the local brews. They also carry about the same amount of wine. You can browse their stock on their website.

 

Throw in Three Notch'd right in the middle of Charlottesville as well for a very consistent line-up of beers and food truck options.

 

The brown ale is one of the best commercial examples I've found in this area, but honestly, they're all good!

 

they have 1 good beer, their Brown