Has anyone tried their stuff or visited? My buddy was suppose to bring me a bunch of stuff on a holiday visit and of coarse it fell through. After salivating over thier beer menu? I was hoping to live vicariously through someone on here.
I have been numerous times and it is probably my favorite brewery/brew pub to visit in Asheville - I like the fact that they are doing a bunch of interesting beers and a lot of different style while have a couple of really solid year round offerings.
I'm kinda mixed on WW. The beer is really good, even if The Freak is a bit over rated IMO, they do all kinds of brews, and have a nice barrel program, and usually something sour and funky around for sour heads. Nice place, fairly big and roomy, outside available in season. Didn't have any food. This place gets seriously crowded, and they just don't have the man power or servers to handle it. I got our beers at the bar which was 2 deep in some places with only two bartenders, and it's a big bar. I never even had a waitress or server come anywhere near us, if you waited for service I think I'd still be there, could in no way see ordering food, the wait must be depressing. If I'm management or ownership, I'm looking at a lot of empty beer glasses that stay empty for a hell of a long time. They're losing money, they need more staff badly, they work primarily from tips, so adding more staff is a help not an expense. Theirs other cool bars around too, Wedge is good, a little isolated from the others it's in the Arts District. Barley's has tremendous pizza and is a stones throw from Weed.
Wicked Weed and GreenMan have saved Asheville as a beer destination. I wish I could try their anniversary barley wine in Angels Envy barrels...
They absolutely do have food and it's excellent. If you're there on a Friday at 5:30, you can expect it to be packed, but of the 3 times I've been there, I've never had to wait very long on either food or beer. I'm not sure why you experienced the problems you did, but I've never had anything less than a great time there.
The place was jammed on a Saturday afternoon, and 2 bartenders cant handle that load or volume of people, same with the wait staff, but I did not check out the downstairs, this was at the top bar. It shouldn't matter when you go if it's staffed properly everything should run just fine, but 2 bartenders and 2-3 girls on the floor cant do it. I'm not overly picky but I found Sat afternoon to be a hassle, but Fri afternoon was just fine. It's only a year old so I assume they'll work out the kinks and add staff. Can't imaging on a nice spring day how it would work out with the outside full and the inside jammed, you would need a small army of servers.
Never experienced anything you're talking about either. Every time I go to Asheville, I swing by Wicked Weed for a few hours to sample all their new beers. Been there probably 6 or 7 times now, mostly on weekends. On that note, I always go downstairs. I like the taproom feeling, and the back patio is pretty nice too. I'm not usually there with more than 1 other person, and we never have trouble finding a table or even sitting at the bar. They usually have 2-3 bar staff working down there and service is quick. The food menu is limited downstairs, but it's always really good. So yea, can't speak on the upstairs bar which seems to be what you have an issue with... But the taproom is top notch.
I had heard so much praise prior to visiting that I didn't think the brewery could ever live up to the hype, but they've surpassed it. Phenomenal beers, great food, nice people and in a beautiful setting. Couldn't really ask for more.
They had a tap takeover at SAMs in Durham tonight. Absolutely blown away. And been to the brewpub too and always busy but worth it!
I visited on one of those max-capacity nights and I had no problem getting beers at the 2-deep bar, and our service with dinner was excellent. It's probably my favorite brewpub to date
They just had their once year anniversary celebration across the state (Sam's Quilk Stop, Beer Study, Bottle Revolution, and Duckworth's). Freak is always great, Oblivion sour cherry was sold, Milk and Cookies Stout was surprisingly good, Curry Wit was bad. I could keep going, but you get the jist. I only ever had 2 bad beers from them Their White IPA and that Curry Wit. Everything else is good to amazing.
First visit was last night and yes it was packed but rhe amazing sours I drank at the downstairs bar made up for the crowd. Awesome beers!
Highland is definitely the biggest and most well known of Asheville's breweries, but Wicked Weed is producing the best beer by far in my opinion. I can't wait for them to start bottling in 2014!
