We plan on going to get out of the deep freeze. Going to tour Sierra Nevada on Thursday. The Biltmore on Friday. Then the Rally.
Any words of wisdom on places? I have read the other thread.
Anyone going?
Check out the tasting room at Hi-Wire Brewing, it’s close to Wicked Weed. Also I’ve always thought Asheville Brewing Co. was a bit underrated. It’s just a solid brewpub.
At SN snap a photo of their hop schedule - it should be on a white board in the corner by the hop bins.
I was in Asheville last week and we hit up Asheville Brewing Co. and Pisgah Brewing Co. I really liked the Perfect Day IPA from Asheville Brewing.
Not my first time on a SN tour! 8)
Still good advice.
Hi-Wire is my least favorite brewer, no, actually Altamont is my least favorite in Ashevegas.
Go to The Wedge, Green Man, Twin Leaf is a quiet place across from The Funkatorium, Catawba has a tasting room in Biltmore Village and you can hit French Broad not far away. Pisgah is a great brewery, make sure you go to Highland. I hear good things about Burial which is close to Green Man. One World (under Farm Burger) is putting out some good stuff. See if you can find Open Brewing.
I’d suggest a ride to Brevard to Oskar Blues might be fun.
Get some Ribs as 12 bones - go early. Get a dinner reservation at The Admiral, but do it ahead of time or it will sell out. Get in line at French Broad Chocolate Lounge and get whatever looks good because it is all good.
Shoot me a note if you need more.
Thanks for the advice, time and liver capacity will be limiting factors. I think we can walk to some of those, weather permitting.
Looking forward to hearing where you went and what you thought. Hopefully the weather will be good for your visit to Ashevegas!
Good news, you are going to the best brewery in town. Bad news, there are half dozen other great ones. Highlands is my generally my second choice. They are the biggest local brewery, but they always have interesting small batch selection in their tasting room. Pisgah Brewing is a bit of a drive, plus a DD is a must due to local police. GreenMan is a definite locals bar, you can always catch a soccer or rugby game there. Downtown has more food than you will know what to do with, Sunny Point Cafe is a breakfast must. Be prepared for a wait. Enjoy our city, it is a good one.
Fun times.
We stopped at Wicked Weed’s pub the first night after Thirsty Monk and some food. The beers at both places were tasty.
Thursday morning we at at Early Girl Cafe - super good, then we toured the Sierra Nevada Mills River facility. If you have a chance, do it. I thought that the brewery in Chico was the most beautiful in the world, but the game has been upped. Taproom and restaurant are not done yet. Tour and gift shop are. Beers we sampled were all of high quality, Nooner Pils is a keeper. That night we ate at the Admiral, excellent food and I had a Wedge IPA which was nice, the wife wanted a lager and had one from Hi-Wire. She said “Diacytel”, I only got a hint but pointed out the cleanser smell. If it was the glassware, none of the other glasses on the table had it.
Gae
The next day was the Biltmore - nice shack in the boonies. Then Curate for Tapas, and that was one of the best Tapas bars we have been to. I had a Pisgah Pale Ale, very tasty, and Susan had a Highland Gaelic Ale which she enjoyed. Then it was Burial for an IPA. Green Man which was pretty busy, my bitter on nitro was something that disappointed. Green Man was busy. On to Twin Leaf for some good small batch beers. Then Asheville brewing for a slice of pizza and a beer.
The Rally at Wicked Weed was fun, full to gills, and it got about 50 new members signed up. Nice people at the brewery. Susan enjoyed the sours, I avoided those as usual due to acid reflux. Had an IPA.
After the Rally we walked to Burial, and it was pack to the front door. Went up to One World and had good beers at this little basement nano. Then some tacos and early to bed.
We tried to have Breakfast at Sunny Point, but the Sunday morning line to put our name in and find out how long the wait was going to be was 12 deep and not moving. We had an OK breakfast at Clingman Cafe. We could see the New Belgium Brewery site as we crossed the river, construction is in full swing.
All in all the beer was of good quality except for one. The food scene is very good, with many choices of styles. We enjoyed the architecture and walking the city. The weather was OK the first day and beautiful the last 2 with 50F+ temps and clear blue skies. Just what we needed.
It is a 10 hour drive, but we know we will go back. Much more to see and do.
Sounds like a great trip, Jeff. Great city. Did you get to sample any of the Hop Hunter IPA @ Sierra ? I’d love to tour there sometime.
The website said it would be, but it wasn’t. The next day it was announced to be on tap via Facebook. The Hoppy Lager was surprisingly flavorful and aromatic. Hoppy Lager and Nooner were brewed at Mills River.
The Hoppy Lager sounds good - I’d like to try it. I did pick up some Nooner, and found it very solid.
Sounds like a great time. Ellen and I loved Early Girl for breakfast too.
Good to see you scratched the tip of the iceberg. Too bad about the Green Man brew, I’ve never found them to have an off beer, although some have been more boring than others. I just like the vibe of that place. With 12 in line at Sunny Point I would guess about a half hour wait. There is always a line there.
Put French Broad Chocolate Lounge as a must on your next visit as well as Highland, Pisgah, and Wedge. Clingman is steps away from Wedge and not far away is 12 bones, but they are closed until the end of the month and that location is only opened Mon - Fri.
Lemme know in advance when you plan to visit again and I’ll see if we can make that jive with our schedule.
Thanks to you and other’s advice we had a pretty good time. A really fun city with much to offer, we will be back to Asheville.
And you are correct. Sierra Nevada in Mills River is the Taj Mahal of breweries in the US.
We have been to Chico about 4, maybe 5 times, so I know how the 2 compare. Impressive what you can do with a clean slate and full funding. I give the Grossman family credit for their vision on what a brewery should be as far as presentation and experience. The Taproom will have the 20 bbl pilot system as a focal point, along with the pilot beers on tap.
The brew house is also a little different from Chico. I think the whole place has a little more technology. It also should be pointed out that they have the large square open fermenters like they do in Chico, and some really pretty open round fermenters with troughs to top crop. The later can be seen from the bar used at the end of the tour.
There are also some 1600 bbl fermenters, those are on the right when you are in the parking lot, the “small” ones are 800s.
Before long there will be a White Labs taproom in Ashevegas 
I haven’t been to the one in SD yet, but will visit this June. 
I’ll stick it here, list of Asheville breweries and area breweries is at the end.