Asheville NC

I'm going to be stopping by Asheville at the end of April and wanted to know what some of the must visit bars/breweries are. We will be in town for 2 nights.

Highlands, definitely. I'm sure there are others. I haven't been up in that neck of the blue ridge in five years or more.

Pisgah Brewing....almost always open.
The thirsty monk is a good bar.
and if it is the sort of thing that interests you....Riverbend Malt House.

Pisgah Brewing is east of Asheville in Black Mountain, but a great place. Highland Brewing is also nice, as is Wedge. For a nice bar in the middle of downtown, try Barley's Tap Room (good pizza, local brews on tap...) or Hannah Flannagan's

Hang Glider said:

Pisgah Brewing is east of Asheville in Black Mountain, but a great place. Highland Brewing is also nice, as is Wedge. For a nice bar in the middle of downtown, try Barley's Tap Room (good pizza, local brews on tap...) or Hannah Flannagan's

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...Pisgah bacon snout eh?

I'm interested

Thirsty monk, green man, and Asheville brewing co are solid. Plus Asheville Brewing Co makes great pizza. Pisgah has good beer but its not really near much, and there wild children all over the place when I was there last may.

Green man is da bizness, I love that place. Drink great beer while you sit inside the brewhouse.

Honestly you really can't go to a "bad" micro in Asheville. Craggie was the only questionable one and it has closed down. The Green Man has great beer and very good music. Nice little city to spend a few days walking around.

Been to Asheville many times and have enjoyed the local brew scene......here is a good list....http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=breweries&find_loc=Asheville,+NC.....I believe craggie has closed now but another brewpub was in slated to open at the old brewery.

Highlands is great, and now they've got their new seasonal out; Devil's Britches IPA. Drink one.

Darwin18 said:

Honestly you really can't go to a "bad" micro in Asheville. Craggie was the only questionable one and it has closed down. The Green Man has great beer and very good music. Nice little city to spend a few days walking around.

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LAB sucks pretty bad.

Check out Appalachian Vinter south of downtown in Biltmore Village. Not quite as good a selection as Bruisin Ales, but much better prices, one of the two owners is always working, and they have 10 taps to imbibe while you shop or just hang out.

I visited Lexington Ave Brewery. Real small, but I got to talk to the brewmaster.

Definitely go to Thirsty Monk, one of the best beer bars ever IMO. Highland is great too, make sure you try some of their small batch beers while you're there. Last weekend one of my bands played there so I sampled a bunch of brews. The Belgian IPA, cask conditioned Gaelic, Cherry Black Mocha Stout, and Devils Britches were all awesome. Also highly recommend The Bywater, Oskar Blues Brewery (about 35 minutes drive), The Wedge, Pisgah Brewery (Bacon Snout is pretty good this year but smokier than a chimney!), and Barleys Taproom.

Have fun!

Edit: And yes, the LAB sucks, don't waste your time. Cheers

ncbrewer said:

I visited Lexington Ave Brewery. Real small, but I got to talk to the brewmaster.

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They did hire a new brewer and I hear the beers a lot better than it used to be, so maybe I'm being a little harsh. With all the places I like in town, haven't been in to find out for myself.

Pisgah's brewer just left, too. Worth noting as that brewery has been mentioned several times in this thread.

And not in AVL, but Todd is gone from Catawba. That blows. He was making sours that were my favorite beers in NC.

Wow......what a timely thread.

My wife and I just got back from Asheville this past sunday from a long weekend just to sample more of their beers and eclectic restuarants.

LAB was so-so at best.

But a new brewery has opened, only been there for 6 wks.

http://www.wickedweedbrewing.com/

IMHO, this place was friggin' awesome.
One thing I really liked was that most of their beers were available in 10 oz pours. Being able to sample multiple beers without getting completely hammered was a big plus with me. They have a restuarant as well as a tasting room.

I was there last month, ashville brewing co wasnt bad. I wont be going back to lab.

We didn't make it to LAB so I can't comment on it but it seems like it could use some...improvement.

Green Man has really stepped it up. Had a Makers barrel Baltic Porter there this weekend that was fantastic.

I'm going to break my epic lurking streak to post this, but I was up in Asheville this weekend as well.

Wicked Weed was excellent overall. I picked up quite a bit of diacetyl in their sours but it's nothing some more time in the barrel couldn't have cured. The empress tripel aged on honeydew(?) was absolutely fantastic. The Black Angel Cherry sour was quite good as well.

If I still lived in Asheville, I'd probably live at the Thirsty Monk- what a fantastic bar! I had a 21A Sneak Attack Saison (fantastic), Bruery Sour in the Rye (freakin' mind blowing beer), Houblon Chouffe (always good), and I can't remember what else over 2 days there.

Asheville Brewing Company was pretty good- I enjoyed both IPAs I tried.

Wedge is way more hyped than it should be- the beers were pretty mediocre. The Tripel was quite under-attenuated, the saison had an iced tea quality (massive does of saaz late perhaps?), and the IPA was flat and lifeless. I was really underwhelmed.

I didn't bother with LAB due to what I had heard from friends & I didn't have time to go Green Man.

There are at least 3 other breweries opening up in Asheville this year, so I'm looking forward to a fall trip.

My Favorites here:
Wicked Weed - relatively new, but a really strong list on any given visit.
The Wedge - Iron Rail IPA is fantastic. Really chill place to relax and take in some of the local fair.
Green Man - The IPA is a local favorite and they're really letting loose with some new beers (assistant brewer is growing into a force here).

This website is really useful (hopefully I'm allowed to post a site)

http://ashevillealetrail.com/

Thanks all keep them coming!

Going to bump this up. Any seasonal beers worth checking out? Heading down in 2 weeks!

I will repeat the praise others had for the Thirsty Monk, one of the best bars on the east coast for beer. Green Man is ok. Highland is good quality. Wedge was, in my opinion, some of the best beer in town. Also, nice location ... Check out the River Arts district then kick back and have a beer.

My wife and I love Asheville Pizza and Brewery for pizza. Shiva is a good IPA on tap there and there's a LHBS almost across the street

I plan on going to the monk at least twice in the 3 days we'll be in city. Looks way too good for only one visit.