• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

North Carolina

ITINERARIES

1 – DAY

Highland Brewing, Barley’s Taproom, Wedge Brewing, Bruisin’ Ales, and the Thirsty Monk (Asheville)

3 – DAY

One-day itinerary plus Lexington Avenue Brewery, Jack of the Wood, Green Man Brewery, and Pisgah (Asheville)

7 – DAY

Three-day itinerary plus Pack’s Tavern and the Bier Garden (Asheville); Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery (Farmville); the Raleigh Times Bar (Raleigh); Growler’s Pourhouse (Charlotte); Fullsteam (Durham)

Asheville

What makes a beer city come of age? It seems that when towns of a sociable size (say, 50,000 to about 500,000) gain a certain preponderance of outdoorsy young and college folk, a jamming-good music and craft beer scene cannot be far behind. Along with Boulder, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; and San Diego, California, leafy Asheville, North Carolina (and the surrounding area) has become a hotbed of brewing over the past few years—especially since the state legislature raised the limit for beer’s alcohol content from 6 percent to 15 percent in 2005 after a campaign led by brewer Sean Lilly Wilson, who went on to found Fullsteam Brewing Company in Durham—and shows little sign of slowing down. Then there’s the famous Southern food and hospitality, which, of course, is charming.

HIGHLAND BREWING

12 Old Charlotte Hwy., Ste. H • Asheville, NC 28803 (828) 299–3370 • highlandbrewing.com • Established: 1986

SCENE & STORY

Asheville’s original craft brewery launched under the watchful (and patient) eyes of brewer John Lyda and Oscar Wong, a retired engineer, using retrofitted dairy equipment. Located today in a converted warehouse atop a hill just a short drive from the center of town, it’s one of Asheville’s top craft beer draws and brews some 20,000 bbls a year, making it a good-sized operation. In the taproom (open Monday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.), revelers gather for tours amid converted container ship units that serve as offices, a music stage, plenty of seats and tables, and a draft bar with year round-releases and seasonals. The tours and samples are free, but donations of food and cash are accepted for local charities, a nice touch. Visitors gather in the taproom for $3.50 pints afterwards and during the blues, bluegrass, and other Americana-inspired shows.

PHILOSOPHY

Highland’s beers broke early ground, but could be maddeningly uneven at first. After about eight years of trial and error, the outfit began to turn the corner with a lineup of assertive beers. It’s a rather conventional lineup, from light wheat on up to stouts, porters, and other strong ales, but recent brews have shown a more experimental side, with amped up dry hopping regimes, oak barrel aging, fruit additions, and Belgian styles entering the mix.

KEY BEER

The amber-hued Gaelic Ale (5.8% ABV) with its graham cracker sweetness and kiss of Cascade and Willamette hops is something of a flagship, but it’s the roasty, mocha-tinged Highland Oatmeal Porter (also 5.8% ABV) that shows off Highland’s brewing chops most consistently.

BARLEY’S TAPROOM & PIZZERIA

42 Biltmore • Asheville, NC 28801 • (828) 255–0504 www.barleystaproom.com • Established: 1994

SCENE & STORY

Every beer bar should have the luxury of this much room. In a renovated, 8,000 square foot 1920s former appliance store in the heart of Asheville’s arts and entertainment district, Barley’s is more than a beer bar. It’s also a restaurant and music venue, with New York-style sourdough pizza made from the spent grains of local breweries (and other pub fare) to go with all the live Americana music on offer several nights a week. Better yet, there’s no cover. The twenty-four-tap ground floor is a deep space of weathered wood floors and tables, handsome wooden bar with high “captain’s chairs,” and tinned and carved timber ceilings. For a game of pool, head upstairs to a room of regulation slate billiard tables available by the hour, plus darts and nineteen additional taps.

PHILOSOPHY

This is a shrine for the Southern craft beer awakening: of the approximately one