Asheville Beer Trip – I even bought beer at a brewery.

Asheville Beer Trip Recap

This weekend my friend Becky and I took a road trip to Asheville, NC.  Our goal, beer… lots and lots of beer.  I’m happy to report the trip was a success.  In total our adventure lasted about 34 hours, we left Atlanta at 8:00 AM Saturday and were back at home base just before 6:00 PM Sunday.  We bought and drank beer at a lot of breweries, 10 of them to be exact.  Well, 9 actually, more on that later.  I had a blast, Asheville’s beer scene is amazing, but it also left a bitter taste in my mouth (other than all those IBUs) that this was good money that Georgia’s brewers are missing out on.  In case you haven’t read one of my other eleventeen-hundred posts on the subject, Georgia’s beer laws suck… and a trip like this to Georgia wouldn’t be possible with our current laws.

The Scene

Asheville, NC is a beer geek’s paradise.  With new breweries opening all the time it’s hard to get an exact count, but my Googlin’ shows there are about 50 breweries in Western North Carolina, as well as many beer bars and craft beer-focused restaurants.  The vibe in Asheville is very laid back, everyone was friendly and relaxed.  Outside of beer there’s the Biltmore and Grove Park Inn, plenty of outdoor activities, music, and shopping.  It’s just an all-around awesome town to visit and enjoy.  Most of this is walkable as well, which is good if you’re going to drink a ton of beer.  Even staying away from the action a bit our Uber rides were only $7.00 each way, cheaper than parking in a lot of places.

Breweries and Beer

In total we visited 10 breweries on our trip.  We made a stop at Thomas Creek in Greenville on the way up and chatted with some of the folks there while having a couple small tasters (we still had to finish the drive to Asheville) and purchasing a bottle to go.  They gave me beer, I gave them money.  I drank beer there, then I took some with me.  Everyone was happy and there was not an absolute collapse of society because of the transaction.  We tested this over-and-over in Asheville and not once did total anarchy ensue after buying beer at a brewery.  Georgia’s wholesalers would like you to think otherwise.

In Asheville we started at Wicked Weed’s Funkatorium, where all their amazing sour beers are born.  The Funkatorium actually spurred our trip, for the brewery-only release of their Red Angel raspberry sour ale.  They offered a pre-sale allotment of this beer online and it sold out in 4 minutes.  We purchased a case of 12 bottles at $270.00, money spent at an Asheville brewery before we even left the state of Georgia.  While there we had a couple more beers then headed out to try some others.  We stopped at Green Man, Catawba, Burial Beer Co., and Twin Leaf for Round 1, enjoying sampler flights or short pours of most of the beers.  We took a bit of a break and relaxed at the motel then headed back out.  First brewery stop on Round 2 was Wicked Weed’s brewpub (they have 2 facilities in Asheville – the Funkatorium and Brewpub) which is a very impressive two-story facility with a huge patio area and a very nice gift shop.  We had a couple of beers there and then moved on to Brahrmari Brewhouse where unfortunately we didn’t get to try anything.  The doorman was super-nice and chatted with me about their beer and suggested ones for me to try.  However, after sitting at a table for 10 minutes as servers walked by us, served others, chatted with each other, and counted their tips, we gave up and left.  We ended the night at Hi-Wire, sampling a couple of their beers, then headed back to the motel around 1:00 AM.  The next morning we had breakfast and visited Sierra Nevada then hit the road back to Atlanta.

The Funkatorium and Sierra Nevada were amazing, Burial was very good, and Twin Leaf was good – but for the most part all the others were just OK.  Nothing really blew me away at the other breweries and a couple were pretty bad, like a lacto-soured IPA that tasted like drinking straight sauerkraut juice.  Anytime you have that many breweries you’re going to have a huge diversity in quality.  However each brewery seemed to have a good crowd enjoying their beer, so this is just my personal opinion, of course.  The saturation of hoppy beers in the market is amazingly apparent here, most breweries tap lists were about 75% Pales Ales and IPAs.  Any time I asked for a recommendation at a brewery these were the first ones to be mentioned, that could easily be because that’s what people are asking for, but I’d love to see more diversity.  There were some ESBs, goses, English Milds, Porters, and others available but based on the quality of many of these beers I’m guessing there’s not a lot of focus on them.  I like to think I’m pretty fair in my assessment of beer even though I have a passion for Georgia, but I think our overall quality of breweries across the state is quite a bit better than Asheville.  Don’t get me wrong, Asheville has some stellar beer and their beer scene absolutely destroys Georgia’s, but we have some damn good beer here.  I’d easily put 5 Seasons, Burnt Hickory, Creature Comforts, Orpheus, Wild Heaven, Wrecking Bar, and Three Taverns in the same group as Asheville’s best, and a few others very close.

The Funkatorium and Sierra Nevada

Wicked Weed’s Funkatorium and Sierra Nevada are two huge stand-outs in the Asheville beer scene.  The overall quality of beer at these breweries is world-class and trying beers right at the brewery they were even better than what I’d had off the shelf here. You are just one click away from meeting the hottest Japanese teens doing what they do best. This is where you can find the hentai video site overview , and choose what you like. And we are here to take a closer look at the best hentai porn.  As we’ve argued in Georgia for a while now, fresh beer is (usually) better.  At the Funkatorium I had Red Angel and Minora, hard to compare as I’ve only had one of these previously, but they were both amazing.  Becky had another beer, which I sampled and really enjoyed, the exact beer escapes me.  Wicked Weed is making a ton of very complex and enjoyable sour beers, and people go there in droves to enjoy them and take some to-go

Sierra Nevada’s facility is mind-blowing.  Before I went several people told me I had to visit there, describing it as “the most impressive brewery in the world” and “Disneyland for beer geeks”.  I was skeptical, I didn’t doubt that it would be impressive but could it really be that impressive.  Yes, definitely.  This massive brewery is nestled in a gorgeous mountain forest, you take a long winding road along streams to the brewery and are greeted by an enormous facility reminiscent of a mountain lodge with shiny fermentation tanks stretching for the sky.  The brewpub/taphouse is on the left, with offices in the center, and the brewery on the right.  The brewery tour was free and included a sample of their Pale Ale to start, with more samples at the end of the tour.  The brewhouse is state-of-the-art, and most of the process is controlled by panels that send water, wort, yeast, and beer along the various stages of the process.  The hallways along the facility serve as a mini-museum to the history of Sierra Nevada and brewing.  Our tour guide explained they are currently finishing outdoor space that will have river access and they’ll soon have live music in the taproom.  Their gift shop offered tons of Sierra Nevada swag as well as plenty of beer to-go, including many releases you can only get at the brewery.  I’ve had Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale and Kellerweis many times and enjoyed them, but fresh-from-the-brewery they were at a different level of awesome.  It’s kind of a bummer trying them like that, as now I’ll be comparing any future pourings to those perfect beers at the brewery. Sadness. I almost forgot, our server at Sierra Nevada was from Athens and previously worked at Terrapin.  We chatted about beer and I mentioned the laws were much better in North Carolina.  She said, “I know, that’s why I left.  I could have stayed and hoped for things to change but I just moved here instead.”

 

The Food

If you go to Asheville for the beer you’re going to need to eat… probably.  I mean it’s your liver, you can do what you want.  I received a few recommendations prior to the trip so we figured rather than spending time hunting for food we’d roll with what others already tried out and approved of.  We hit White Duck Tacos for lunch on Saturday and it was awesome.  I got the mole marinated duck taco and a lamb gyro taco paired with a Green Man IPA.  When it came time to buffer the beer from Round 1 and grab some dinner we headed to Rhubarb on the recommendation of Ryan from SweetWater, he said I had to have the lobster corn dogs, so I did.  We also had the goat’s milk burrata, Mongolian BBQ lamb ribs, and cornbread stuffed oysters.  I recommend all of them.  The oysters were a bit over-salted but I think that was the sauce they used on them.  We even saved room for dessert, and by dessert I mean more beer, so we headed to Wicked Weed’s brewpub and Hi-Wire after dinner.  Sunday morning we went to Biscuit Head for breakfast upon the recommendation of everyone that’s ever been to Biscuit Head.  I had bacon, eggs, and cheese grits paired with a massive “cat head” biscuit and a gravy flight.  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you’ve already seen my pics of the meal, it was amazing.  Add me to the list of folks that highly recommend you start your day here.

Dollars and Sense

Taking a trip some place like Asheville really highlights what we’re missing out on here in Georgia.  In total we spent $778.00 on beer and food in 24 hours.  We got our motel rooms free as Becky is a frequent traveler for work and used points to book the rooms.  If we’d paid for a room at the Holiday Inn in Asheville (which is mid-level of the motels there) our total spent would have been $1,233.00.  If we’d paid for the actual rooms we stayed in the total would have been $1,430.00.  That’s money we spent in 24 hours on a beer trip.  Since my goal here is to highlight money Georgia breweries are missing out on the total spent directly at breweries in Asheville was $692.00.

Of course there are folks that will say that beer is still being sold in Georgia and that my figures are misleading.  But those people are likely huffing the fumes off a Budweiser truck and missing the point here, or rather they’re ignoring it.  Many of the breweries in Asheville are very small, brewpub-sized facilities.  You can tell from some of the equipment at them they are put together on a limited budget by people passionate about beer.  They can do this in Asheville because they can brew very small batches and people can come to the brewery to buy their beer.  If you have to distribute your product to have any sales this totally changes the game.  All your product is sold at wholesale so Georgia breweries don’t get the benefit of selling on-site at retail value.  It’s not hard to do the math here and see that instantly means Georgia’s breweries aren’t as profitable as North Carolina’s, or most other states for that matter.  We really need some common sense reform to our beer laws.

Short and Sweet

Asheville’s beer scene is amazing and the vibe is very relaxed.  The food there is exceptional.  North Carolina’s breweries are booming thanks to progressive laws in the state, Georgia’s laws still suck.  You should go to Asheville and buy a boatload of beer to wash away the frustration of the outdated beer laws in our state.

 

 

https://beerguysradio.com/2016/03/29/asheville-beer-trip/https://beerguysradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Wicked-Weed-Funkatorium-1-1024x683.jpghttps://beerguysradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Wicked-Weed-Funkatorium-1-150x150.jpg2016-03-29T09:38:54-04:00Tim DennisBeer TravelBrewery ProfilesFeaturesLegislationAsheville,beer travel,getaway,Sierra Nevada,weekend,Wicked WeedAsheville Beer Trip Recap This weekend my friend Becky and I took a road trip to Asheville, NC.  Our goal, beer... lots and lots of beer.  I'm happy to report the trip was a success.  In total our adventure lasted about 34 hours, we left Atlanta at 8:00 AM Saturday and were back at...Tim DennisTim Dennistgdennis@gmail.comAdministratorCo-Host of the Beer Guys Radio Show. Georgia beer advocate, all around craft beer fan, homebrewer, and troublemaker.Beer Guys Radio Craft Beer Podcast