For years, Asheville has boasted more breweries per capita than any other U.S. city. Asheville was first named Beer City USA in 2009 and has captured the title many consecutive years as well. With over 50 breweries to choose from, you can bet that the beers are as varied as the spaces in which the beers are consumed. While narrowing the list of top favorite beers and breweries is a near-impossible task, we will give it our best shot.
Highland Brewing Company is Asheville’s first craft brewery and was opened in 1994 by retired engineer and entrepreneur Oscar Wong. Today, Highland is a woman-owned business, operated by Leah Wong Ashburn, and is the largest independent family-owned and operated brewery that originated in the Southeast. Highland has a bustling distribution network and their onsite operations are just as impressive.
The main taproom, located off Old Charlotte Highway, has an expansive taproom and stage, food trucks, “The Meadow” which also has an outdoor stage, outdoor taproom area, picnic tables, a play area for the kids, a giant volleyball court, and a disc golf course that wraps around the grounds. While you can’t go wrong with any of Highland’s beers, some of our favorites include the Asheville IPA, the classic Highland Gaelic Ale, and seasonal favorite Cold Mountain Winter Ale which sells out a ticketed event for enthusiasts to be the first to get their hands on this holiday-favorite beverage.
Established in 2012, Wicked Weed Brewing is known for bringing a high level of innovation to the craft beer scene in Asheville with everything
from West Coast IPAs to barrel-aged sours to unique saisons and more. Some of our favorite beers include Pernicious IPA, Freak of Nature DIPA, Coastal Love, and the holiday favorite Milk and Cookies, an Imperial Milk Stout. Like Highland Brewing, many of Wicked Weed’s beers can be found in stores across the Southeast. In addition to Wicked Weed Brewing’s Brew Pub, the flagship location, Wicked Weed Funkatorium is located on the South Slope of Asheville and serves up entirely sour beers. Wicked Weed also has a location in West Asheville that is home to its 50-barrel production brewery.
While Burial Beer has expanded outside of the Asheville area with locations in Asheville and Charlotte, their flagship South Slope location is one of our favorite spots. The “little dive in the alley” as they call it, includes two bars, indoor and outdoor seating, wine, slushies, and a full-service kitchen. In addition to the heavy metal axes and scythes you’ll notice as decor, this killer brewery also names its libations in the same vein. Truth is, it’s always Halloween at Burial Beer. While every beer is impressive, we especially love their stouts and sours.
Our current favorite sour is The Fortress of Immaculate Thought, a Barrel-Aged Golden Sour Ale with Blueberries, and one of our favorite stouts is A Compilation of Sporadic Contemplations From Minds Unraveled, an Imperial Stout with Toasted Coconut, Fresh Orange Zest, and Cocoa Butter. For an easier drinking beer, we suggest their Billows Dry-Hopped Kolsch.
Burial’s Forestry Camp location is one of our favorite locations for the vibes. Opened in 2019, Forestry Camp is housed on the historic grounds of the Civilian Conservation Corps property. They serve up delicious food and cocktails, and it’s also easy to grab a Burial beer on their 24 taps.
The Whale: A Craft Beer Collective is a gem in West Asheville and a great spot to sample some of the best beers from around the world. While you can easily find some Asheville staple beers (especially from Fonta Flora, an artisan brewery close to Lake James that brings “English tradition and Belgian inspiration to the Appalachian mountains”), The Whale’s goal is to serve up unique beers that can’t be found as easily in Asheville. They have a great outdoor space with plenty of seating in addition to a small indoor seating area, and they’re sandwiched between the tasty food joints Haywood Common and Taco Boy.
Looking to combine your love for beer with a fun activity? You’re in luck. In addition to brewery bus tours like the city’s original “Brews Cruise,” there is also the “Amazing Pubcycle” which you’ll see zooming up and down Asheville’s streets as 13 people pedal around town while consuming a pint of their favorite beer. We also highly recommend the quirky Lazoom Comedy Tours which travels around in a hard-to-miss purple bus with red lips and stops at various breweries around town in between comedy skits so that the audience can bring a drink on board to sip in between laughs.