Not just any beer, but local craft brewed beer! Asheville was voted Beer City USA in a 2010 contest and was runner up in 2009 to Portland, OR. For a city with 74,500 people we are so lucky to have 9 breweries serving over 50 hand- crafted, tasty local brews. I often wonder how I drank beer back before this craft brew craze. As you age and evolve as a person so too must your tastes. The thought of Busch beer in a can now makes me shudder. There is a world of difference!
In addition to the breweries and their tasting rooms other beer related businesses abound! We now have 5 local beer festivals that are spread throughout the year with Brewgrass being the granddaddy of them all. Started in 1997 it has become a tough ticket to get with all 3,500 tickets selling out months in advance, often in one day. And why not, with 40 breweries and live national and regional bluegrass bands it is a beer lover’s paradise. I have to work the event every year and I can guarantee you there is nothing sadder than a beer lover surround by all that beer and not being able to partake of any of it!
We also have Brews Cruise which offers a behind the scenes glimpse of the ins and outs of operating a brewery and tastings at each of the four businesses visited. They provide the van and driver so nobody is trying to get behind the wheel if they overindulge on the tour. Of course I am not sure exactly what service they provide on the "Walking Tours" - possibly a wheel barrow to transport the heartiest of partiers back to the starting point!
Brusin' Ales is a locally owned store specializing only in craft beer with over 900 beers as well as beer related merchandise. They were voted the # 3 beer retailer in the WORLD! Local bakeries and ice cream shops have also jumped on the beer bandwagon and now produce products made with our local offerings. Finally, another unique feature is The Beer Guy who explores the "Beer-niverse" with a weekly article in our local paper. All of our beer mania started back in 1994 when Barley's taproom opened long before there was much of anything in our downtown area. That was followed by Highland Brewing who opened the first brewery in the basement of Barley's. How far we have come since those early days! We even have a women’s only beer group called “Asheville Beer Divas” which I plan to check out soon. To me the ultimate justice is that one of our local tap rooms has a 7 page beer menu and only 1 page of wines! Take that you wine snobs!! So stop, think and drink good locally brewed beer! There is no excuse to drink a bad beer!
“A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it is better to be thoroughly sure.” Czech Proverb
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