Calling everyone in the 828!

What are some spots/local beers you've had lately? Any neat happenings?

Wrong forum

Was just at Burning Blush in Mills River. Wednesdays are a great day to go there as Da Boss and i had two pints for $8 and i grabbed a 32 oz growler to go for $6.00. Had lunch from one of the rotating daily food trucks.
If you never had any of Witt Lanning's brews, you are in for a treat. He is a classically trained English brewer. His lagers are spot on, and he actually does IPAs very well IMHO.
Cheers!
Tom

Burning Blush for sure and go to Cellarest and Diatribe in west Asheville.

Mark at Cellarest is a bit of a legend since he used to work for Cascade in Portland before moving to NC to run Burial's wild ale program for a bit. Now he's getting mad creative, resting every beer he produces on some sort of wood (hence the name CellaRest). Everything I've had by him is top-notch.

Diatribe is crushing it too. They just won two gold medals at the World Beer Cup for their chocolate porter and their American porter

Terra Nova, both downtown and in Swannanoa are excellent, cranking out traditional Czech lagers, hazies and classic Ipas. Headed up by former Green Man brewer Kyle McKenzie, they have both a black Ipa and red Ipa, both of which you don't see as much anymore. The food is good at both locations too with pizza downtown and Cajun food in Swannanoa

Whaley Farm Brewery in Old Fort just east of Asheville got hit super hard by Helene, but they just had their grand reopening last weekend! Chris is an awesome guy and super talented brewer. Very farmhouse focused, meaning don't go there expecting to find an IPA, but rather Belgians, cask Ales, Lagers and more old-world styles.

And, if you go to Old Fort, Hillman is more than worth a stop since they have, in my opinion, the best food out of any brewery in the greater Asheville area and their service is impeccable. Their beers are solid as well and you can find them in Biltmore Village in Asheville also

Homeplace in Burnsville is a must if you go north of Asheville. They have a big outdoor stage for live music, good food and super solid beer. Nothing super fancy beerwise, just well executed.

Asheville sure could use the tourist dollars right now, so get your asses out here! Contrary to what anyone may think or tell you, we are open and ready for business!

Great recommendations. I have really been wanting to get up to Cellarest and Diatribe. Was just up at Homeplace the other week, great venue, solid food, decent beer.

Cellarest is great, I’ve been a couple of times when out in Asheville. Probably Headed back one weekend mid-July for another kid’s horse show. Maybe we should meet up and hit Cellarest and Diatribe.

That would be fun but, we are out of town from July 4 returning late on the 19th. What dates are you here?

Think it will be the 17-18th.

Bummer. I suspect there will be other opportunities down the road Dave.
Cheers!
Tom

Old Fort, NC, population 811 in 2020.

In 2021 Hillman Beer was looking to expand into Old Fort, about 25 miles east of Asheville. They were met with some opposition from city leaders, but were permitted to open there, with Sunday operation in question. I believe they were given a 6-month trial to open on Sundays.

Fast-forward to 2025, there are now 5 breweries in Old Fort.

• Hillman Beer
• Whaley Farms Brewery
• Euda Wine - a winery that opened in 2023 that recently added a brewing permit
• Modern Alchemist - the owners of Appalachian Mountain Brewing (Boone and Mills River, NC) are opening the Modern Alchemist in Old Fort on 10/10/25.
  https://wlos.com/news/local/new-bre...bis-nathan-kelischek-chris-zieber-craft-beers
• Butcher Babe Brewing Company - This is Foothills Butchery and Meats Watershed park and recreation area. Outsider Brewing, Woodfin NC, is moving their brewing system to a brewery under construction at this location.
  https://www.blueridgenow.com/story/...moment-in-woodfin-north-carolina/85608091007/

Does Old Fort win the most breweries per capita ribbon?

Good morning. Better option for dinner with wife and kid tonight: 1) Sierra Nevada or 2) Burial Forest camp?

I have only been to Burial Camp for a beer festival and their menu seems limited. Sierra Nevada has a limited menu as well but i think would better meet your needs for food for a youngster, beer and wine. I enjoyed the new Czech pils. They may also have a few other lagers you may be interested in.
Cheers!
Tom

Easily for NC, since that's one brewery for every ~161 people. It would be next to impossible to figure out though since you'd have to compile a list of every small town in the US with, say, at least 3 breweries and compare against each one's population. I don't have that kind of free time

Played around with this in Chat GPT (believe me, I'm a novice at this) I found:

• Crestone, Colorado population 138, 1 brewery
• Divide Colorado population 141, 1 brewery
• Florissant, Colorado population 173, 1 brewery

Someone skilled with using AI might come up with different answers.

It probably has the most breweries for a town with under 1000 people

Pushing this one to the top. What's the latest in WNC?

I have been enjoying Zillicoah more often since they started offering canned goodies found at the brewpub as well as better beer stores such as the Appalachian Vintner. It is always a pleasant experience going up to Woodfin since there rising back up from Helene. Need to get back out there soon!

I have not had any new to me brewery experiences since last summer and given our traveling plus being so busy with my landscaping this spring and summer and also, we have our favorites we gravitate to (Sierra Nevada, Burning Blush, Zillicoah, Burial). Burial killed their 13th Anniversary in June with a number of IPAs and BA Stouts and Barleywines offered. The Surf Wax The Supreme (an imperial version of the flagship brew) was world class IMHO.

Are you escaping FLA for a WNC respite soon?

Thanks for the update. Yes, I'll be making yearly trek to WNC in a couple of weeks. Zillicoah, Whaley's and SN have been my favorites. Hit Cellarest last year for the first time and really enjoyed their stuff. I need to try Burning Blush. Does Burial still have some of their anni stuff available?

Don’t sleep on Diatribe. Dave is doing some amazing stuff right now. Usually has a beer on cask and does both modern and traditional styles exceptionally well

I like their tap list and the fact that they have cask. They're on my radar now!