Drinking our Way Through Asheville’s Brewery District
On our last trip to Asheville to see the leaves change, we put together a brewery crawl for ourselves. We’d been craving some good craft beer, so we dedicated an entire day to checking out as many breweries as our livers would allow! Luckily there are 10 breweries all within a couple blocks of each other in South Slope, also called the Brewery District. As you can imagine, 10 breweries is a lot to hit in one day, so we settled for 5 and promised ourselves another trip soon to visit the others. We started around lunch on a Friday, so the crowds were minimal, and we had no problem getting great service all along the way. We’ve heard the weekends at any of these places can be nuts! You have been warned.
Pro Tip: If you’re new to craft beer and unsure of what you might like, we highly recommend ordering a flight, that way you can try several beers and go from there. Now, keep in mind, when you order a flight, you’re asking the bartender to essentially pour 4-5 tiny beers. Although tiny, it’s still time consuming, meaning in our opinion (and many others), you should tip a little more. We usually tip $2-$3 for a flight, depending on how many beers are poured and quality of service. Just some food for thought.
Urban Orchard Cider
We’re usually not huge cider fans, but we parked in Urban Orchard’s free parking lot, so figured we should give them a little business. I’m so glad we did because both of us found ciders we really enjoyed. Our problem with ciders in the past has been the sweetness, but we found several that were on the dry end of the spectrum. Arthur’s favorite was Hopped - very dry, not sweet at all, with a slight hint of hops without the bitterness a hoppy beer might give. My favorite was Hopaleño - dry, very green, it had all the jalapeño flavor without the spice. They have a huge space and we got the vibe they do their fare share of events. You can check out their ciders on tap and hours of operation by clicking HERE.
Green Man Brewery
If the cool logo doesn’t draw you in, the awesome beer certainly will. We’ve enjoyed Green Man beers before, so we knew we wouldn’t be disappointed. They have several different bar areas inside, along with some outdoor seating. I had a rosé inspired beer that was, as you would imagine, a little floral, but still a beer. Kind of funky, but enjoyable. Arthur had a kick butt IPA. Every beer we’ve had from Green Man has been a pleasure to drink. If you’re aren’t sure what to order, the bartenders are very knowledgable and friendly and happy to talk beer and make suggestions.
We asked if they had a food menu and the bartender flat our told us, “Nope. We had to choose between allowing dogs or serving food, and we chose dogs.” Gotta love the honesty, and gotta love a brewery that also loves dogs. The bartender gladly gave us a list of recommendations for nearby food which we could have ordered and had delivered to the taproom. But we were on a brewery crawl mission, so we wandered on to the next spot. If you’re interested in what Green Man is brewing up, you can find their website HERE.
Burial Beer Co.
Easily our favorite spot for the day. The fact they serve food had a lot to do with that. Can you tell by the smile on my face how happy I was to have such good lookin’ food in front of me? ALSO, check out the haziness in that wonderful IPA Arthur ordered. Many successful breweries sacrifice a little bit of quality in order to grow and keep up with demand, but not Burial. Every sip delivers a richness and complexity that can only be achieved in small batches by true masters of the craft. They not only have AMAZING beer, but their food is top notch as well. Having worked up quite an appetite at this point, we devoured a lamb gyro with sweet potato fries and an order of sweet & sour wings. The cool and sunny fall weather made for the perfect time of year to sit outside. We loved the atmosphere: families with their kids and plenty of dogs hanging out. It made for some great people watching. If we had to choose one place to come back to, this would be it. Find time to stop by, you won’t be disappointed. You can find more info on Burial Beer HERE .
Twin Leaf Brewery
Definitely the least crowded brewery we stumbled into. Inside they had a decent bar setting, and lots of games to keep you entertained. The outdoor area, where we chose to sit (again), had plenty of picnic tables with umbrellas and an apathetic cat that was not interested in coming to say hello, nor did it care we were sitting nearby. They were out of several beers we were interested in, which was disappointing for us, but it also means they probably make some good beer. What they lacked in available beer, the bar tender made up for in personality. She was very friendly and we really enjoyed chatting with her. If you’re looking for more info on Twin Leaf, click HERE.
Funkatorium
Wicked Weed’s Funkatorium is right across the street from Twin Leaf and quite the happenin’ place. By far the busiest brewery we visited, they had an impressive selection of sour beers (because they’re a sour beer dedicated tap room) and some pretty decent food items. They had more than sour beer, but we figured we should take advantage of all the sour goodness we could get while we could get it. Usually sour beer is seasonal (coinciding with the summer months when fruits are ripe), making it harder to find in the cooler months. But with a dedicated sour beer tap room, we knew what we would find some funky sours despite the cooler weather. We ordered a flight to make the most of their extensive list and both agreed they were all pretty dang good. Some were VERY sour, others on the lighter side and very drinkable.
Feeling like we needed a little more substance in our bellies than wings and a gyro, we ordered a bowl of their white bean and kale soup. It was exactly what we needed on a chilly fall day! We sat inside, but their biergarten was open and had plenty of people enjoying their brews outdoors. Looking for more info? Click HERE.
Catawba Brewing
Catawba Brewing was our last stop for the day. We ordered a flight and sat in their warehouse-style tasting room. Most noteworthy beers were White Zombie White Ale and Zombie A-pog-alypse. We were there for halloween weekend, so we assumed the zombie theme was for that. Another establishment without food but they did allow dogs inside, which again, we’re cool with. Our flight was enjoyable, but I have to say it was pretty noisy inside. Once we finished our flight we didn’t stick around because it was hard to hear each other talk. Not a bad thing for some, but as this was our 5th brewery for the day, it was time for us to start winding down. You can find their website HERE for more info.
Drinking and driving, not cool. Drinking and eating, very cool. We wandered into the main part of Asheville to enjoy some Spanish Tapas from Zambra. It was about a 15 minute walk (up hill) from Catawba Brewing, but at this point, we needed to walk. We had a fabulous tapas experience, sharing pomegranate braised pork spring rolls, tortilla española with butternut squash and brown butter aioli, blackened duck hearts with sweet potato grits, and pan roasted duck breast with frisee, orange sauce, and cracklin’. They change their menu regularly, so you probably won’t see most of this on the menu if you were to go in tonight. In my opinion, that’s part of what makes this place so much fun.
Asheville is such a wonderful city to visit any time of the year, but especially in the fall. Do you have a favorite brewery or place to get a bite to eat? Drop us a comment below so we can add it to our (long) list of places to visit on our next trip. We’re always down for something new and funky, and Asheville always delivers.