US - South North Carolina Particulars

The recent stouts have been pretty good actually and the bottle counts are usually low. Now people waiting in line for haze? That's just silly.

I don't care at all about their bottle counts. I'm not waiting in line for 2+ hours for something that didn't even see a barrel and is just chocked full of adjuncts. I also have my kid on Fridays so that tougher anyway.
 
I don't care at all about their bottle counts. I'm not waiting in line for 2+ hours for something that didn't even see a barrel and is just chocked full of adjuncts.

I'm talking like 50-100 allotments for DTR location, so you kinda have to lineup if you want to get some. No one needs to wait for 2 hours to snag bottles...usually a half hour early is fine. Plop a chair down and grab some food at Transfer while you wait.
 
any asheville recs? will be there for a few days at the end of august (though unfortunately after that session fest)
 
What are you looking to do? Eat, drink, hike? Got family with you or is this a guys trip?
all of the above--long hikes welcomed, too. just my wife with me. i was there a few years ago for a wedding but didn't get a chance to actually do anything so it's all on the table. there will be a limit to the number of breweries that are tolerated so if there are must-sees, let me know those!
 
Booked an Air BnB for Asheville July 10-15 to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Have a google map setup if anyone want to use it. It's mostly a conglomeration of info from beer websites.

What's SoGo?
any asheville recs? will be there for a few days at the end of august (though unfortunately after that session fest)

Will report back on particulars next week. Message me you email if you want my spreadsheets.
 
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Personally I would say Zillicoah and Sierra Nevada are musts. The former more for beer and the latter for sheer spectacle and outdoor ambiance...and a great award winning menu...and also beer. Sounds like your wife is a bit like mine (limitations with beer-centric activity), and I can assure you that Sierra Nevada will be more than just tolerated.

The rest I could probably take or leave if I'm being perfectly honest. Not that they're bad, most are quite good - but the two above would be my top two destinations if you have to limit yourself.
 
Personally I would say Zillicoah and Sierra Nevada are musts. The former more for beer and the latter for sheer spectacle and outdoor ambiance...and a great award winning menu...and also beer. Sounds like your wife is a bit like mine (limitations with beer-centric activity), and I can assure you that Sierra Nevada will be more than just tolerated.

The rest I could probably take or leave if I'm being perfectly honest. Not that they're bad, most are quite good - but the two above would be my top two destinations if you have to limit yourself.
I'd agree with this...The fiancee and I spent some time down there a month ago and hit up a bunch of breweries and those two easily came out on top.
 
thanks gang. are any of the longer sierra nevada tours worth it if anyone's done them?

I've not done any of the paid tours, but I doubt they are worth it. The free self-guided tour is the best I've ever experienced at any brewery...has old artifacts and photos from Ken Grossman's homebrewing days as well as plenty of other stuff to see and read about. Just grab a beer and meander on down the hallways. I haven't looked at the other tour details in a while, but if you're anything like me, a "free" pour or two at the end and someone explaining the beer making process for the umpteenth time aren't major perks to spend more money.
 
all of the above--long hikes welcomed, too. just my wife with me. i was there a few years ago for a wedding but didn't get a chance to actually do anything so it's all on the table. there will be a limit to the number of breweries that are tolerated so if there are must-sees, let me know those!

Curate’ is an amazing Spanish restaurant. If you want a nice dinner out, see if you can get a reservation there.

I like to walk around the arts district with my wife and check out the glass and paintings and then go have beers outside at The Wedge.

Craggy Gardens is off the Blueridge Parkway and is about 30 mins outside of downtown. There is nice scenic hiking there with varying levels of length and difficulty of trail.

Burial has a great taproom and great beer.

I’ll look through some trip notes I’ve stashed away to see what else comes to
Mind. All of the above are pretty much well known staples to the Asheville area.

Oh yeah, a drink up at the Grove Park Inn to watch the sunset might be a wife pleaser.
 
I've not done any of the paid tours, but I doubt they are worth it. The free self-guided tour is the best I've ever experienced at any brewery...has old artifacts and photos from Ken Grossman's homebrewing days as well as plenty of other stuff to see and read about. Just grab a beer and meander on down the hallways. I haven't looked at the other tour details in a while, but if you're anything like me, a "free" pour or two at the end and someone explaining the beer making process for the umpteenth time aren't major perks to spend more money.
Curate’ is an amazing Spanish restaurant. If you want a nice dinner out, see if you can get a reservation there.

I like to walk around the arts district with my wife and check out the glass and paintings and then go have beers outside at The Wedge.

Craggy Gardens is off the Blueridge Parkway and is about 30 mins outside of downtown. There is nice scenic hiking there with varying levels of length and difficulty of trail.

Burial has a great taproom and great beer.

I’ll look through some trip notes I’ve stashed away to see what else comes to
Mind. All of the above are pretty much well known staples to the Asheville area.

Oh yeah, a drink up at the Grove Park Inn to watch the sunset might be a wife pleaser.
thanks a ton. we just booked our airbnb, so we'll be there for at least 3 nights. any reason to stay longer than that? we're coming from corbin, ky and looping back up around through ohio on our way back to michigan, but still looking to fill in a couple days on the back end. leaning toward a night near the new river gorge and another in maybe athens/hocking hills area right now.
 
thanks a ton. we just booked our airbnb, so we'll be there for at least 3 nights. any reason to stay longer than that? we're coming from corbin, ky and looping back up around through ohio on our way back to michigan, but still looking to fill in a couple days on the back end. leaning toward a night near the new river gorge and another in maybe athens/hocking hills area right now.

Three nights should be plenty. I usually spend long weekends there and feel plenty fulfilled. But I also frequently make the 2 hour drive each way just to spend the day lounging in a hammock by the river at SN sometimes...so I might not be a good measuring stick for what equals fulfillment.
 
Here are the breweries we stopped at. Almost all of them were setup with idea of drinking outside in mind. I listed them in order of what I would recommend stopping at:
1) Sierra Nevada - Incredible atmosphere. My wife's favorite non-hiking experience in Asheville. Food was excellent. Beer was consistently good. Could easily spend an entire afternoon there.
2) Eurisko Beer - Best beer taproom experience in Asheville for us. Everything was above average to excellent.
3) Zillicoah Beer - Their Keller pils was the best beer I drank all trip. The saison and AWA were both above average. The stout I had was bad - way overly sweet. Very disinterested bartender at a non-busy time.
4) Zebulon Artisan – Extremely technically proficient brewer. Unique styles. A bit out of the way and odd hours, so check their lineup before going.
5) Wedge - Right next to 12 Bones BBQ. Everything was consistently good, but nothing incredible. Get your BBQ to go and eat it here to avoid the line.
6) Oscar Blues - Fun outside spot. Out of the way, so not worth stopping at unless you are in the area.
7) Burial - Total hit and miss. Some beer was decent and some smelled like green onions. Sample everything before ordering. I would skip.

We always make it a point to eat well on vacation. Here are the spots we stopped at and what I would recommend.
-Cúrate – best individual item we ate was here – squid ink vermicelli paella style (rossejat negro). My wife said it was the best thing we had eaten in years. Octopus was also very good here.
-Jargon – Best dessert we had was here – blueberry handpie. Ate fried deviled eggs, halibut, octopus, a tomato salad and calamari. All dishes were above average quality. Huge portions. Very nice experience. Curate was probably a slightly better experience than Jargon, but I’d be happy to eat at either again.
-Biscuit Head – did the gravy flight then basically a benedict on a biscuit. Should have picked more traditional gravies (skip red-eye). Very good breakfast.
-Foothills Butcher Bar – Excellent burger made even better by the bacon. Wife had a great BLT. Fries were good.
-12 Bones Smokehouse – Split a brisket sandwich with two sides. It was fine. The Carolina bbq sauce was good, if you’re into mustard sauces.
-Tupelo Honey – worst meal we had in Asheville. Dry fried chicken. We heard from a bartender that we should skip it, but my wife had some friends who ate there twice during their trip because they liked it so much. Should have listened to the local.
-Little Jumbo – Best cocktail I had in Asheville – the Rodriguez. Also excellent pie.
-Hole Doughnuts – made from scratch and cooked to order. Good, but basic flavors. Sesame was nice.
-Ultimate Ice Cream – I’d rather have custard. Don’t go out of your way.
-Also tried two local coffee joints – Trade & Lore and High Five. We preferred High Five.

We spent the better part of two days driving through the mountains. We focused on “hikes” to waterfalls closer to Asheville. Many were pretty short hikes. Here’s the list.
-Linville Falls - best of the ones east of Asheville
-Grassy Creek Falls
-Setrock Falls
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-Clingman’s Dome – too foggy for us to see anything
-Soco Falls
-Dill Falls – our favorite west of Asheville
-Graveyard Falls
-Upper Log Hollow Falls
-Looking Glass Falls
 
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