Bar Beat: The Thirsty Monk

It’s an interesting night to be at downtown beer den the Thirsty Monk: It’s Pint and Cask night, a team-up with Highland Brewing while debuting parts of the Monk’s new food menu. There’s a chef dishing out Salmon Sliders and goblets with roasted cashews. A cask of Highland’s new Black Mountain Bitter pale ale sits atop the bar.

Tappin’ the cask: The Thirsty Monk’s Highland Cask and Pint Night draws a lively but not (yet) riotous crowd. Photo by Jonathan Welch

The crowd upstairs is lively but fairly low-key, with a be-kilted bartender dishing out pints as fast as he can go. In addition to the featured Highland beers, there are also other interesting choices, mostly tending to the high-gravity end, such as Founder’s Curmudgeon—an admirably old-school ale at 9.3 percent with a sweet, rich array of flavors that defy easy categorization.

The new Black Mountain Bitter is smooth—sharp, but not overwhelming. It does go well with the absolutely delicious Salmon Sliders (with a side of pretzel sticks, the Thirsty Monk seems to be hitting every kind of bar food around).

The downstairs, where Thirsty Monk originally began, is a different experience: more personal and focused on the Belgian beers one sees far more rarely.

It’s quite a high-quality selection, most of them on the more heavily hoppy side, including beers like the Delirium Tremens line (the Delirium Nocturne is an absolutely luscious stout). Belgian beer is properly flamed, and there’s a complexity of flavor to almost all of the offerings. The downstairs bartender (also sporting a kilt) acted almost like a distributor of spirits: knowing which type of beer to prescribe for even the most general mood or description. This covers not just the drink itself, but the care for which glass its served in. Each brew has a different vessel with its own logo.

There’s a lot of stone and wood at Thirsty Monk’s downstairs, while the top is a little more modern. As with the beer, they seem intent on something for every taste, whether you want an open, rollicking room or drinking fine European beer over a hard oak table with your closest.

The Thirsty Monk is located at 92 Patton Ave. For more information, call 254-5470.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Webmaster
Mountain Xpress Webmaster Follow me @MXWebTeam

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.