In a region where the beer culture is starting to beckon to big names like Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Oskar Blues, it’s nice to know a local upstart can still find success.
Asheville’s smallest nanobrewery, One World Brewing, marks its one-year anniversary on Sunday, May 17, celebrating with a weekend of music and craft beer.
The festivities begin with live music from The Dirty Badgers at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 14. Circus Mutt hits the stage at 6 p.m. Sunday for the birthday official. The Anniversary Double IPA will be on tap all weekend, as will the Citra Bomb IPA and the Black Cherry Stout.
Located at 10 Patton Ave., down the alley, through the barrel archway, down some stairs, One World’s speakeasy vibe makes it feel like a Prohibition-era basement, a well-kept secret right off a busy street. It’s upscale dingy. Repurposed wood punctuates the brick and concrete walls. Green light glows from the fermentation room. And the centerpiece is stainless steel, co-owner and head brewer Jason “Jay” Schutz’s setup, glinting within plain sight of the bar.
Technically speaking, “nanobrewery” refers to a system no larger than 3 barrels, or 93 gallons, in size. Schutz’s is 1.5 barrels, and he thinks that’s just fine. It allows him to take risks, so if a brew ends up tasting too far out there, it can kiss the drain pretty cheaply.
“The fact that we can do smaller batches lets us experiment more,” says Lisa Schutz, Jay’s wife and co-owner of One World. “Now that people are turned on to good beer, they want to see what else is possible. We want to find out too.”
Jay Schutz worked as a stonemason until 2010, when business dried up. So he and Lisa pivoted, deciding to go pro with his decadelong passion for homebrewing. Finding the space and building it out took another three years, but they’re making up for lost time. Jay brewed 550 batches of One World in year one, roughly 22,000 gallons of artisan beer.
“It’s meant to be a community thing,” he says. “You go out to have a beer to be part of the community, to hang out with friends you already know and to make new ones you don’t. That’s what this is really about. ”
So if you like your beer brewed in small batches and meeting new people while you drink it, support your local nano, starting with One World’s one-year anniversary.
Asheville nanobreweries:
One World Brewing Co. (10 Patton Ave.)
Oyster House Brewing Co. (625 Haywood Road)
Open Brewing (20 Gala Drive #101)
Burial Beer Co. (recently outgrew the nano tag) (40 Collier Ave.)
Black Mountain nanobrewery:
Lookout Brewing Co. (103 South Ridgeway Ave. No. 1)
Hendersonville nanobrewery:
Sanctuary Brewing Co. (147 First Ave. E.) (open July 2015)
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.