When I walked into Open Brewing a few weeks ago, the wall behind the bar had just been repainted, but the rest of the space was clearly a work in progress. As a reporter, it isn’t unusual to sit for an interview amid piles of boxes, with signage waiting to be hung. But this time, I […]
Kelli Cozlin is cooking up a new feast for the senses. The actress and writer is hoping to add dinner theater to Asheville’s lively food and entertainment mix. And based on years of experience acting in and producing shows across the country, she thinks it’s sure to be a recipe for success. “I feel like […]
Whether it’s a traditional turkey with 50 of your closest relatives or a vegetarian spread for two, there’s no escaping the trappings of the Thanksgiving meal. It’s a holiday that revolves around food as much as it does family. Of course, there are also traditional beverages — a certain type of wine with dinner, a […]
You never know when winter will hit in Asheville. This year, with early November snow, it seems the upcoming release of Cold Mountain from Highland Brewery is right on time. Community liaison Drew Stevenson says there’s even more to look forward to this year as the company plans to expand the release celebration at the […]
Local Flavor AVL phone app is a user guide for all things Asheville, so the company plans to celebrate its growth milestones in “the Asheville way” — with beer, friends and music at Highland Brewing Co.
At their original brewery in Chico, Calif., Sierra Nevada grows barley and hops. It’s on such a small scale that the brewery could never switch over to using only what it grows; it uses the crops instead for limited-edition estate ales. Until recently, brewing a beer the same way — sourcing ingredients from a single […]
I was drinking in the L.A.B., late one night…
Since late 2013, it was clear the current Noble Cider facility on the edge of town in Arden would be a temporary home. “We’ve been working out of a shared portion of a commercial park. … Our production space is tight,” says Baker.
What do Oskar Blues, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Cigar City have in common? They’re all award-winning craft breweries, and they’re all growing fast. Soon they might have another thing in common: a second brewery in Western North Carolina. Yet while the breweries have some similarities, Tampa’s Cigar City is closer to the size of […]
For the past few months, anyone has been able to tour the new Sierra Nevada brewery in Mills River — sort of. The tour, called a “hard hat tour,” was not the same as the standard Sierra tour at the home facility in Chico, Calif. You had to reserve a spot ahead of time. Part […]
As a kid, the public library was a magical place. It had endless shelves of colorful adventures, and it was a place to go for story time. As an adult, some of us still use the library for more than voting. They have those old-fashioned paper books and audiobooks, after all. However, not many of […]
The Wicked Weed Funkatorium opened on Friday, Oct. 10, and there’s no arguing that it’s the big news of the week for the South Slope. However, a few other South Slope breweries are busy expanding as we head into fall: Burial Beer (40 Collier Ave) has moved its new 10-barrel system into place and will […]
My wife and I visited Portland, Ore., earlier this year. While we could only hit a small fraction of the city’s 50-plus breweries, we made sure to stop at Cascade Brewing, a legendary producer of sour beers, and Hair of the Dog Brewing Co. At Cascade, we found no fewer than a dozen sour beers […]
Crowdfunding platforms make it possible for individuals and organizations of any size to harness social networks and raise start-up capital for projects that might otherwise fail due to lack of funding. Each week, Xpress highlights notable WNC crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd.
“I want people to come in and feel like they’re at a beer festival every day of the week,” says Nate Tomforde, owner of the new Pour Taproom in West Asheville. “We’ll have 46 taps of craft beer and eight wines, and all of them will run on the pay-by-the-ounce model. … You can come […]
Pour Taproom, the pay-by-the-ounce beer bar announced earlier this year, held their soft opening on Friday, Sept. 19, at 800 Haywood Road in West Asheville. After opening a tab and receiving a digital bracelet, you can check-in at any of the taps and pour as much–or as little–beer as you wish. Prices vary by beer, […]
Burial Beer Co. has only hosted a couple of large events at their tiny taproom, but so far they have all been big draws. Jess Reiser, part-owner of Burial, just sent out word that Burial will introduce a new annual festival called Burn Pile at the taproom 2-10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1. The fest will […]
Wicked Weed debuted its Funkatorium sour beer facility as a work-in-progress during Asheville Beer Week in May with a large sour beer tasting event held among the hundreds of barrels already in place. Then, in August, Wicked Weed stole its own show by announcing an expansion that included not just the Funkatorium, but also a production […]
Next summer, Asheville will host a small but influential group of bloggers for the first time: The Beer Bloggers Conference will descend upon the city July 17-19.
Some people have taken to calling the South Slope area of downtown the Brewery District. With the newest business set to join its neighbors on Banks and Buxton, it may have to be dubbed the Beer District instead. Tasty Beverage Co., a Raleigh-based beer store, announced that it will open an Asheville location later this […]
A stop-motion movie featuring a banana, a taste of Coconut Curry Hefeweizen and donating money to Asheville on Bikes: It’s all part of New Belgium’s Clips Beer & Film Tour, which returns to Asheville on Friday, Sept. 5. “The short films this year are really good,” says Jesse Claeys, one of the festival’s producers. “We’ve […]
