French Broad Brewing Tasting Room

I'm currently enjoying my afternoon with fresh French Broad brew at their tasting room in Asheville. The brewers are working away in the background, and the smell of fresh wort is permeating the atmosphere.

I have had their Belgian Stout and Wee-Heavy-est, a Scotch ale brewed with Belgian yeast. I believe I will take home a growler of the stout, as the rest of their lineup is available in the Raleigh area.

The tasting room is small and really just a portion of their brewhouse. They do however host a lot of live music events. Very laid back and a great place to just relax with some great brew and music.

Pisgah Brewing, Black Mountain, NC

I'm in Asheville for a few days tagging along with my better half for work duties. On the way in last night we stopped by a place that we should have gone to a long time ago. Pisgah Brewing is located outside of Asheville, in Black Mountain. While I've had a couple of their beers that were picked up at Bruisin' Ales (and have a few more aging gracefully), their tap room offers their whole lineup along with seasonals and also a few guest taps.

It is currently their "Stout month" which meant that the guest taps included Bells Expedition, Oskar Blues Ten-Fidy, Brooklyn Black Chocolate, Highland Black Mocha, and French Broad's Belgian Stout. The Pisgah taps included their Nitro Stout, Pale, Porter, IPA, Endless Summer, Brown, Roast Chocolate Stout, Vortex I, Vortex II (2009 AND 2008), Solstice, Baptista Noel, and Hellbender.

We went through almost all the beers with $1 to $2 samples. The fresh Vortex II was the winner of the night, even outdoing the Expedition Stout side by side!

The taproom itself is very unassuming, located in an industrial park of sorts, with only a very small sign letting you know you're in the right place. This lets the focus be directly on the beer, as it should be. All Pisgah beers are certified Organic as well. Our tasting went a little backwards, as we worked from strong, high alcohol beers down to their "standard" lineup. This did make it a little hard to really experience the taste of say their Porter, but for the most part they held up on their own even after the big beers.

All in all, the taproom was a great experience where we got to try some amazing beers. It is definitely worth seeking out the next time you are in the Asheville area!

More info on the brewery can be found at their website.

Lexington Avenue Brewery opens in Asheville

I was in Asheville over New Years, and heard a lot of buzz about the new brewery about to open, Lexington Ave. According to ncbeer.org, it appears they opened on Jan. 7. Looks like they are going with the "gastropub" concept and are going to be brewing naturally carbonated brews. This just adds to the already robust craft brew scene in Asheville. They are located at 39 N Lesington Ave., and should be added to the list when visiting western NC in search of good beer.