Where to Drink Beer in Asheville, North Carolina

With the opening of Highland Brewing, in 1994, Asheville, North Carolina, cemented its reputation as one of the country’s earliest craft beer capitals. A year ago, more than 50 breweries were operating in the greater Asheville area. But in September 2024, Hurricane Helene decimated the region and the local brewing industry with it. 

For our September/October 2025 issue, contributing editor Joshua Bernstein visited Asheville to report on the region’s long road to recovery and the current state of the craft beer scene one year later. Many brewers pitched in to help their colleagues and the city at large, some breweries never recovered, and some beloved locations are finally reopening their doors. For beer lovers, it’s a great time to revisit a city that exemplifies the passionate and persevering spirit of the industry.

Burial Beer

Born in 2013, in Asheville’s South Slope Brewing District, Burial Beer now has four locations in the city, plus outposts in Raleigh and Charlotte. Rooted in the culture of celebration around both life and death (inspired by two of the founders’ years in New Orleans), Burial aims to help community gather—around their beers, from double IPAs to traditional light lagers, and around events like regular live music and their annual Burnpile festival. Even post-hurricane, Burial became a supply hub. They partnered with grassroots nonprofit Each One Teach One Through Food to help distribute food and supplies to the local communities.

Cellarest Beer Project

Pulling inspiration from the area’s Blueridge Mountains, North Carolina native Mark Goodwin founded Cellarest in 2021 with Mark Faher. The brewery imbues flavor from local flora, crafting beers using wild yeasts, locally grown and malted grains, and seasonal produce. True to the name, all the small-batch beers are fermented, lagered, and aged in wooden barrels, creating truly one-of-a-kind offerings akin to wine vintages. Swing by the open air taproom and beer garden for fresh pours of a toasty Helles, crisp Czech Pilsner, or fruit-forward farmhouse pale ale.

DSSOLVR

Combining surreal, psychedelic, and cult-like imagery with a playful approach to brewing, DSSOLVR likes to get experimental with their process. From flagship favorites like the Thank You for Existing Kölsch to rotating seasonals that span the flavor spectrum like fruited rice lager Guava Crusher or the Kaiju Peanut Butter & Jelly Imperial Stout, DSSOLVR never lacks for inspiration. In the aftermath of the hurricane, co-founder Vince Tursi spearheaded the Higher Calling Hazy IPA relief project, offering the recipe to breweries anywhere, which then donated proceeds from sales to a nonprofit overseen by the North Carolina Brewers Guild. 

Highland Brewing Co.

The OG of Asheville’s craft beer scene, Highland opened in 1994 and remains a stalwart of the community. Founded by Oscar Wong, who passed away earlier this year at age 84, the brewery is still a family-run operation in the hands of his daughter Leah Wong Ashburn. The brewery also remains as popular as ever, with a sprawling 40-acre campus that includes activities like an 18-hole disc golf course and multiple sand volleyball courts. Once you’ve worked up a proper thirst, beverage options are abundant, from their crushable Daycation Gold to the Trailbound hazy ale. 

Hi-Wire Brewing

Also launched in 2013, in the South Slope Brewing District, Hi-Wire now has three taprooms as well as five more locations throughout the state and beyond to Tennessee and Kentucky. That first location now functions as an experimental brewhouse, crafting their small-batch beers and award-winning sour ales. Their River Arts District taproom and beer garden saw a nine-month closure due to extensive damage from the hurricane. But the 25,000-plus square foot space is now reopened and better than ever, with vibrant new murals, games like shuffle board and pinball, and, of course, all their favorite flagships, seasonals, and specialty beers on 24 taps. 

RAD Brewing

Opened in spring 2023 by Robert “Lem” Lemery, formerly the head brewer at Wicked Weed’s downtown pub, the River Arts District Brewing Company is a long-held dream realized. Working on a small-batch brewing system, RAD regularly experiments with both classic and modern styles, from their Berliner Weisse Bug Juice that sees versions with various fruit infusions, like spicy pineapple or blood orange, to the year-round light lager playfully dubbed Frat Soda. Fortunately being spared from major damage during the flood, the brewery became a hub for the community to gather for free hot meals, protective clean-up equipment, or even a night of trivia for some levity amidst the hardship. Today RAD continues to lean full-tilt into fostering community, with happenings virtually every night of the week from stand-up comedy to live music to charity events like bingo and adult spelling bees. 

Terra Nova Beer Co.

One of the newest breweries on the local scene, Terra Nova opened in the early summer of 2024 in Asheville’s South Slope. The brewery’s indoor and outdoor spaces pull inspiration from nature, which translates across to their beers as well. The Pine Barrens Italian Pilsner is dry-hopped for bright notes of lemongrass, while fruit-forward offerings like the Pineapple Moonbeam are tart and juicy. Terra Nova recently collaborated with their colleagues at Zillicoah to celebrate the brewery’s long haul to reopen following the hurricane, joint brewing a crisp rice lager made from locally sourced grain and rice. 

Wedge Brewing Co.

Created in 2008 by a trio of friends, Wedge Brewing saw both of their locations in the River Arts District flood during the hurricane. While the Wedge Studios location was able to reopen and is brewing beer again, the owners had to pivot at the Foundy Street location, and are instead aiming to nix the brewing operations and create a space for live music concerts. To enjoy Wedge’s brews—ranging from a variety of IPAs and traditional favorites like crisp Pilsners, to more experimental sours and farmhouse ales—visitors can swing by the original Wedge Studios location or their downtown Grove Arcade taproom. 

Wicked Weed Brewing

Opening their original brewpub location in 2012, Wicked Weed quickly became a favorite for their experimental brews and barrel-aged sour beers. This led to the opening of the Funkatorium, their sour beer-dedicated taproom, in 2014, which became a point of operations for World Central Kitchen in the aftermath of the hurricane. Now with three locations, Wicked Weed sees distribution throughout the south and up the east coast, and retains a devoted fanbase for their flagships like the Pernicious IPA series and their barrel-aged specialty beers. 

Zillicoah Beer Co.

Beloved since 2017 for their farmhouse ales and traditional lagers and a gorgeous riverside location along the French Broad, Zillicoah also experienced catastrophic damage during the hurricane, with the brewery fully destroyed by flood waters. The owners, brothers Jonathan and Jeremy Chassner and friend Johnathan Parks, made the difficult decision to rebuild in the same location, honoring the river that had been an inspiration from the beginning (Zillicoah is the original Cherokee name for the French Broad River). The brewery finally reopened its doors in late August to much fanfare from the local community, and is once again pouring crisp lagers and pilsners, as well as a lineup of beers brewed in collaboration with local breweries in anticipation of the grand reopening.