by Ry Beville

Asheville, North Carolina is the Kitajima Kousuke of craft beer. Like the four-time Olympic breaststroke champion (going for gold again in London), Asheville has won the title of BeerCity USA four years straight. Organized by Charlie Papazian, the contest polls voters via the internet. Although it’s just a contest with fans of nominated cities pushing for votes online, there’s some kernel of truth to the results, right? Right.

For comparison’s sake, consider this: Asheville’s population is a little over 80,000 people, while surrounding counties add up to slightly more than 400,000. Provincial cities Takamatsu and Yokosuka, with similar laid-back vibes, are roughly the same size as that county total. Only, Asheville has eleven separate breweries, with a couple more on the way this year. Others are in planning stages, most notably New Belgium Brewing’s second brewery. The greater region has an additional ten breweries and even more planned, including second breweries from heavyweights Oskar Blues Brewing and Sierra Nevada. There are more breweries than Starbucks in Asheville—where else does that happen? And we haven’t even begun counting all the bars and restaurants serving craft.

Of course, this isn’t a numbers game. Asheville is a mecca of craft beer for other reasons. I asked local craft beer doyenne Anne Fitten Glenn for her thoughts on why.

“We have a beautiful mountainous region crowned with a progressive city full of independent, creative craft beer lovers. We have a regular influx of tourists who want to experience all things Asheville, especially the locally-made brews. We have pure mountain water that’s an excellent base for brewing. Drinking local in Asheville was once a niche; now it’s a way of life.”

Asheville’s ethos has certainly made it conducive to craft beer growth. Many describe it as a hippy town, readily accepting of diversity. A worldly sophistication, too, seems to abide. The arts flourish. Music in particular has found fertile ground, with bars like Jack of the Wood, which serves Green Man Ales and other fine brews, hosting an array of talented live acts. People talk, people share—there’s definitely a sense of community. Asheville even has its own brewers’ alliance.

It also has damn fine food. At Tupelo Honey Café, we gorged on some of the best Southern-inspired food ever. Ask about seasonal beers on tap or the selection from Carolina Brewery, only available in Asheville there. If pizza is on your target list—and it should be—there’s no excuse for not dropping into Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria. Located in an expansive, renovated 1920s building with a stage for music several nights a week, Barley’s boasts 24 taps downstairs. You’ll find 19 more taps upstairs, as well as four billiard tables and five dartboards. Asheville Brewing owns a family-friendly brewpub that also serves excellent pizza and even has its own movie theater. Their other brewpub closer to downtown is a more casual bar with outdoor patio area—go ambush their Ninja Porter. Hearty pizzas make you thirsty and Thirsty Monk will come to the rescue. Rated by a number of magazines and websites as one of the best beer bars in America (some claim the world), the downtown location has over 30 taps between its two floors. Upstairs serves an eclectic selection of American and import craft beers, while downstairs specializes in Belgian beers and Belgian-style beers brewed in America.

Although Jack of the Wood does serve Green Man’s brews, why not drop into their brewery’s tasting room conveniently located downtown? You’ll walk (stumble?) away duly impressed by their full-bodied ales. Wedge, however, may just recalibrate how you think about small brewpubs. Easily one of the best in the world we’ve ever visited, its brewery and tasting room is located in the lovely River Arts District just outside of downtown. If you have to visit one brewery that requires a car, make it Highland Brewing, a bastion of craft beer in Asheville. Their enormous tasting room fills with friendly locals during Friday and Saturday live events. They also offer free brewery tours, but request donations of cash or canned food for Manna Food Bank—we like that spirit!

The Asheville craft beer scene obviously features much more than this; these are just some of our selections and are not necessarily the best. We suggest you ask locals about their recommendations and favorites. That’s how we discovered all these places. And that’s how we made some friends. Good beer and good cheer—that’s Asheville for you.

Notes: Asheville actually tied with Grand Rapids, MI, for the title this year. Anne Fitten Glenn’s book “Asheville Beer: An Intoxicating History of Mountain Brewing” will be published in the Fall of 2012 by The History Press.

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Highland Brewing Company

Highland Brewing Company was the first legal brewery established in western North Carolina after Prohibition. Most brewers in the area also recognize it as the big mover, one that helped create and then lead craft beer in the region. Founder, owner and president Oscar Wong has been at the helm since the brewery’s founding in 1994 and can assure other breweries aspiring to its success that the way was never easy.

“It took me eight years to break even,” explains Wong, “There’s a cost to making a product that you really care about. And this is not so much about building up volume and pushing sales, but creating a steady demand over time.”

Quality is naturally essential to that demand and Wong has found great support in John Lyda, the head brewer who has been with the company since its start. Wong claims that the seemingly quiet, unassuming Lyda is “the reason for our success today,” a good home brewer who went on to the Siebel Institute.

The two, along with another original partner, ran into trouble early on, nearly ruining three 2000 gallon tanks of lager. Lyda recommended using blending techniques to recycle the beer, so to speak, and their now famous Oatmeal Porter was born.

Why did you start on such a big system?

“Good question,” replies Wong, “We shouldn’t have.” Meanwhile, Lyda now experiments on a three barrel system because, “It’s easier to dump just three.”

Wong’s rise to prominence Asheville was unlikely. Born and raised in Jamaica to parents of a Chinese ethnicity, he went into the engineering business after graduating from Notre Dame. Wong admits, “It was helpful in a technical sense because it provided me with an appreciation for the engineering requirements for the brewery and also for regulatory requirements.” After selling his engineering firm, he moved to Charlotte where he met a brewer looking for a partner with financial resources and business experience. Wong fit the bill, but demanded that it be done in Asheville. The original Highland Brewing actually opened in the basement of Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria before moving to its current, expansive location in the Asheville hills in 2006.

Wong is now grooming his daughter Leah Wong Ashburn to take over. Her father started the brewery just as she was out of college, but rather than give in to the ease of nepotism, he told her she needed to find her own way. Years later, in need of a sales rep, Oscar came back to her. “I had a career and told him, ‘You can’t afford me now’ and it took several more years before I came back. We kind of orbited each other.” Now, however, she seems to relish the work and its challenges.

What do you find intimidating about taking over the business?

“I feel responsible for people. It’s really important to me that employees are healthy and happy.”

How would you tweak the business?

“As it grows, I need to develop more efficiencies. You have to have certain things happen in a certain way so that you stay efficient. You need regularity.”

Any challenges as a female?

“I don’t think so. My father is so well respected that I’ve gotten treated better than I deserve. Everyone is just so great to us.”

But her father’s words might stand as a stern reminder: “Any other company as old as we are is either many times bigger than when it started, or out of business.” Thankfully, Highland has gone the way of the former. Leah aims to continue that legacy.

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Wedge Brewing Company

How does a brewery get so good? The simple answer: a brewer with experience, talent and obvious passion.

Head brewer Carl Melissas, who resembles Frank Zappa, makes beers as surprising as the crazy genius’ music. His wonderful dry-hopped Super Saison that weighs in at 7.0% is one example. “Golem”, a Belgian strong golden ale at 9%, is even bolder, with wheat, oats, corn, Belgian candy sugar, and several European hops added for marvelously layered flavor.

“Belgian-styles are my personal passion,” says Melissas, “but I equally love all kinds of beers in terms of making them—l love the challenge.”

Melissas and assistant brewer Dave Mission have risen to the challenge of brewing uncannily good beers in a variety of styles. Their Iron Rail IPA won “Best Beer in Asheville” two years in a row (“We call it the Fucking IPA,” Melissas grumbles, “because we want the picture to change”). Maybe they’ll face internal competition with “The Third Rail”, which uses twice as many hops and will sit you right down with 10.2% ABV. Their Hellesbock puts a hoppier twist on the traditional German lager style, while the Derailed Hemp Ale, developed by Mission and brewed with 150lbs of toasted Hempseeds, exhibits creamy goodness with nutty notes.

Despite these apparent style transgressions, Melissas insists, “I like to stick to a certain culture and how they serve their beer. I use glasses and carbonation appropriate to the style. Some beers we refuse to serve in pitchers or growlers.”

Melissas started out as an award-winning home brewer in Georgia, revealing, “I drank a hoppy Belgian tripel that blew me away and started home brewing like a maniac after that.” His first headbrewing position, after apprenticing at Dogwood Brewery in Atlanta, was at Bullfrog Brewery in Pennsylvania, where he won a gold and a silver at the World Beer Cup for two Belgian-styles. He then moved to Asheville, taking over at Greenman for two years until he met Tim Schaller, owner of the historic building in which Wedge Brewing is located.

When did Dave Mission come in?

“Dave was jack hammering the floors and then I hired him,” Melissas laughs, “Together with Tim, the three of us built this brewery in about a year.”

Dave explains, “I was driving a van running on vegetable oil. Wherever it broke down, I would stay in that city and work until I repaired it again. Well, I ended up staying in Asheville.”

Wedge Brewing has no plans to expand, despite being at capacity. They cut most outside accounts because they sell most of their beer on premises. Want some of the best beer in the U.S.? Don’t believe us? Venture down to the Wedge.

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This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.