Asheville Brewery Rankings and Tiers

Asheville North Carolina appears to be known primarily for two things. First, outdoor activity. Due to its location to the Blue Ridge Mountains, there is a ton of hiking as well as some rafting and zip lining and other activities. Asheville, and its surrounding areas, are very pretty. Second is, you guessed it, beer! There is a rich history of craft brewing in this area, dating back to the 90s and a lot of breweries that we know and love might not exist without some of the work of these early breweries. But just because it is historical, doesn’t mean they aren’t current. Asheville boasts a wild amount of craft breweries for a city its size, and many of them are highly regarded. On our trip, we went to 19 craft breweries in four days and there were still several that you won’t see here on this list because we just didn’t have time to do everything. Put simply, Asheville is one of the Meccas for beer lovers like us.

Enough talk. Lets’ Rank and Tier!

Tier 1 – Elite Breweries

#1 – Burial

One of the best breweries I’ve been to. Huge menu with great beers. Interesting layout and good location. It’s the only place we went to more than once.

#2 – New Origin

Outstanding beers a little out of the way. Though small and young, they pack a strong punch…well above their weight class.

#3 – Cursus Keme

Beer experimentation from a friendly owner/brewer, taking place in a really beautiful space filled with plants and relaxing vibes.

#4 – New Belgium

A known entity serving some lesser known offerings. It has a nice building with huge outdoor space and a great view, and a bit of sprawl.

Tier 2 – Great Breweries

#5 – DSSOLVR

Halloween-y vibes with stout-y stouts and hop- y hops. Cool space downtown with a big menu.

#6a – Zillicoah

They serve just basic styles but do them well and complement the beers with easy-going vibes adjacent to real nature

#6b – Hi-Wire (RAD)

One of the most complete brewery experience in Asheville with a big selection of good beers and a huge space with activities.

#8a – Wedge (Foundy)

Solid beers and better space near the river. Sharing the area with other good establishments is a great feature.

#8b – Funkatorium

No shocks here – stays true to being the “funky” arm of Wicked Weed. But the space is huge, nice, and convenient.

#10a – Cellarest

Unique vibe and flavors. Cool motif. Very good execution. Don’t expect to get all the usual stuff here. Open your minds and hearts.

#10b – River Arts District Brewing (RAD)

Very young brewery so the menu is small and the beers are fine. But the space, location, and service were all stellar. Will go back despite not loving my beers.

Tier 3 – Good Breweries

#12a – Highland

The beers are just fine, but the brewery is way more than that. It’s like a city park with frisbee golf, sand volleyball and a massive concert area. You could spend all day there.

#12b – Diatribe

A Brewers Brewery? Solid brewery overall but with very strong ABCs but lacking pizzazz. Perhaps by design?

#12c – TRVE

Very new brewery with a metal vibe serving solid beers but want to come back after they’ve been open longer.

#15 – Zebulon Artisan Ales

Striving hard to stay true to a point in time is really cool but the brewery itself isn’t too exciting to visit

#16a – Sierra Nevada (Mills River)

Beautiful, sprawling scenery and building with solid beers and good service but overpriced and overrated food.

#16b – Wicked Weed

An OG that still makes good beer, but lacks a really interesting aspect to the brewery experience. A fine place to drink.

Tier 4 – Solid Breweries

#18a – Ginger’s Revenge

A place to mix it up with some good ginger beer

#18b – Green Man

An institution with a great taproom and fine beers

Tier 5 – Fine Breweries

NONE

Not a complete list, but here are some we didn’t get to visit…sorry maybe next time!

  • Outsider
  • Catawba
  • Sweeten Creek
  • Hillman
  • One World
  • Asheville Brewing Company
  • White Labs