Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria

Turns out Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria in Asheville NC is the one place to stop in Asheville if you're gonna stop at all. Just like Jamie said.

It will be extremely easy to find yourself staying way too long and enjoying yourself way too much.

An extensive selection of tasty local beers. Friendly people (and barmaid). Very good pizza.

Best part of every day.

Notes on Asheville, North Carolina

Preceding my visit I heard the following about Asheville, all of which turned out to be true or at least probably true:

“I was born and raised in Asheville. Went away for 20 years. When I came back this year it had all changed and I couldn't afford to live there any more.”

“People go there and fall in love with it. They move there and never leave.”

“San Francisco east. And hippies.”

“You could spend a week in Asheville easy. Sampling the beer.”

“They may have more lesbians per capita than anywhere else in the US.”

Here's my brief take on spending just a day wandering around the downtown area.

George Washington Vanderbilt II purchased 125,000 acres there in the late 1800s and played a huge role in its development. He hired Gifford Pinchot to manage the vast mountain forests. This was the first time in US history where forest was managed and not just clear-cut with no thought for the future. Later Pinchot went on to be friends with Teddy Roosevelt who appointed him the first chief of the US Forest Service. Later in life, Pinchot moved and designed and built an interesting home and landscaped grounds, Grey Towers west of Milford PA and later was elected governor of PA--twice in two non-consecutive terms. We visited Grey Towers earlier in July and that's a story unto itself.

But I diverge. For those who haven't been there I would describe Asheville in terms of being a combination of other places, making it unique in its own right.

I would say that it's one part Boulder Colorado due to the mountain splendor and the great beer. However, the mountains are all green in Asheville while in Boulder they're blue/grey rock.

There's a dash of New York city urban sophistication due to the restaurants, art galleries, cool old buildings (which the city elders have had the great sense to not tear down), and happening music scene in clubs and spontaneously in the streets and public spaces.

I'd mix in one part downtown Sedona due to the new-age vibe and incense and peppermint wafting from certain areas. However, in Asheville it's a bit more upscale where in Sedona it seems blatantly touristy.

Finally, I would mix in a bit of San Francisco due to the diverse people you meet there--the art movie theater--the music scene. And the hills.

It's a great town and I would most definitely recommend it to anyone for a visit--not just for the beer but the whole package. The streets are clean and nice and the people are uniformly friendly.

N.B. You will find other information on the Asheville beer scene from a Pennsultuckian's slant, over at Pubcrawlin.

French Broad Brewing

When I heard of French Broad Brewing of Asheville, I immediately imagined a french broad making french ales in her farmhouse! And maybe goat cheese.

Reality much more conventional however, is such that French Broad is a river in western NC that flows into Tennessee.

Sorry!

Musings on Ales and Hop Flavor and Aroma

Being from NEPA I regularly enjoy local brews like Weyerbacher Hops Infusion and Double Simcoe IPA; Victory Hop Devil, Hop Wallop> and the seasonal Yakima Twilight; Dogfish Head 60 and 90 minute I.P.A; Troegs Nugget Nectar and more recently Stoudt's American Pale Ale.

These beers are similar with respect to the intensity of hop-forward aroma and taste, and also similar to the west cost ``hoppy'' ales like Bear Republic's Racer 5, Lagunitas Hop Stupid, Stone, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA, and other beers of that ilk.

But after visiting Barley's and Jack of the Wood in Asheville and Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem, and trying some let's say mid-south or Appalachian or just simply North Carolina beers, I came to the realization that there's another different and excellent take on hoppy brews bearing a pale ale or india pale ale style.

I had Hoppyum IPA, Seeing Double IPA, and a Pilot Mountain Pale Ale at Foothills; Green Man IPA at Jack of the Wood; and French Broad Brewery's Rye Hopper and Pisgah Brewing Company's Organic Pale Ale at Barley's.

And later in Memphis I had a Yazoo Pale Ale and Schlafly Dry-Hopped APA from Nashville and St. Louis respectively. These were more hop-forward and in similar in intensity to east and west coast hoppy ales.

So basically, I book-ended a few North Carolina beers with beers from the mid-west and my familiar east and west coast hoppy beers.

What did I learn?
My totally non-scientific conclusion is that if you're coming from an east or west coast hoppy ale mindset, you will find some of these styles of beers from the North Carolina area of the country, different. Wow, big revelation, no?

These beers are great in their own right however and are not to be dismissed. What makes them great are the more subtle hop-forward aroma and flavor. This makes them highly sessionable as they don't have the ``burn'' of the more hop-forward beers which sometimes, a pint is all one can handle. The bitterness is there all right, giving them that fantastic dryness that is hard to beat when it's hot.

Bravo!