Best of · Beer City
The best breweries in Asheville
Asheville has more breweries per capita than almost anywhere in the country. Where to actually start — the South Slope crawl, the originals, and the riverside taprooms — and how the scene came back after Helene.
Beer City, briefly
Asheville didn't get called Beer City by accident: there are more than thirty breweries in and around town, and the good news for a first-timer is that most of the ones worth your afternoon sit within a few walkable blocks. Skip the brewery bus tour and just walk the South Slope.
How we pick: these are long-running, well-reviewed places, not paid placements — we favor spots with a steady track record and strong current standing in public reviews (Google and Yelp), checked as of June 2026. We don't run our own star ratings. Hours, ownership, and reviews all change; check the latest before you go.
The originals
Start with the breweries that built the scene:
- Highland Brewing — Asheville's first craft brewery (1994) and now a full beer campus on the east side, with a rooftop bar, a meadow that hosts festivals, and disc golf. The Gaelic Ale is the local default.
- Green Man Brewery — an early South Slope anchor; the three-story “Green Mansion” has one of the better rooftops in town and a proper English-style ESB.
- Wicked Weed — the Biltmore Avenue brewpub does hop-forward IPAs; their separate Funkatorium on the South Slope is the sour-and-wild-ale house, one of the deepest barrel programs in the Southeast.
- Burial Beer — small footprint, huge reputation; a serious case for the best brewery in North Carolina. The Surf Wax IPA is a state classic, and the beer-garden mural is the South Slope's most-photographed wall.
The South Slope crawl
The South Slope — the old industrial blocks just downhill from Pack Square — packs close to a dozen breweries into a few streets you can do entirely on foot. Beyond Burial, Green Man, and the Funkatorium, work in:
- Hi-Wire Brewing — lagers and approachable mixed styles; the Big Top taproom is a reliable, roomy start.
- Hillman Beer — pub-style, award-winning takes on traditional styles, with a kitchen that's better than it needs to be.
It's a low-stakes neighborhood to wander: order a flight, find the next door, repeat. Food trucks rotate through most of the yards.
Out by the river — and a Helene note
Away from downtown, two riverside spots are worth the short hop: Zillicoah Beer in Woodfin pours open-fermented, lager-leaning beer on a gravel lot right on the French Broad, and the Wedge in the River Arts District is the original riverside beer garden. The Wedge's Foundy Street location was destroyed in the 2024 Helene flood and has been rebuilding — check their site for the current taproom status before you point the car at the river.
If you've got a half-day, Sierra Nevada's East Coast brewery sits about 20 minutes south in Mills River — a destination-grade taproom, restaurant, and grounds, not a quick pint.
Taproom hours and the riverside lineup are still shifting as the River Arts District rebuilds — confirm a brewery is open (and where) before you make the trip.