Asheville Beer Review

I have always heard the rumors that Asheville, NC is a beer Mecca.  After a day or so there, I can attest that these rumors are all absolutely true.  Upon entering the downtown area we found our way to two different speciality beer shops that both had a rather large selection of micro and high gravity beers.  I left each shop with a box full of beer and will have to review them one at a time because to do any less would be a disservice to these magnificent brews.  Along the way though we made a stop off at a local downtown brewery the Lexington Avenue Brewery, or Lab.

My choice at the Lab was the chocolate stout which poured thick and creamy with excellent head formation and retention.  If you have ever seen a proper Guinness pour then you have seen the cascade down the side of the pint glass as the beer clears from a tan color to a deep black.  The taste was full bodied, smooth and of course chocolately.  My wife ordered the Oktoberfest brew which was also delicious.  This brew was crisp and full of sharp wheat flavor but also managed to be very drinkable.  This was probably the fastest my wife has ever downed a beer.

Day two of our trip was cut short by some thoroughly nasty weather but not before a stop off and a pint of Foothills stout.  Now its confession time, I had no idea what I was ordering at the time, it was the only brew on the chalkboard that I didn’t recognize and therefore had to give it a shot.  First off, I got a rich coffee flavor and aroma, the drink was smooth and robust but not aggressively so.  I would find out, thanks to Google of course, that what I got was from a different North Carolina brewery and their Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout.  This was the kind of brew that left me wanting more from that brewery so it succeeded in its goal and maybe Winston-Salem, NC needs to be added to the list of destinations. 

With all that said a trip back to Asheville is on the agenda already, with so many fine breweries in the area there is just no way we can resist the opportunity to have finely crafted brews with such a relatively short drive.