Beer City Festival

At the recommendation of a friend who raved about this festival, I booked a weekend trip to Asheville to check it out for myself.
I’ve been to numerous beer festivals and the majority of them are in places with no shade where you are baking in the sun and turning red like a lobster. But this is such a great venue. There are trees to stand under, the fountain to cool off in and the stage with great live entertainment.
And let’s not forget about the beer. Nearly all Asheville and WNC breweries were represented here. But unlike other beer festivals, breweries here do special beers for this event. Of all the beers I tried, all were decent or better except for one that I had dumped. Burial had some amazing beers, same with Thirsty Monk and I found some nice surprises at Pisgah, Highland and Southern Appalachian.
And can’t forget stopping at the Unilocal booth and winning the last water bottle. Thanks Kipper!
I have to agree with my friend that this is the best beer festival in the entire state of North Carolina!

I have been to many beer festivals over the years and this was not only my first beer fest in Asheville, but my first of any kind of major event in Asheville. Let me start off by saying the town did not let me down; Ashevillians are a wonderful bunch that are extremely heart-​warming and long to have afternoons like Saturday… just fun-​fueled good ‘ol time. Ok, to the beer fest itself… the space was fantastic and the perfect size and layout so there was ample room for everyone to have space yet we were all still close to one another. It was extremely easy lay out as you picked one side and worked your way around the square, but you could stop to take a breather, slug some water, and listen to some good tunes in the grass in the middle until it was time for more beer! The beer itself was exactly what I have come to expect from beer makers around these parts… fantastic! So many great breweries from the immediate Asheville area, but also so many new breweries that you don’t see a lot of out here unless you are digging around a place like the Vintaner… it’s too hard to name and/​or remember them all.
All in all, the event was fantastic and it couldn’t have fallen on a more beautiful day… if this is what an Asheville beer fest is like I can’t wait for the next one!

Kipper is the best. Thank you so much for the sunglasses. :) so happy to have red shades on this beautiful day