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ClosePosh without being stuffy, casual without being boring – The Barrel Room features racks of barrels, skylights, glass garage doors, a catering kitchen, and a private bar with views of our barrel-aged beer production space. We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. These spaces promise to be hopping on Saturday, May 4, for the brewery’s Big Bash celebration, during which multiple new beers will be available on draft, including OG Dub IPA, named in honor of Wong, and The Long Game tropical lager.
Highland Brewing: Visiting the First Asheville Brewery
Highland Brewing rolls out renovations in S&W Market, East Asheville - Citizen Times
Highland Brewing rolls out renovations in S&W Market, East Asheville.
Posted: Tue, 28 Feb 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
For more information, visit Follow Highland on Twitter at @HighlandBrews and Instagram at @HighlandBrewing. Highland Brewing Company was founded in 1994 by retired engineer and entrepreneur Oscar Wong. As the first craft brewery to open in Asheville, NC since Prohibition, Highland became known as the pioneer of the city’s now-booming craft beer industry. Highland's commitment to quality and sustainability boasts the sixth largest solar array in an American craft brewery.
HISTORY OF THE FIRST ASHEVILLE BREWERY
In December 1994, when downtown Asheville was sleepy, Highland rolled out its first kegs from the basement to the alley. Built almost entirely of retrofitted dairy equipment, our original brewery could produce up to 6,500 barrels of beer per year in about 12,000 square feet of space. So Highland Brewery, which many locals consider the founder of the Asheville NC craft beer scene, has been doing it for more than 25 years. And even now, after the big brands have stolen the media spotlight, it remains one of the best breweries in Asheville. Operations began in the basement of downtown Asheville’s Barley’s Taproom, where Wong used retrofitted dairy equipment to create his beer. He continued there for 13 years and over time developed the recipes for what would become regional favorites like the Gaelic Ale, Black Mocha Stout, and Oatmeal Porter.
HIGHLAND BREWERY ASHEVILLE GUIDE
The rooftop beer garden offers views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Create an industrial chic event in Highland Brewing’s bi-level Event Center with soaring ceilings filled with natural light. The main bar features Highland’s full line up of year-round and seasonal beers. The space is connected with stairs and an elevator and is also equipped with a catering kitchen, stage, and full AV equipment perfect for speakers or presentations. Today, Gaelic Ale can be found in nearly every area taproom, grocery store and even most gas stations. And considering how IPAs have come to dominate the craft beer industry, it’s all the more remarkable that such an unusual style helped put Asheville on the map.
None of the other Asheville NC breweries we’ve visited offer quite so much behind the scenes access. Their Asheville beer tour happens twice on Monday and Tuesday, and on four different occasions each afternoon for the rest of the week. Founded in 1994 by retired engineer Oscar Wong, Highland Brewing was the pioneer of craft brewing in Asheville. Which has, of course, since become the Blue Ridge Mountains’ hottest destination for serious beer connoisseurs. Highland Brewing got its start in 1994 as a retirement hobby for former engineer Oscar Wong.
The Meadow
Highland Brewing Refreshes Brand - Brewbound.com
Highland Brewing Refreshes Brand.
Posted: Tue, 20 Feb 2018 08:00:00 GMT [source]
But unlike so many fly-by-night microbrewers gone rogue, the first of the many Asheville, NC breweries now has a quarter of a century to its name. Let us craft an authentic brewery experience for your next special occasion. Private event venues include the Rooftop, Event Center and Barrel Room. A vast tree-lined space with shady table seating and a lush lawn to bring your own chairs. The Meadow bar is open for the summer featuring our year-round and small batch beers; cider and wine also available.
Wong and McDermott liked the balanced flavor of the English brown ale base but didn’t know the creation would be “it” as far as a flagship brew went. Wong says that status came along more naturally and actually dawned on him a few years into Highland’s run when he was ready to try new things and possibly take the brewery in a different direction. After visiting North Carolina for the first time, Senior Writer Jonathon Engels and wife Emma spent 2 years exploring Western NC in search of a homestead property.
The packaging hall is where we put our beer into bottles and cans. Changing any of the form inputs will cause the list of events to refresh with the filtered results. Visit our hilltop brewery and see what else goes on beyond fermentation. Additionally, they repurpose spent grains as cow feed, use repurposed materials for some of their brewing systems, and have several mindful operating protocols to minimize energy usage and waste. But the Highland Brewing Company was the very first Asheville brewery.
Highland Brewing was founded in 1994 by retired engineer and entrepreneur Oscar Wong, establishing it as the pioneer of Asheville, NC’s now booming craft beer industry. Proudly regional, Highland’s beers are distributed in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Highland is committed to quality and sustainability, boasting the sixth largest solar array in an American craft brewery. Today, the company is led by Wong’s daughter, Leah Wong Ashburn, and serves as the largest independent, family-owned, and operated brewery native to the Southeast.
Highland Brewing likes to see itself as a business incarnation of the American dream. Of all the myriad North Carolina breweries, it’s the largest “native” craft beer producer, and remains one of the top breweries in Asheville. Close The Meadow is our tree-lined outdoor space featuring a seasonal bar, live music, and special events. CloseOur Event Center houses three levels of industrial chic private event space with soaring ceilings, expansive windows, a stage, a mezzanine, two bars, and more.
As a perennial feature on Asheville beer tours and one of the city’s best breweries, Highland Brewing Co doesn’t really need to do much more to get noticed. And yet they do, with their many community-minded and environmentally aware initiatives. In 2020, Highland will also be opening a second site in downtown Asheville, at the S&W Cafeteria.
Today, the company is led by Wong’s daughter, Leah Wong Ashburn, and serves as the largest independent, family-owned and operated brewery native to the Southeast. Located in a rehabilitated manufacturing facility in East Asheville, the brewery affords space for thousands of visitors to enjoy limited-release beers, tours, and live music. In 2021, Highland will make its return to downtown Asheville to open doors on a second taproom within the city's first food hall – The S&W Market. “City on a Hill”—that’s what Highland Brewing Company is to Asheville’s prolific craft beer scene.
Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion. Her tenure has also overlapped with large enterprises such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and Kirin Holdings purchasing numerous smaller craft breweries. Wong and Wong Ashburn confirm that Highland has indeed fielded offers from so-called “Big Beer” and has received pitches to buy other breweries. Neither avenue is appealing to the Highland ownership team, and there’s also zero interest in establishing taprooms outside Asheville.
After spending years owning and running a Charlotte-based engineering firm that designed nuclear waste facilities, Wong bought a house in the sleepy mountain town of Asheville and was ready to settle into a slower-paced life. Instead, his home brewing hobby snowballed, and next thing he knew, he was opening a brewery. That mix of consistency and innovation has proved key to Highland’s sustained operations in an ever-changing industry. One notable exception is the popular Cold Mountain Winter Ale, which intentionally evolves slightly from year to year with different ingredients. Highland is now the largest family-owned brewery in the Southeast, and currently run by Oscar’s daughter, CEO Leah Wong Ashburn. Visiting Highland should be a big draw for anyone doing Asheville tours.
