Jeff N.
Yelp
Before I ever made my first trip to Asheville, I had heard about this brewery. I had heard through word of mouth of a brewery outside of the downtown Asheville contingent in a small, little town -- I discovered later was in Weaverville. And this brewery had a taproom only opened two days a week from 1 PM to 6 PM. And if you were able to find and patronize this brewery at the given time, you would have beers that few have had before that would tickle your mind and behind.
Zebulon Artisan Ales lives up to the hype; a nano brewery that produces killer Belgian-style and farmhouse ales.
If you have a car, or willing to Uber it, you can make your way up I-26 north until you reach the exit for Weaverville; making your way east to the small downtown area where behind the downtown strip next to a laundromat is an old firehouse building -- the home of glorious Zebulon. Unlike most breweries in the area, Zebulon serves primarily as a production facility to brew and bottle, with only using Fridays and Saturdays to open their little bar area to the public. Being only available to frequent on these does create a demand that is worth every penny.
The brewery offers small pours and flights in addition to larger pours for the sake of human goodness. Of course, they offer bottles to take home. The inventory available is limited, so if you're looking to grab something specifically, you need to follow their website and/or Facebook page. On this given day, I enjoyed a lager flight, which was quite magical, as well as some small pours -- such as their Ameuze three-year-old sour ale and Me and the Devil #2 Russian Imperial Stout. This brought me a sense of purity and pride from which I knew there would be no return from a state of banality. I sometimes wonder why I don't quit my job and open up a food stand in Weaverville so I can enjoy these beers constantly. Naturally, as my only stop there on that given weekend, I required bottles to bring back to my home in South Florida. So I bought two bottles of their L'Internationale Biere de Garde, one of their Ameuze, and one of their tart cherry Ameuze, which hadn't been announced for public purchase yet.
My visit to the glorious Zebulon was magical on many levels. Therefore, as a beer connoisseur, I implore you to take time to visit this spot if you're in the area on the weekend. Only about ten minutes from downtown Asheville, visit Zebulon then walk around to the downtown strip and eat something. Hell, if you're hiking around Mount Mitchell or joyriding along the Blue Ridge Parkway, stop here. This place is a slice of fried gold... or a glass of golden goddesses guiding you to glory.