Wicked Weed Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina By Anne-Fitten Glenn
One of the most creatively named brewpubs in the universe opened in downtown Asheville in December 2012—and Wicked Weed Brewing has been packed out with beer lovers ever since. The name does not refer to what you might think (or hope it does), but to an apocryphal quote attributed to King Henry VIII, who banned hops, calling them “a wicked and pernicious weed.”
The brew team’s creative twists on that wicked weed produce a variety of delicious and award-winning beers. Pushing boundaries seems to be a given—nay, a requirement, for these folks. For example, brewer/owner Luke Dickinson recently created a series of nine FIFA World Cup beers inspired by countries in the tourney, such as a sugar cane and lime-infused beer, inspired by the Capirinha, Brazil’s favorite cocktail.
Wicked Weed Brewing was conceived by brothers Walt and Luke Dickinson and their partners Denise, Rick and Ryan Guthy—all of whom have an active hand in running the multiple facets of the business. Luke and Eric Lypoldt, who came to Wicked Weed from Dogfish Head, spend most of their time in the brew house, although everyone has a hand in bouncing around creative brew ideas.
In the spring of 2014, the Wicked Weed team acquired a warehouse on Coxe Avenue in Asheville that has been transformed into barrel-aging facility housing literally hundreds of barrels. It’s a beer barrel aging mecca and adds a myriad of wood-aged and sour beers to the Weed’s highly popular hop-forward and Belgian lines of brews.
The food’s pretty stellar as well—pair the in-house ground burger with the much-beloved Double Freak IPA for a robust and satisfying gastro experience.
Wicked Weed Brewing
91 Biltmore Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801
Phone:(828) 575-9599
www.wickedweedbrewing.com