Asheville 2016 | Sierra Nevada Brewery.

Anytime Ryan and I travel, one of the first things we he looks into is local breweries to check out. While we'd heard great things about Asheville's Wicked Weed and Asheville Brewing Company, an Asheville local told us we should visit Sierra Nevada's east coast brewery, as it was "out of this world impressive." Thus, we decided to go corporate and see what all the fuss was about.

Um, yeah, so this place was pretty much the Hogwarts of breweries. So big! So beautiful! So unlike any brewery we have in Tampa!

I'll be the first to say that I'm not a beer drinker. Having said that, I'll always try a flight of beers (the smaller the better!) to get a feel for the brewery and just to say I tried. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed every single beer. Otra Vez was my absolute favorite with its combination of prickly pear cactus and grapefruit. We finished off our beers and then threw back some duck fat fries. It's safe to say that no calories were burned in the consumption of this meal. But so good. SO GOOD.

After we ate our weight in french fries, we made our way through the bar to the outside patio. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and the place was jam packed with families, couples, and dogs. A live country trio played string instruments and we sipped our beers along the grass before trekking through their homegrown vegetable and herb garden.

 As expected for an attraction of this magnitude, the grounds also had a little gift shop with Sierra Nevada brand everything. From beers (duh) to sweatshirts and t-shirts to beer specific pint glasses, it was tempting to fork over some cash for souvenirs. Then I remembered that I have no real emotional attachment to any kind of beer, so I decided against it. Maybe if it was the Sierra Nevada Winery?

All in all,  if you're heading up to Asheville any time soon, I would definitely recommend a trip to the SNB. We spent about three hours there, and we felt like we were able to do and see everything we wanted. The grounds were absolutely gorgeous, I got to eat delicious food, and I even found a beer I could tolerate drinking enjoy. Can't go wrong there!

 Have you been to the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Asheville? What did you think?