Students at Biltmore Forestry School prepare for Sangerfest Celebration, Asheville, NC, c. 1910, E.M. Ball Photographic Collection, Special Collections, D. H. Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina at Asheville
This exhibit, located at Wedge Brewing at the Grove Arcade, introduces visitors to the history of beer in North Carolina. In addition to homebrewing, thirsty settlers enjoyed drinks at brewhouses, some of the first structures built in the colonies. But with state-wide and national prohibition access to beer remained limited until beer became legal in the state in 1935. Even so, the North Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) law made brewpubs—establishments brewing beer and selling it on the same premises—illegal. Renewed public support, continued lobbying campaigns, and revised law allowed craft beer culture to flourish over the past seventy-five years. Asheville, North Carolina has been named “Beer City” numerous times and boasts the highest concentration of breweries per capita in the country.
