Thirsty Monk Brewery & Pub

Visited on a rainy day, went to the downstairs Belgian bar. They had Delerium beers on draft and one Asheville abbey ale. They are only brewing hard seltzers now, I pass. Enjoyed my visit, bartender really nice, I had the local ale it was solid. They also had bottles of several Trappist ales for purchase.

Visited 3/2020. 2 floors but didn't go to downstairs at all because I had enough street level floor. Next to busy road so it is little noisy because of traffic. Dark place and hate say but their belgian style beers were quite messy and bad.

spent a late evening in the main bar and downstairs for the Belgium styles. Great selection and comfortable. Nice people

Visited on vacation. A multilevel pace with different selections at each bar. Had a triple and a schlenkerla fastenbier (after Easter). Service was average. Crowded, but it was Saturday. Probably wouldn’t rush back but not bad.

Really interesting bar in downtown Asheville. Two sections - upstairs and down, one specialising more in US style beers, one more in Belgian styles, tho there is some crossover. Beers are a mix of own brews and guests. Nice relaxed place, tho´ the upstairs was pretty dead on the Wednesday evening that I went. Very friendly service. Great selection. Flights can mix own and guest beers. Liked pretty much everything that I tried, fave was probably the Woodstove winter ale. Prices were fair / good. Definitely a must-visit.

Yet another cool beer place in Asheville. Upstairs has American beer and downstairs has Belgian beer, though there is some exchange here. Their beers were pretty decent, especially the Belgian IPAs. Decent service. Most of other beer on tap was stuff easy to find, with a couple of locals and stuff I haven’t seen around D.C.

It has two floors. The bottom floors have Belgian Ales and the upper floor has other ales. It has a cozy atmosphere upstairs.

(Visited 06/2015): Thirsty Monk is located in downtown Asheville on Patton Ave off Coxe. Street parking is available in the surrounding area.

The building is bright purple with the logo painted on the side. The main floor opens to a bar with some tables past the entrance and the bar toward the left side farther back. Lots of breweriana, stickers and the like on the walls, and a large collection of tap handles. The beer list is on multiple chalkboards behind the bar. Downstairs is the Belgian bar, with a much darker and cozier atmosphere and its own bar. A couple couches for seating along with tables, and ceiling fans like upstairs.

The beer selection at Thirsty Monk is fairly robust and eclectic, numbering at over 25 taps. Samplers are available. On our visit the breweries represented included Thirsty Monk of course, plus Haw River, Highland, Foothills, and Black Mountain Ciderworks. Well over 100 bottles options too, including many North Carolina brewers, plus many domestic and imported (lots from Belgium) craft beers.

Service at both bars on a relatively busy Friday was good. The bartenders were friendly and knowledgeable.

We did not have food on the visit.

Overall this place has a well deserved spot near the top of the list of good beer places to visit in Asheville.