Tasty Beverage Company Opens on South Slope

Tasty Beverage Company, a bottle shop based out of Raleigh, opened the doors to their Asheville location on Thursday evening. I dropped by Friday morning to check out the space and was quite impressed with their space and selection.

When you first walk inside, directly in front of you are two shelves, one that features Asheville and other North Carolina beers, and one that features new releases and seasonal beers (along with a small section for ciders and gluten free offerings). The rest of the shelves are broken down into easy to follow location categories such as “United States” and “Belgium.”  They also have glassware, books, and Tasty Beverage apparel for sale.

The space is large and airy, with very modern furniture and décor, which is a nice change of pace from the rustic, “reclaimed wood” theme that dominates many Asheville joints. There is a small bar in the corner, with plenty of additional seating at tables and benches.

The bar features two separate draft lines, one for onsite consumption pours, and one for growler fills. There are ten different options of draft beers for drinking, and four options for growler fills. The ten taps at the main bar each have their own manual pressure control so that each beer can be poured perfectly. The four draft lines for growler fills use a “counter pressure” system, much like on a bottling line, which increases the shelf life of growlers.

When I arrived around noon on Friday, they did not yet have any beers available for growler fills, but I was told that the beers that would be available will either be popular beers, or beers that are more difficult to find in bottles. The draft list for pours was small in comparison to Appalachian Vintner (the only other bottle shop in town with a bar inside), but impressive. There were only a few North Carolina brews available (which I almost prefer, since every other bar in town has such an emphasis on “local”), and they also had beers by La Trappe, Evil Twin, and Prairie Artisan Ales. In addition to the taps, you can choose any beer from the large cooler to consume on-site, which drastically increases your options.

Overall, it’s a great addition to the South Slope, a place where you can sit and enjoy a beer, or grab a local brew that you just had on draft at a nearby brewery, or both.

Tasty Beverage Company is located at 162 Coxe Ave.