Meet-the-Author: A. F. Glenn on Asheville’s Spirited History,
Rise to Brewing Mecca   Drinking local harks back to the
founding of Asheville in 1798. Whether it be moonshine or craft
beer, the culture of local “hooch” is deeply ingrained in the
mountain dwellers of Western North Carolina. Asheville’s wealth
of beer-lovers earned the city the coveted Beer City, USA title
year after year and prompted West Coast beer giants Sierra
Nevada, New Belgium and Oskar Blues to establish production
facilities here.  There is nothing that will act like a
charm, restoring new life and vigor when weary, as a bottle of
our pure and wholesome beer. —1900 Asheville saloon ad  Beer
writer and educator Anne Fitten Glenn started chronicling this
intoxicating history, from the suds-soaked saloons of “Hell’s
Half Acre” to the region’s explosion into a beer mecca, while
freelancing for Asheville newspapers. She moved to Asheville in
1997, soon after the town’s craft brewvival began (yes, it’s a
double first name).  Her regular Brews