A resource for craft brewing businesses and their patrons, the Asheville Ale Trail magazine highlights the importance and popularity of the region’s breweries, wineries, and distilleries for locals and visitors alike.

Katie Eastridge, Marketing Consultant for the Asheville Ale Trail, said that Asheville is regarded as “Beer City” by many, and is well known for the industry. “The Ale Trail helps people to see how many different varieties and specialties there are within the beverage industry, and how far across the region these locations are spread,” Eastridge said. “It shows that the beer scene really helps to make Asheville what it is.”

Publishing 40,000 copies during each six month cycle, Eastridge said area businesses run out of their stash of the free Ale Trail magazines quickly. She said the magazines can be found at all of the large tourist destinations like the Biltmore Estate, Asheville Regional Airport, and at many breweries around the region. “Breweries go through them really fast,” she said. “Some visitors take a copy to check off the places they visit, and keep it so they can check off more places when they come back again.”

Private groups visiting Asheville often request copies directly as well, according to Eastridge. She said that wedding parties are a large percent of these requests, passing out copies to attendees so that each person can have a guide for themselves while they visit.

Eastridge said that while Asheville has that famous “Beer City draw”, the Ale Trail helps to bring exposure to some of the smaller towns in the region. “It’s a really great regional resource for beer drinkers,” she said. “It makes it easy to have one place where industry information is gathered up and easy to find.

“Locals use this guide just as often, and some people say that they keep copies in the door pocket of their car,” Eastridge said. “They also like to pick up new copies; there are always new breweries, tap rooms, and locations popping up around the region, and we are continually reaching out to newer and smaller businesses that don’t have a listing yet. There’s something new in every issue. The Summer/Fall 2019 issue contained 76 listings, and the Fall/Winter 2022/2023 issue contained 144 listings. Locals like to know the latest of what is going on in the beer world, and this is one easy way for everyone to keep up.”

While locals and visitors love the resource, brewers in the industry are just as excited about the Ale Trail as a resource as well, according to Eastridge. She said that everyone gets a free listing and a place on the map. “The graphic designer at Green Man said that he used the Ale Trail as a resource before ever working in the beer industry, and encouraged Green Man to get a featured listing in the magazine once he started working there,” she said.

Owning a seasonal outdoor recreation business of her own which offers a SUP tour on the French Broad River that stops at multiple breweries, Eastridge also said that she wanted that business featured in the Ale Trail before ever working with the publication. 

“The region has very active beer drinkers,” she said. “I always pictured the outdoor industry and the beer industry working together. I’m not a brewer, but I see how the industries layer on each other providing mutually beneficial exposure. The Ale Trail is a valuable resource for a variety of businesses across more than one industry.”