A mural of Henry VIII covers the north wall of Wicked Weed’s 15-barrel Brewpub in downtown Asheville—a nod to the 16th century English monarch whose disdain for hops and, more importantly, the impact they were having on his ability to make money off the country’s beer production, led him to utter a phrase that became the namesake of this popular brewery, as well as its top-selling product. 

“Hops,” said the king, “are a wicked and pernicious weed.” 

Now in its second decade of operation, Wicked Weed is a cornerstone of Asheville’s beer scene. With four production facilities and an award-winning restaurant, it was recently described by Beer Connoisseur as the “the jewel of Asheville’s brewing scene.“ 

While not the first brewery in town (that distinction goes to Highland Brewing), nor the biggest (the area is home to the sprawling secondary facilities of Sierra Nevada, New Belgium Brewing and Oskar Blues), Wicked Weed has a solid reputation for edgy and finely crafted beers made from high-quality ingredients. (Wicked Weed co-founder Ryan Guthy once told the Raleigh-based apparel maker Peter Millar that they tracked down organic watermelons for a sour ale called Sandiaca: “We’re cutting them up and we’re mashing them in ourselves.”) 

To be sure, Wicked Weed is a powerful magnet for beer lovers, who flock to its downtown Brewpub, its flagship location, where a rotating selection of more than two dozen beers are offered on tap. “We make beers that sometimes people don’t expect to taste good—and we make them really well,” says Brewpub General Manager Russ Brown. 

The Brewpub’s free tours—available five times a day, seven days a week—are among the most popular tours in Asheville. Meanwhile, the brewery’s top-selling Pernicious India Pale Ale, an explosion of hops with a fruity flavor, is currently sold in 11 states, the District of Columbia and Manhattan (and will be available in an additional 10 states along the east coast in spring 2024) and has been awarded medals by both the Great American Beer Festival and U.S. Open Beer Championship, alongside a dozen other Wicked Weed brews that have medaled in these competitions. 

Having made a name for itself with West Coast–style IPAs and barrel-aged sours, Wicked Weed catapulted out of the gate and now, more than 10 years later, remains a centerpiece of downtown Asheville’s craft brew offerings. Here, we track a few of the milestone events that helped to shape the company and its beer. 

2012 — THE BEGINNING

Wicked Weed opened its Brewpub in December 2012, becoming the 13th brewery to set up shop in Asheville. The founders were a group of five—a coming together of two families, the Guthys and the Dickinsons. The Dickinson siblings had worked in other successful breweries and took the lead on recipe creation. The Guthys, meanwhile, whose family boasts a sharp set of business chops, took the lead on sales, marketing and financing. 

The Wicked Weed Brewpub, located in a former hardware store on Biltmore Avenue, showcased work from local artisans, along with a bartop made from a 200-year-old piece of Black Gum that carried embedded musket balls from the Civil War. 

At its opening, the Brewpub encompassed the same collection of offerings it does today—a restaurant, tasting room, courtyard beer garden and outdoor patio—making it easily one of the biggest outposts for craft beer in Asheville. It offered an astonishing 17 beers on tap, while many taprooms offered just five or six, churning out new batches and recipes at an electric pace. 

Although Asheville’s food scene was still in its early years, Wicked Weed had the foresight to want the restaurant to be just as impressive as the beer. Recruiting a team of talented chefs—including John Rice, who was hired as a line cook in 2012 and now serves as the Brewpub’s executive chef—Wicked Weed introduced a menu of “enlightened pub food,” which is a guiding principle that still wins fans today. 

“We want the food menu to keep up with the integrity of the beer,” Brown says. “We want this to be a craft experience all around.”

2014 — WICKED WEED GROWS LIKE A … 

Wicked Weed enjoyed quick success and expanded rapidly, prompting many to joke that Wicked Weed was, well, growing like one. 

By 2014, less than two years after it opened, the company launched the Funkatorium, a 13,000-square-foot facility dedicated to its barrel-aged sour beers on downtown’s Cox Avenue. At the same time, Wicked Weed announced plans for an even bigger 50-barrel brewhouse in Candler, which now operates as Wicked Weed West, with a taproom, food truck and bottle shop. 

Today, the Wicked Weed umbrella also includes the top-rated Cultura restaurant, led by Chef Eric Morris, which was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2020. 

Having enjoyed a meteoric rise, and a stellar reputation as a golden child of Asheville’s craft beer industry, Wicked Weed was acquired by Anheuser-Busch in 2017, joining about 10 other craft breweries in A-B’s “High End” portfolio and paving the way for continued growth while allowing the founders to stay focused on creating good beer. 

“We believed and still believe to this day that it was the right move for our company’s stability, our employees and the future growth of our brand,” Walt Dickinson told Forbes magazine in 2020. “We’re still the same company with the same ethos: an emphasis on giving back to the community and making great beer.”

Today, Wicked Weed’s founders are still guiding operations, with Ryan Guthy serving as president of the company and Walt Dickinson leading innovation and creative direction for the company.

2019 — AWARDS & WORLD RECORDS 

In 2019, Wicked Weed earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records, executing a “Tap Takeover” at the Raleigh Beer Garden, where 177 of the beer garden’s 350 taps each poured a unique Wicked Weed beer, including brewpub favorites, rare verticals and new offerings. The event highlighted the scale and scope of Wicked Weed’s brewing abilities. 

That same year, Wicked Weed brought home three medals from the U.S. Open Beer Championship, including a gold for Coastal Love Hazy IPA and a silver for the always-popular Pernicious. 

To date, Wicked Weed has won nearly 20 of these awards— which also includes a gold for Red Angel, a balanced raspberry sour that Walt Dickinson called his second-favorite beer after Pernicious. 

2023 — DEEPENING ASHEVILLE ROOTS 

Wicked Weed emerged from the pandemic with a refocused effort on engaging with the community in Asheville and Western North Carolina. It started to attract a wider crowd of local fans with a Tuesday “Family Night” special where kids 12 and younger receive a free meal—often on the dog-friendly patio—and “New Beer Thursday” where pints of weekly new releases are priced at just $4. 

Its menu is an impressive collection of seasonal dishes and beer-friendly bites made with locally grown meats and produce. The Pub Burger is a top favorite, made with beef from nearby Hickory Nut Gap Farm, and the Kimchi Fried Chicken Sandwich has a beautiful bite that pairs well with a pint of Pernicious. For those looking for a snack, check out the candied brussels sprouts, which are pan seared with sugar, salt and butter and dashed with whole grain mustard, cider vinegar and a balsamic reduction. And while the beers almost always take center stage, Wicked Weed also offers cocktails and non-alcohol beverages. 

Wicked Weed’s Beers that Build program, meanwhile, is a monthly series of beer releases at the Brewpub where $1 for every pour of the beer is donated to different local organizations. 

Proceeds from its “Milk & Cookies” imperial stout, for example, made with golden raisins, cinnamon and vanilla, went to local groups addressing the issue of food insecurity. A session IPA called “Appalachia” was used to help the Asheville-based Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, which protects local lands and waterways. 

“With all of this, we’re inviting people to connect with us,” Brown says. “A lot of people have heard about Wicked Weed, but we want people to know what we’re about.”