One Of America's Top Independent Craft Breweries Is An Eco-Friendly North Carolina Spot With Famous Sips

The United States has more than 9,500 craft breweries, and 420 of them are in North Carolina. The state ranks tenth in the entire country for craft beer and boasts the North Carolina Ale Trail by Rail, a scenic train ride that stops at several great craft beer spots. One in particular is the expansive, resort-like campus of Sierra Nevada Brewing, located just 20 minutes south of Asheville's Biltmore Estate, aka "America's Largest Home."

Sierra Nevada is one of the country's three main craft brewery pioneers, starting as a California homebrew operation in the late 1970s by two men using DIY equipment. In 1978, President Carter signed a law enabling Americans to brew beer at home, and that same year, the American Homebrewers Association was formed, revolutionizing the craft beer industry. Of course, as with so many enterprises, craft brewing has evolved, with many smaller brands getting bought up by larger conglomerates where business is the bottom line. Yet despite its prolific distribution and name recognition (and that iconic green label!), Sierra Nevada is still privately owned by its original founder, environmentalist Ken Grossmann, who bought out his co-founder in 1998. The brewery has become renowned not only for its flagship pale ale but also for its commitment to sustainability and the environment.

Sierra Nevada has two main locations: one in Chico, California, and the other in Mills River, right outside Asheville, North Carolina. Drive through the front gates and take the winding road through trees and boulders all the way up to the sprawling, chateau-like mansion and curated grounds, and it feels like you're entering a movie when you drive up to the brewery.

Sierra Nevada has always had a keen emphasis on sustainability. It sources its ingredients, particularly hops and barley, from local farmers, thus cutting down on transportation emissions. It's committed to using organic ingredients that aren't grown or produced with toxic chemicals like pesticides. The LEED-certified Mills River location features at least 2,000 solar panels on its expansive roof along with solar-paneled "solar trees" situated throughout the massive parking lot to mitigate the "heat island effect." Sierra Nevada boasts that the company is at almost 100% in terms of solid waste management, meticulously recycling the massive amounts of grain byproduct left over from the brewing process. It also treats wastewater onsite, has composting facilities, and generates electricity using not only solar but also bio-fueled turbines.

So much packaging waste is also created from brewing, whether it's plastic shrink-wrapped bags or polyester materials, so Sierra Nevada decided to pursue a grant to help overhaul its recycling program and has gotten its craft brewing neighbors involved as well. In North Carolina, Sierra Nevada has its own organic gardens that supply food for its taproom kitchens, including mushrooms. Sierra Nevada has received accolades for its environmental commitment, including receiving platinum zero-waste certification from the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council.

In the spring of 2025, Sierra Nevada announced a new five-year sustainability plan committed to reducing emissions and conserving more water. To celebrate this, Sierra Nevada released a special-edition, hop-forward beer they called Hop Forward Hoppy Ale made with organic hops. The five-year plan includes investment in alternative energy infrastructure, financial and personnel investment in nonprofits, promoting initiatives for responsible drinking, and the use of regenerative/sustainable materials in producing day-to-day operations.

North Carolina's Sierra Nevada brewery is a must-visit for beer lovers spending time in the Asheville area. The campus, which is "more like a resort than a brewery," as one visitor described it, offers a number of tours and tastings that you can reserve online beforehand. If you don't want to experience the behind-the-scenes of beer-making, you can simply visit the grounds at Sierra Nevada's Mills River location. They're stunning, offering hiking trails, picnic areas, relaxing patio vibes, and multiple stages, including an outdoor amphitheater where the brewery often holds free live music events.

The kitchen at Sierra Nevada's taproom doesn't offer ordinary pub food; the certified organic menu is sourced locally and creatively curated with seasonal products as well as in-house baked goods and preserved vegetables. There are plenty of Sierra Nevada beers here, including some varieties you won't find in stores or on tap elsewhere, and the massive gift shop sports all kinds of beer-themed merch, six-packs, and novelty items.

There are plenty of other fun, non-beer-related things to do if you're visiting the Asheville area. While you could easily spend a half-day or evening at Sierra Nevada Brewery, consider also checking out Dupont, an underrated state forest with hidden lakes and gorgeous waterfalls just south of the city, or Boone, an artsy mountain town with its own breweries and fewer crowds than Asheville.