Brews & Views returns for round two at Beech

The thrills of a bike race, tastes of craft beers and sounds of regional music return to Beech Mountain Resort the weekend of July 21 for Brews & Views.

This second annual festival will feature the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Gravity National Championships, beer tasting, live music, ski lift rides and activities for kids.

“I think it’s a really cool event and unique to the area to be able to do the scenic drive to see a national mountain bike race and to have the beer tasting all in one,” Beech Mountain marketing intern Sharyn Byers said.

Taking place from July 19 to 22 is the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Gravity National Championships. This is its second year held at Beech Mountain and also the only time this national championship has taken place in the Southeast region.

“We’ve put Brews & Views in correlation with the event,” Beech Mountain Resort marketing director Talia Freeman said. “It was a great morale, and we had a lot of compliments around the event.”

The event is family-friendly, complete with a kids’ area, Freeman said, and – just as importantly – it’s free. Visitors can watch the mountain bike racing, enjoy concessions, shop, visit an expo area with vendors aplenty and more, all while watching “some of the best athletes in the world compete.”

At this race, mountain bikers – both amateurs and professionals – will converge on the constructed downhill tracks at Beech Mountain in several timed races. Aaron Gwin, a professional out of Colorado, will race in the Gravity Nationals, among many other contenders.

The beer festival includes an admission charge for anyone wishing to imbibe and will feature more than 50 craft beers from North Carolina and all over the states.

“You can’t beat $20 for 55 beers,” Freeman said. “That’s the cheapest beer festival pricing I’ve ever seen.”

In addition to the reasonable price and the discovery of a potential new favorite brew, the festival is also good exposure for North Carolina breweries.

“There’s people that get to taste North Carolina beers that aren’t distributed out West,” said Amy Morrison, Beech Tourism Development Authority coordinator. “There are racers and spectators coming out from California, Washington state and Colorado. It’s definitely a different event in that aspect.”

Blowing Rock Ale, which was present at the first Brews & Views, will set up at the beer tasting tents, bringing along its Blowing Rock High Country Ale and Blowing Rock IPA.

“We thought it to be a very wonderful event,” Blowing Rock Ale’s Tuesdae Rice said. “We are always enthusiastic to support local activities and proud to be a part of the event, and we’re hoping it continues to grow.”

For the live music, the stage will feature Spartanburg, S.C., blues group The Shane Pruitt Band and indie rock band Enemy Lovers and modern bluegrass group Brushfire Stankgrass, both from Asheville.

Tickets for the beer tasting can be purchased in advance for $20 at http://www.ticketssoeasy.com/bikesbrewsnviews or $25 at the event. Beech Mountain Resort is located at 1007 Beech Mountain Parkway in Beech Mountain. For more information, call (800) 468-5506 or visit http://www.beechmtn.com.