Highland Brewing first poured Cold Mountain Winter Ale in 1996. Thirty years later, the anniversary week runs Nov. 12–16 on the East Asheville campus. Highland’s Cold Mountain page and tickets site are the live sources for this preview — the September announcement is already old news.
Campus access dates
- Thursday, Nov. 12: Taproom, meadow and recreational facilities closed to the public. The beer dinner (5–9 p.m.) is sold out.
- Friday–Sunday, Nov. 13–15: Ticketed 30th-anniversary release weekend.
- Monday, Nov. 16: Open to the public from noon, no tickets required.
- Tuesday, Nov. 17: Campus closed to the public, per Highland’s dates list.
On Highland’s tickets page: a $30 weekend pass covering Nov. 13–15, or single days at $15 Friday, $20 Saturday and $10 Sunday. Kids 10 and under do not need a ticket. Friday and Saturday run noon–11 p.m.; Sunday runs noon–8 p.m. All three release days are listed as all ages.
Beers for the anniversary
A September BrewBound press release from Highland puts Original Cold Mountain at 5.9% ABV — a spiced winter ale with notes of vanilla, hazelnut, dark fruit and cinnamon — and outlines the package plan. Cold Mountain returns in bottles and on draft, then joins Coconut, Chocolate Orange and Pumpkin Spice Latte in a 30th-anniversary variety pack of 16-ounce cans (eight-pack).
Two limited bottles raise the ABV: Barrel-Aged Cold Mountain at 11%, and Double Barrel-Aged Bourbon Pecan Cold Mountain at 13% — Highland’s first bottled double barrel-aged Cold Mountain. Draft-only during the celebration: Chai, Sour Cherry, Apple Cider Donut and Imperial. Packaged beer sells on site while supplies last across the ticketed weekend.
Dinner, music and campus notes
Thursday’s sold-out dinner pairs anniversary pours with a menu from Chef Taylor Montgomery of Montgomery Sky Farm in Leicester, N.C. Highland says dinner guests also get first access to buy beer and merch before the public weekend.
Friday through Sunday bring live music, a free photo booth with printouts, the Wolf’s Den Cocktail Bar, small-batch exclusives and anniversary merch. Highland’s schedule lists volleyball tournament play Saturday and Sunday mornings, plus community-partner tents on Sunday. Pets are outdoors-only now that Oscar’s Pizza is open indoors; service animals excepted.
Oscar’s Pizza soft-opens on the same Cold Mountain weekend (Nov. 13–15), which is why the indoor pet rule changed. For another Highland winter seasonal already hitting cans, see Highland Thunderstruck Coffee Porter.
Highland’s public schedule page walks day-by-day from the sold-out Thursday dinner through Monday’s no-ticket reopening, with live sets, a heritage panel on Friday, guided flight tasting notes on Saturday and community-partner activations on Sunday. Programming can shift, the brewery warns, so treat the schedule as a living document the week of the release.
Ticket table
| Day | Access | Hours | Ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Nov. 12 | Dinner only (sold out); campus closed to public | Dinner 5–9 p.m. | Sold out |
| Fri Nov. 13 | Ticketed release weekend | Noon–11 p.m. | $15 or weekend $30 |
| Sat Nov. 14 | Ticketed release weekend | Noon–11 p.m. | $20 or weekend $30 |
| Sun Nov. 15 | Ticketed release weekend | Noon–8 p.m. | $10 or weekend $30 |
| Mon Nov. 16 | Public, no ticket | From noon | Free entry |
From highlandbrewing.com tickets/schedule pages, checked Nov. 5, 2026.
Highland Brewing sits at 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Asheville, NC. Thirty winters of Cold Mountain later, the brief is unchanged: brew for the season, open the gates, give people a reason to return. The dinner is gone; the weekend is not.
BEERALIEN.COM | Reporting on Earth’s finest craft beers from a galaxy far, far away.
BeerAlien
Raymond
Terry Bunch