LOUISVILLE, Ky. — While the southeast is preparing for Hurricane Milton to make landfall this week, a beloved brewery's headquarters is still trying to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Helene.
Helene left Hi-Wire Brewing's headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina submerged in water. The beer garden was left as nothing more than a sandlot after the devastation tore through the state.
"One of our tap rooms where the main offices are, the water went up to the second floor so that and that's where our big beer garden is, so that location will likely either be closed or need heavy repairs," said Louisville Hi-Wire General Manager Kyle Colvin. "Everybody's safe. That was priority number one from from what I heard, it was scary because electricity and cell service was very limited, if not available at all, so it took a few days for people to hear back."
He said the brewery's other 10 locations are now doing all they can to help the business.
"They're really leaning on us to help bring in donations and to help the business, the beer community really supports each other, and Asheville is really supported with beer there," Colvin said. "And so people recognize that, and a lot of people have been to the Asheville locations and appreciate Hi-Wire for their footstone in the beer industry."
The Louisville taproom has seen support from locals for Asheville since the devastation in the Carolinas. Colvin said people have been bringing their support and donations into the Baxter Avenue location.
But, the road to recovery is far from over.
"It's going to be a struggle," Colvin said. "I think it's going to change every day if we're not going to be making new product for a while. So we're hoping first thing was everybody gets safe, and now we're just waiting for it to be safe enough for us to go in and clean up, and we're waiting for water and electricity in a lot of locations, but it's going to be a long road."
On Friday, Oct. 11, Hi-Wire is having an all-day fundraiser to accept monetary and physical donations to send to Asheville.
The other two brewery locations in Asheville saw some flooding, but employees say they are hopeful the buildings and equipment are still in good shape.
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