On Jan. 1, Christopher Arbor and his friends pledged to visit one Asheville brewery each week for all of 2025 in the order that they opened, then share the experience with Mountain Xpress readers. To read about their recent gathering at Mills River Brewing Co., visit avl.mx/er2.
What was the Roman Empire’s word for “where three roads meet?”
I know, I know, I know. We’re living in an age in which you could easily google the answer and just as easily forget it. However, a lot of us find genuine joy in learning and holding onto ridiculous knowledge nuggets like these.
Romans spoke Latin, and the Latin word for three is tri as in triangle or triple, and the Latin word for road is via as in viaduct or, you know, via. Thus, the word for where three roads meet is … trivia.
The word has come to mean small pieces of inconsequential information because the places where three roads meet are where public markets would pop up selling small inconsequential things.
Even more rewarding than knowing wonderfully weird stuff like etymology is testing our knowledge against other people at local bars and breweries. That was the case at Sweeten Creek Brewing on a recent Wednesday trivia night when the Year in Beer crew came in like a wrecking ball.
I knew we needed to stay sharp, so I was pleased as punch to see that of the nine beers on tap, four of them were 5 percent ABV or less. (There were also some higher-gravity beers, plus cider, wine and beer-mosa options for the more adventurous.)
Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ has a location tucked inside the brewery that deserves attention, but the peerless Tony Prieto of the Asheville Foodies Facebook group has already done a better job of reviewing it than I ever could.
The trivia evening was hosted by Jeremy Weber, who also serves as the taproom’s general manager. He took the packed room of us knowledgeable nerds on a meandering journey through rounds that included Current Events, Geography, Songs About American Places and Famous Johns (as in celebrities like Krasinski, Goodman, McEnroe, not — you know — toilets).
It’s not for everyone, of course. Most of our crew just wanted to hang out, and half of those who played rolled out before the night was through. That left Wes Miller, Philip Gladstone and me to bring home the victory in the final round by placing the following books in chronological order by publication date: Frankenstein, 1984, Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby. Special thanks to my UNC Asheville mentors, professors Merritt Moseley and Ed Katz, for that one.
Here’s a final trivial challenge: Name three unrelated words in English that start with “dw.” Dweeb doesn’t count.
Cheers to dwindling dwarves in dwellings.
Come join us on another adventure. We gather at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. You can email me at yearinbeerasheville@gmail.com or just show up.
May 14: French Broad River Brewing
May 21: Fahrenheit Pizza & Brew
