Western North Carolina’s woman-led and family-owned Highland Brewing blends tradition, beer, and community resilience
What better way to toast the Year of the Fire Horse than with Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI)-brewed craft beer? Celebrate with Highland Brewing, founded in 1994 by Chinese-Jamaican immigrant and retired engineer Oscar Wong as Asheville’s first craft brewery.
For more than three decades, Highland Brewing has blended heritage, hospitality, and award-winning beer, from its iconic Gaelic Ale, Asheville’s original amber ale, to hop-forward favorites, like Highland Haze IPA, and the easy-drinking Daycation brand family, including Daycation Gold and Daycation IPA.
Each year, Highland celebrates its Asian-American heritage and Lunar New Year with special releases, traditional flavors, dragon dance performances, and community-driven festivities. In 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse symbolizes energy, speed, and good fortune, themes that resonate deeply in Western North Carolina as the region continues its recovery from Hurricane Helene.
When Hurricane Helene devastated Asheville in fall 2024, leaving the city without drinking water for nearly two months, Highland Brewing became a pillar of support for the community. The brewery raised more than $13,000 for impacted hospitality workers and transformed its taproom, warehouse, and beer coolers into temporary offices, a relief distribution hub, and food storage for the community. A year post-Helene, Highland’s Lunar New Year celebration carries added meaning – a toast not only to heritage, but to resilience.
“Lunar New Year is all about celebrating with friends and family over time-honored traditions and delicious flavors,” says Leah Wong Ashburn, Oscar Wong’s daughter and President/CEO of Highland Brewing. “At Highland, we’re looking back on our roots as Asheville’s first craft brewery and honoring the community’s resilience over the last year and a half. We’re sharing new beginnings, good luck and joyful moments with our community this year.”
Highland Brewing’s Lunar New Year celebration marks the return of its highly anticipated annual collaboration with Lucky Envelope Brewing, the Asian-owned Seattle brewery known for weaving Chinese cultural storytelling into modern craft beer. The coast-to-coast collaboration, Fire Horse Chocolate Porter, is a shared celebration of heritage and representation in craft brewing. It features rich dark chocolate character, layered malt complexity, and a warming finish that reflects the bold spirit of the Fire Horse.
Though Asia has a long and storied brewing history dating back to around 7000 BCE, only about 2% of breweries in the United States are owned by those of Asian descent. Breweries like Highland bring rich, distinctive cultural themes, flavors and inspirations to their beers, the craft beer industry and their communities.
A weekend-long celebration at Highland’s 40-acre campus includes the limited, on-site only release of three additional Lunar New Year brews: Luck Red Ale, Good Fortune Rice Lager and Joy Wheat Ale With Lemongrass and Ginger. Throughout the weekend of Feb. 21-22, Highland’s hilltop campus in Western North Carolina will transform into a vibrant, family-friendly Lunar New Year festival featuring live dragon dance performances, food trucks, glow-in-the-dark disc golf, and curated culinary experiences. Highland will welcome Chef J Chong, creator of J Chong Eats and finalist on The Big Brunch, for a curated Dim Sum Brunch featuring a modern take on classic flavors paired with Highland beers.
Highland Brewing’s annual Lunar New Year celebration honors the heritage of founder Oscar Wong and President/CEO Leah Wong Ashburn while reinforcing the brewery’s longstanding role as a cultural and craft beer pioneer in the Southeast.
As a minority-founded, woman-led, family-owned brewery, Highland continues to blend tradition, innovation, and community-driven experiences. Learn more at highlandbrewing.com.
About Highland Brewing
Highland Brewing was founded in 1994 by Oscar Wong, a retired engineer and entrepreneur, making Highland the pioneer of Asheville’s craft beer scene. Since 2016, the minority-founded company is proudly woman-led by Oscar’s daughter, Leah Wong Ashburn. Highland is the largest family-owned brewery native to the Southeast, distributing beers across NC, SC, TN, and GA. Committed to quality and sustainability, Highland operates one of the largest solar arrays in the U.S. craft beer industry. The hilltop brewery welcomes visitors for limited-release beers, tours, live music, and private events—and will soon feature an outdoor retail shop, a rock-climbing gym, and a pizza restaurant opening in 2026.
About Leah Wong Ashburn
Leah Wong Ashburn is the second-generation family owner, President and CEO of Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, NC. Founded by her father Oscar Wong in 1994, Highland is the founding brewery in Asheville, first releasing Gaelic Amber Ale as Asheville’s first craft beer more than 30 years ago, a catalyst for the renowned beer scene in Western North Carolina. It is also the largest independent brewery native to NC and in the nation’s top ten breweries led by women.
Following the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene, which left Asheville without drinking water for two months in September-November 2024, Leah mobilized Highland as a recovery hub, creating warehouses for supplies, coolers for food, and raising more than $13,000 for impacted hospitality workers with the release of Highland Haze.
Leah’s past board service includes the NC Brewers Guild, Asheville Chamber, Buncombe County Tourism Authority, Riverlink, AB Tech Community College. Currently, she serves on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Visitors. Just last week, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein appointed Leah to the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Western North Carolina Recovery.
Recognitions include Brewbound’s Person of the Year, Woman Executive of the Year from the Asheville Chamber, James Beard semi-finalist for Beer, Wine or Spirits Professional.
In a post-Hurricane Helene landscape, Leah continues to lead Highland Brewing under Thirst for Good, a commitment to good flavors, sustainable practices, and enriching experiences. Thirst for Good reflects Leah’s visionary leadership and her father’s legacy, Oscar Wong, the founder of Highland Brewing.
Under her guidance, APPI- and woman-owned Highland Brewing has bucked industry trends and set a new standard for gender diversity, with women making up 40% of its staff and 50% of its leadership team.
Highland continues to buck beer industry trends with growth in flagships like Gaelic Amber Ale and its IPA lineup, which are available across NC, SC, TN, GA, and VA, while prioritizing sustainability and enriching experiences through Thirst for Good.
Leah is married to Brock Ashburn, Highland’s VP of Facilities and Engineer, and is stepmother to two amazing young women.
