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Angry Elk Brewing owners Greg and Sharon Wasik are glad their brewery has been gaining popularity in the area outside Cherokee.
Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Traveling visitors on U.S. 441 will find Angry Elk Brewing Co. just outside of Cherokee - a new brewery trying to add craft beer to the area, which owner Greg Wasik said was sorely lacking there until now.
“We knew this location was prime,” Greg said, explaining why they’d chosen to open Angry Elk.
Since its inception only four months ago, the brewery run by Greg and his wife Sharon Wasik has drawn crowds, even on mid-weeknights, it attracts sizable crowds. A food truck offers lobster and shrimp rolls every week. They do karaoke nights and have live music.
The Wasiks are no strangers to running breweries. They operated Valley River Brewing in Murphy for years before selling it. They now reside in Bryson City, and Greg said they wanted something closer to home. Greg refers to the breweries as their “retirement businesses.” He was a mechanical engineer for years before retiring.
Greg said it took them three years to get the building. He said he was thankful for new technology they could take advantage of, particularly in regard to the brewing process.
“The micro-brewing system has become automated,” he said. “You don’t have to have two or three people working there. One person can operate the brewing.”
Asked why he thought craft beer breweries were still so popular, Greg was succinct: “The taste.”
He said the activity at the brewery had “met and exceeded” their expectations and credited the location. He noted that the brewery is technically located in Whittier, despite its proximity to Cherokee.
“There are 18,000 cars a day on U.S. 441,” he said. “And we are a quarter mile from the casino. The location drives everything.”
In the last few weeks, there have been several guests coming through who are on a national circuit of casino gaming, which will swing back by the area in April, too. Greg is confident that will drive even more traffic.
With this being the brewery’s first spring and summer to be open, plans include adding outdoor band nights, cornhole, frisbee and other features.
“We’re just having a lot of fun with the guests,” Greg said. “They make it fun. We love to see people here.”
Greg and Sharon credit each other for their business accomplishments. Greg said while the success of Angry Elk is its location, it is also because of “an understanding wife.”
“That’s why I keep him around,” Sharon said in response. “He just gets brownie points.”