By Neydja Petithomme

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) -- Highland Brewing customers and fans remember the company's late founder as a visionary and reflect on the brand's rise to prominence in Asheville and beyond.

Highland Brewing Company confirmed that its founder, Oscar Wong, died on Sunday, May 25, 2025. He was 84 years old.

At the age of 54, after retiring from his engineering career, Wong founded the Highland Brewing Company in 1994, Asheville's first legal craft brewery since the Prohibition era.

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"Mr. Wong was definitely a visionary," said Tom Keever, who is a regular at the brewery. "I remember, back in the '90s, when the brewery down below Barley's came about. It was big news at the time because there was no craft brewery in Asheville."

Wong, commonly known as the "Godfather of Asheville Craft Beer," was crucial in establishing Asheville as a nationally renowned craft beer hub.

"I always shaked his hands and smiled, and whether he remembered you or not, he was always happy to see you," Keever said of Wong.

Highland Brewing has since become the largest family-owned brewery rooted in the Southeast region. The brewery now attracts over 150,000 visitors annually and remains an essential part of Asheville's craft beer community.

George Owenspy, who goes to Highland Brewing once a week, said he started going to the establishment when it first opened in the basement of Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria.

"We used to go to Barley's, the original site, and were big fans then, and we're glad to come to the new establishment," Owenspy said.

In 2023, Wong was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honor granted by the governor of North Carolina. The city of Asheville and Buncombe County subsequently officially declared May 16 as Oscar Wong Day.

"He was a key integral part of growing Asheville beer seen," said Cameron Kozlow, the owner of Blue Cardinal food truck. "He is one of the very first microbreweries up here."

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