Beerville USA: It's not Portland

Asheville —a North Carolina burg of 70,000 people— has won the title of BeerCity USA 2010.

Asheville bested Portland via an online poll for American Craft Beer Week. It was a close fight with more than 19,000 votes and numerous livid comments en route to Asheville getting 38 percent of the votes. Portland was close behind with 34 percent. San Diego trailed in third with four percent.

If you're curious about Portland's beer rival, you can enter to win tickets to Asheville's beer festival Brewgrass and a free night's stay at exploreasheville.com. It's a city known for beer as well as food, and is home to nine craft-breweries—more than Portland and every other city in the nation per capita.

Asheville's local beer store “Bruisin Ales” is also ranked third-best beer retailer worldwide by RateBeer. OK, maybe BeerCity 2010 was duly won by Asheville. But that doesn't mean Portland can't claim the spot next year.