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| Free Range Brewing is doing their thing! I need to get back to Charlotte soon! |
Here’s what to look for in the Queen City
regarding brew thanks to the CRVA!
Cheers Everyone!
After seeing how I loved covering their beer
scene for FirstWeFeast.com here and my Instagram, the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA) made sure you—my cherished
readers—are up to date with what’s poppin’ lately.
Below is the official CRVA write up featuring
numerous breweries and craft-centric shops doing their thing in Queen City; I
noticed that there are definitely a few I need to put on my list including Sycamore Brewing, Triple C Brewing Co., The
FūD at Salud kitchen (I love their bottle shop), Lenny Boy Brewing Co., Sycamore
Brewing, Olde Mecklenburg Brewery,
Legion Brewing, and Sugar Creek! There were even a couple joint
cideries shown love— Red Clay CiderWorks and GoodRoad
CiderWorks.
For more information on what’s going down in
Charlotte, feel free to visit charlottesgotalot.com.
Okay, read on and
look for me Cruisin’ For A Brewsin’ in Charlotte again soon.
Clinkin’ glasses!
Ale
What's on Tap for Charlotte Craft Beer
Craft beer boom gives rise to new ways to explore
Charlotte's beer scene
In 2009, Charlotte was the largest city in the U.S.
without its own craft brewery. Now, less than 10 years later, Charlotte's
craft beer industry is booming with 28 breweries in the Charlotte area and more
than 15 in the works.
With the development of new breweries and the growth of
more established taprooms come new events, unique brews and new ways to enjoy
craft beer in the Queen City.
Urban Brewery Sprawl: In the last year, 12
breweries opened the doors to their taprooms, and more than half of them set up
shop just outside of Charlotte city limits. Nearby Cabarrus County welcomed two
breweries in 2015 and 2016: High Branch Brewing Co. and Cabarrus Brewing
Company. Breweries have also opened in Belmont (Rivermen Brewing Company), Fort
Mill, South Carolina (Full Spectrum Brewing Co.), Rock Hill, South Carolina
(Legal Remedy Brewing Co.), and Shelby (Newgrass Brewing Co.).
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| Lenny Boy Brewing. |
Brewing Bigger: The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
has been blazing the trail for Charlotte craft beer since opening in 2009. In
2014, the brewery moved its headquarters to an expanded space off Yancey Road,
upgrading to an 8.5-acre brewery and biergarten with a 60 barrel-brewhouse and
3,600-square-foot taproom. Last year, NoDa Brewing Company and Birdsong Brewing
Co. followed suit, opening new taprooms in Charlotte's NoDa neighborhood. Lenny
Boy Brewing Co. and Sycamore Brewing also have expansions in the works.
Beer Bites: These days, Charlotte craft beer
doesn't just come in a pint glass; it can also be found on a plate. The FūD at
Salud kitchen opened in 2015 as an expansion of Salud Beer Shop and now offers
three dishes featuring Charlotte local beers: the beer cheese and pretzel appetizer,
featuring Birdsong Brewing Co.’s Jalapeño Pale Ale; the Frambella waffle with
NoDa Brewing Company’s Coco Loco Nutella; and the Jason-Gi-Ham-Brie sandwich
with Windy Hill Orchard & Cider Mill’s Peach Cider. Charlotte’s Wooden
Robot Brewery, which Beer Advocate magazine included on its “Class of 2015 – 33 of the Best New Breweries” list, has
teamed up with Twisted Eats food truck outside its taproom to offer bites
crafted with the beers on tap.
Can It: To meet the demand for local craft
beer in Charlotte and the surrounding areas, brewers are starting to look
beyond the taproom. Birdsong Brewing Co.’s upgrade to a 17,000-square-foot taproom
in 2015 included a canning line to package 16-ounce cans of the brewery's
Jalapeño Pale Ale, which it began distributing locally last spring. The Unknown
Brewing Co. has also gotten into the canning business. It released its Pre-Game
Session Ale, the second year-round canned beer for the brewery, following in
the footsteps of its Over the Edge IPA. In addition to Birdsong Brewing Co. and
The Unknown Brewing Co., NoDa Brewing Company, Sycamore Brewing and Triple C
Brewing Co. all offer Charlotteans canned versions of local brew
favorites.
Good Things Come in Small Batches: Small
batches are becoming a big deal in the Queen City. Free Range Brewing, which
opened in 2015, boasts consistently rotating short-run small batches found on
11 of their draft lines. With its 1-barrel brewing system, Lake Norman Brewing
Company produces specialty brews, like the Man Overboard IPA and the Wakeboard
Wit, one small batch at a time. Part nanobrewery, part CrossFit gym, Full
Spectrum Brewing Co. combines the passions of craft beer and fitness and offers
beers named after colors on the color spectrum.
Fitness on Tap: For beer fans looking to lace
up their running shoes, unroll their yoga mats and dust off their drivers
before putting back a pint, Charlotte's craft breweries have them covered. The
Charlotte Runners recently started leading their Legendary Legion
Run Thursday nights at the newly opened Legion Brewing in Plaza Midwood.
NoDa Brewing Company, Triple C Brewing Co., Lenny Boy Brewing Co. and more also
offer a schedule of weekly run clubs. The Unknown Brewing Co. launched
its Saturday Bike & Brew in 2015, while Sugar Creek Brewing Co.
and The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery offer disc golf and yoga, respectively.
The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Brewery: The
next big wave in craft brews may have more to do with apples than hops. Hard
ciders were the fastest growing segment of the beer and flavored malt beverage
landscape in 2014, enjoying a 75.4 percent growth in sales. While national cider
sales slowed in 2015, Charlotte's cider scene is just starting to blossom. The
city welcomed its first cidery, Red Clay Ciderworks, last year with another,
GoodRoad CiderWorks, on the way in 2016.
(In celebration of NC Beer Month, this five-part
content series about Charlotte as a beer destination features facts and
information that help tell the story of the city’s burgeoning craft beer
scene.)
