Drinking Beer in Charlotte

[SouthEndCLT811]

33 minutes ago, InTheYear2000 said:

Although I'm speculating, I think it's highly likely the SE location is changing their distribution priorities. I hear they are moving way more volume at the new location, like 50+ half barrels a week (which is a ton) and at higher margins than grocery store shelves. 

That's cool to hear, thanks for sharing and to everyone that replied above.  My speculation was more around what we heard from Legion pre-COVID as to why Juicy Jay wasn't available in cans sooner and wondered if that was the case with RC as well.

 

[wilmore]

On 3/27/2022 at 1:47 PM, SouthEndCLT811 said:

Anyone see Lightning Drops 4-packs recently, besides the brewery? I feel like prior to the second location opening the Park Rd or Sedgefield HT had it but seems to be scarce now.  I wonder if they're having a hard enough time keeping up with brewery demand they aren't able to can it

saw it at Pasta & Provisions, Mint St. location, on Friday 

[grodney]

Speaking of Lightning Drops.....I just saw 30 cases at Whole Food Waverly......with a PKG date of 01/07/2022.  They also have Honey Pie in the cooler.  And Gordgeous!  But I also regularly see old beer at HT Ballantyne, too....so it's not just Whole Foods.  Charlotte has a beer freshness problem.  Maybe the whole industry does.

[a2theb]

On 3/30/2022 at 10:00 AM, grodney said:

Speaking of Lightning Drops.....I just saw 30 cases at Whole Food Waverly......with a PKG date of 01/07/2022.  They also have Honey Pie in the cooler.  And Gordgeous!  But I also regularly see old beer at HT Ballantyne, too....so it's not just Whole Foods.  Charlotte has a beer freshness problem.  Maybe the whole industry does.

I feel like that is an industry problem. I regularly check packaged dates before I grab anything and its never surprising to see anything 6+ months old in the teeter coolers. Even high turnover beers like Sierra Nevada I have seen 9-10 months old.

[ScottCLT]

I've recently discovered some amazing nonalcoholic beer from a brewery called Athletic Brewing Company. Their IPAs taste just like a nice IPA. Maybe not an award winner, but close. I actually cannot tell that it isn't alcoholic (well, 0.5%). Are there breweries in Charlotte with a good nonalcoholic beer (IPA preferred)? I'm not taking about kombucha (which is also awesome), or ciders, or nonalcoholic sparkling water, or ginger ale, or O'Douls (or the like); but real craft nonalcoholic beer. With Athletic, it's been proven that non alcoholic beers can taste just like the real thing if they're done right. I just wonder when any of our local breweries will offer a nonalcoholic IPA or other varieties. Then I'll probably be hooked. Surely the market is there for those that just want to enjoy the flavor without getting tipsy.

[tozmervo]

1 hour ago, ScottCLT said:

I've recently discovered some amazing nonalcoholic beer from a brewery called Athletic Brewing Company. Their IPAs taste just like a nice IPA. Maybe not an award winner, but close. I actually cannot tell that it isn't alcoholic (well, 0.5%). Are there breweries in Charlotte with a good nonalcoholic beer (IPA preferred)? I'm not taking about kombucha (which is also awesome), or ciders, or nonalcoholic sparkling water, or ginger ale, or O'Douls (or the like); but real craft nonalcoholic beer. With Athletic, it's been proven that non alcoholic beers can taste just like the real thing if they're done right. I just wonder when any of our local breweries will offer a nonalcoholic IPA or other varieties. Then I'll probably be hooked. Surely the market is there for those that just want to enjoy the flavor without getting tipsy.

I'm not sure about Charlotte breweries offering NA beer, but I wanted to offer that I've also been pretty happy with several of Partake's NA brews (found in total wine)

[kermit]

On 3/28/2022 at 12:25 PM, SouthEndCLT811 said:

That's cool to hear, thanks for sharing and to everyone that replied above.  My speculation was more around what we heard from Legion pre-COVID as to why Juicy Jay wasn't available in cans sooner and wondered if that was the case with RC as well.

 

I was looking for a 4 pack of LD for the duke beatdown game from last weekend. Chatted with the bartender at the SE location and he said they had to cut their canning production in half due to difficulties getting cans. He thought the change (only canning 2x per month rather than 4x) was temporary but...

[my searching on Saturday confirmed that there was no Lightening Drops (or any other Resident Culture beer) at the uptown Whole Foods or the East blvd Teeter. I ended up at Hopfly and was pretty happy with my pick. ]

Edited April 8, 2022 by kermit

[SouthEndCLT811]

3 hours ago, kermit said:

I was looking for a 4 pack of LD for the duke beatdown game from last weekend. Chatted with the bartender at the SE location and he said they had to cut their canning production in half due to difficulties getting cans. He thought the change (only canning 2x per month rather than 4x) was temporary but...

[my searching on Saturday confirmed that there was no Lightening Drops (or any other Resident Culture beer) at the uptown Whole Foods or the East blvd Teeter. I ended up at Hopfly and was pretty happy with my pick. ]

Interesting, thanks again!  I've subbed my RC pickup for Town's RP-1 which I had 2-3 weeks back at the brewery and thought it was really tasty.  Hopefully as good canned as on tap.

[elrodvt]

Any good spots for cask beer? Preferably on South side. My current fav spot in pineville has the tap but no plans to use it anytime soon. You risk losing beer of course.

[InTheYear2000]

On 4/9/2022 at 12:48 AM, elrodvt said:

Any good spots for cask beer? Preferably on South side. My current fav spot in pineville has the tap but no plans to use it anytime soon. You risk losing beer of course.

Growlers in NoDa has cask beers. Not quite convenient to you from the sounds of it though. 

[InSouthPark]

On 4/9/2022 at 12:48 AM, elrodvt said:

Any good spots for cask beer? Preferably on South side. My current fav spot in pineville has the tap but no plans to use it anytime soon. You risk losing beer of course.

I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a cask beer on tap.  I know Duckworth's at Ballantyne (and the closed Park Rd location) used to have a cask engine but it's been a while since I stopped in.   Kit's Trackside in Pineville has an engine too but in all times there I haven't noticed one on the menu (but I typically go on early on a tue/thur so maybe they just don't have them on those days).  I could have overlooked it as well as I easily get distracted by a good beer LOL).

However none of those are really convenient unless Duckworths  uptown has one. 

[tozmervo]

Maybe World of Beer at the epicenter? They used to have cask options pretty frequently. 

[elrodvt]

12 hours ago, tozmervo said:

Maybe World of Beer at the epicenter? They used to have cask options pretty frequently. 

Wow, that blows my perception of that place. I thought it was volume not quality and would be full of good ole boys. Can't count the number times I walked by yet didn't go in. I'll give it a shot. I think a cask after a hornets play off win would be awesome. Although a hornets win is asking way too much.

I'll also give growlers a shot. The location isn't ideal but I'll travel far and wide for a cask if needed. Seems like Crowlers would be a trendier name tho! :-)

I think of my time working in Edinburgh in my 20's and spitting out the warm, flat beer. Then realizing it was fantastic.

Edited April 12, 2022 by elrodvt

[tozmervo]

I should caveat: WoB did when they were in Southend years back. I can't speak to the Epicenter location, specifically.

[kermit]

CBJ says the Westside Legion tap room opens “next month”

[grodney]

22 hours ago, kermit said:

CBJ says the Westside Legion tap room opens “next month”

I love how all brewery timelines now come with the requisite "quotes" around them.  Maybe you were just quoting the article, but I always read that as "yeah right", hahahahaha.  Related:  I was at Banner Elk Winery last weekend and the bartender (wine pour-er?)  said he moved there from Charlotte (he worked at Unknown at one time for a couple years) to open a brewery.  He said he's breaking ground "next month".  My thought:  See you in 3 years.  Maybe.

Since I'm typing.....I see Resident Culture Southend has pop-up tacos from 8am-11am Sat/Sun, but just to-go, and no beer?  What the?   Man I could go for a breakfast taco and a juicy IPA on a beautiful morning.   So what's that place like?  Is it restaurant only?  Like wait-service everywhere?  Or is there a taproom area where I can just drink and maybe order food if I want to?  I can't tell from their online stuff.....maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

Anyway, hoping to hit a couple breweries tomorrow.....so many I haven't been to since the Before Times.  And a couple I haven't been to at all yet.

[InSouthPark]

1 hour ago, grodney said:

I love how all brewery timelines now come with the requisite "quotes" around them.  Maybe you were just quoting the article, but I always read that as "yeah right", hahahahaha.  Related:  I was at Banner Elk Winery last weekend and the bartender (wine pour-er?)  said he moved there from Charlotte (he worked at Unknown at one time for a couple years) to open a brewery.  He said he's breaking ground "next month".  My thought:  See you in 3 years.  Maybe.

Since I'm typing.....I see Resident Culture Southend has pop-up tacos from 8am-11am Sat/Sun, but just to-go, and no beer?  What the?   Man I could go for a breakfast taco and a juicy IPA on a beautiful morning.   So what's that place like?  Is it restaurant only?  Like wait-service everywhere?  Or is there a taproom area where I can just drink and maybe order food if I want to?  I can't tell from their online stuff.....maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

Anyway, hoping to hit a couple breweries tomorrow.....so many I haven't been to since the Before Times.  And a couple I haven't been to at all yet.

That is just breakfast tacos to-go before they open at noon on the weekends. 

As for the SE location.  Sorta like a food hall, sorta like a restaurant.  You can order at the bar and then just sit down. Or sit down and order from the web menu.  Servers but only if you use the online table menu thingie.  If you are just drinking, much faster to just go to the large bar. 

I'm not a fan of the SE location. Its too loud, too busy, too "cool".   I prefer the much more laid back PM location.  But to each their own.

[KJHburg]

Burial Beer news

""Burial Beer Co. is putting the final touches on its Plaza Midwood home. The Asheville brewery says its taproom and expanded bottle shop — called The House of Relics — will open June 4. That Thomas Avenue space — formerly home to Boris & Natasha — looks to pay homage to the history of the property and its location in the historic Plaza Midwood neighborhood, says Doug Reiser, co-founder and COO of Burial.""

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/05/19/burial-beer-asheville-plaza-midwood-brewery.html

[CLTProductions]

On 4/22/2022 at 9:52 AM, InSouthPark said:

 

I'm not a fan of the SE location. Its too loud, too busy, too "cool".   I prefer the much more laid back PM location.  But to each their own.

Yeah its pretty much a generic club unless you go early on saturday or during the week...Club RC otherwise. Really lost everything that gave RC its identity, but $$ speak loudest

[HopHead]

1 hour ago, Jt282506 said:

Yeah its pretty much a generic club unless you go early on saturday or during the week...Club RC otherwise. Really lost everything that gave RC its identity, but $$ speak loudest

100% agreed... They chased the money and it's hard to blame them either. I'm much more of an OG  location fan of RC as well. 

[InSouthPark]

4 minutes ago, HopHead said:

100% agreed... They chased the money and it's hard to blame them either. I'm much more of an OG  location fan of RC as well. 

Yep nothing wrong with having different concepts at different locations.  Just don't dare change PM. 

[kermit]

The Ledger reports that Sycamore brewed 28,000 barrels in 2021 vs. OMB’s 21,500 barrels.

This news makes me feel kinda dirty and ashamed. I held Charlotte microbrew culture in relatively high esteem before. 

To be fair they appear to have excellent distribution. They had a large display in the Teeter in Surf City a couple days ago.

Edited June 1, 2022 by kermit

[InSouthPark]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

The Ledger reports that Sycamore brewed 28,000 barrels in 2021 vs. OMB’s 21,500 barrels.

This news makes me feel kinda dirty and ashamed. I held Charlotte microbrew culture in relatively high esteem before. 

To be fair they appear to have excellent distribution. They had a large display in the Teeter in Surf City a couple days ago.

From a press release:  Sycamore beer is available in NC, SC, VA, TN, KY, GA, and OH, with additional states to be added this year.

I rarely see people popping Sycamore into the cart (at least in South Charlotte) expect for the 8 packs of Juicyness or whatever that one is for $16 (which isn't a bad beer for the price).  Most of their winter beers are still sitting at my Teeters cooler.   The average 40+ something isn't grapping the $15 four pack of weed themed beer.   But spread that weed theme beer over 7 states and enough will buy it. 

[InSouthPark]

On 5/19/2022 at 3:37 PM, KJHburg said:

Burial Beer news

""Burial Beer Co. is putting the final touches on its Plaza Midwood home. The Asheville brewery says its taproom and expanded bottle shop — called The House of Relics — will open June 4. That Thomas Avenue space — formerly home to Boris & Natasha — looks to pay homage to the history of the property and its location in the historic Plaza Midwood neighborhood, says Doug Reiser, co-founder and COO of Burial.""

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/05/19/burial-beer-asheville-plaza-midwood-brewery.html

Burial delayed due to construction issues.  When will any of the breweries learn that you don't set an opening date before they are actually ready? 

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[CLTProductions]

21 hours ago, InSouthPark said:

Burial delayed due to construction issues.  When will any of the breweries learn that you don't set an opening date before they are actually ready? 

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Nor do they have ABC. I was really confused when they announced that date, their inspections don't indicate they are ready...even 2 weeks ago