Drinking Beer in Charlotte

[InSouthPark]

48 minutes ago, HopHead said:

Key word being "some" parallels. By that I mean the beer that they create and sell. NoDa typically has a core group of beers that they sell like Jam Session, Hop Drop and Coco Loco. They aren't like Wicked Weed who spits out a new beer every week. Ballast Point is mostly just well known for Sculpin(s), Dorado and a few others, on a bigger scale obviously. Does NoDa have to get bigger before acquisition by AB or MC becomes more likely? Of course. I'm sure Suzie and Todd will continue to own NoDa for the forseeable future, but everyone has their price. If I were someone looking at this market to purchase a brewery, they would be the first one I would look at. 

Ah Ok. I though you meant parallels in their "operations" model. Those others breweries wanted to grow grow grow. 

I still don't think we have anything to worry about it until we see of them sign on a with a distributor and then we see them breaking down the wall so to speak. Until then, cheers to having beers other people around the state would like to buy!

[grodney]

Kit Burkholder, the beer guy at Ballantyne HT is leaving HT and opening his own bottle shop in Pineville.  Kit's Trackside Crafts will be at 330 Main St.  If I remembered that address correctly, I think it's prettymuch across the street from Pintville.  He hopes to be open by Labor Day.  He said he'll have 25 taps, 17 of which will be beer with kombucha, cider, etc on the other 8.

[tozmervo]

This week's birdsong w/free range bottle release of rice rice baby aged in bourbon barrels is my favorite birdsong bottle ever. On. Point.

[grodney]

29 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

This week's birdsong w/free range bottle release of rice rice baby aged in bourbon barrels is my favorite birdsong bottle ever. On. Point.

I got there in time to get one.....looking forward to it.  I probably should have bought more.

[InSouthPark]

1 hour ago, grodney said:

I got there in time to get one.....looking forward to it.  I probably should have bought more.

Agreed, it was really good.  Went on Tuesday and bought two bottles myself and had a pour as well.  If ya'll were there Tuesday and saw a couple with two boxers, that was me and my wife.

3 hours ago, grodney said:

Kit Burkholder, the beer guy at Ballantyne HT is leaving HT and opening his own bottle shop in Pineville.  Kit's Trackside Crafts will be at 330 Main St.  If I remembered that address correctly, I think it's prettymuch across the street from Pintville.  He hopes to be open by Labor Day.  He said he'll have 25 taps, 17 of which will be beer with kombucha, cider, etc on the other 8.

Kit is a good dude and based on what he has done at that HT, I expect big things from his bottle shop. 

[grodney]

Just saw my first Okt of the year (Shiner Oktoberfest) at Blakeney HT.  I say this every year, but I think that's a record for earliest.  As one of my favorite styles, I wish more local breweries did them....or a "harvest" ale or something similar, since most of them don't do many lagers.  I liked OMB's better last year than previous years, but its flavors are really subtle.....at least compared to american versions and the major euro imports (Spaten, Paulaner, etc.).

 

[tozmervo]

Has anyone made an oktoberfest beer called "Winter is Coming"? That should be a thing.

[grodney]

3 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

Has anyone made an oktoberfest beer called "Winter is Coming"? That should be a thing.

I didn't know this was a GoT reference until I googled it.  Ommegang has a line of GoT beers, but I don't think any are called that.

http://www.ommegang.com/got/seven_kingdoms.php

 

[jednc]

Does anyone know, or is there an easy way to find out, how many different breweries there are in Charlotte versus Asheville? Had a discussion with a friend of mine and it got me wondering how we compared in numbers to Asheville. I'm not a beer drinker, so I'm almost completely ignorant on this subject.

[grodney]

12 hours ago, jednc said:

Does anyone know, or is there an easy way to find out, how many different breweries there are in Charlotte versus Asheville? Had a discussion with a friend of mine and it got me wondering how we compared in numbers to Asheville. I'm not a beer drinker, so I'm almost completely ignorant on this subject.

First thing is to define "Charlotte" and "Asheville".

Meck county has 20 breweries, not including Rock Bottom, but including Salud which barely counts.  1 of those is in Mint Hill, and 4 are in Cornelius/Huntersville.  But that 20 doesn't include Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Waxhaw, Moorseville, Gastonia, Concord, etc. That 20 also doesn't include NoDa's second location, which they really don't have anyway now that the original is closed indefinitely....although they're still brewing there and holding events there.

ncbeerguys.com does a pretty good job of keeping their list up-to-date.  You could count up Asheville breweries there:  http://www.ncbeerguys.com/nc-breweries/   If you search for "Asheville", it gives 21 listings including 2 for Wicked Weed and 2 for Hi-Wire.  But I don't know what else is up there that wouldn't show up in a search of "Asheville", such as Sierra Nevada, etc.

Edited August 4, 2016 by grodney

[jednc]

5 hours ago, grodney said:

First thing is to define "Charlotte" and "Asheville".

Meck county has 20 breweries, not including Rock Bottom, but including Salud which barely counts.  1 of those is in Mint Hill, and 4 are in Cornelius/Huntersville.  But that 20 doesn't include Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Waxhaw, Moorseville, Gastonia, Concord, etc. That 20 also doesn't include NoDa's second location, which they really don't have anyway now that the original is closed indefinitely....although they're still brewing there and holding events there.

ncbeerguys.com does a pretty good job of keeping their list up-to-date.  You could count up Asheville breweries there:  http://www.ncbeerguys.com/nc-breweries/   If you search for "Asheville", it gives 21 listings including 2 for Wicked Weed and 2 for Hi-Wire.  But I don't know what else is up there that wouldn't show up in a search of "Asheville", such as Sierra Nevada, etc.

 

Thank you! For the sake of my discussion and for my own curiosity, this is a great answer.

[grodney]

agenda is reporting that Lenny Boy will open their new location Sat Sep 10.

 

[HopHead]

Need input from the board to settle an argument. You have friends from out of town here this weekend. They like different beer styles, but aren't your big time craft beer snobs either. You want to take them to one brewery in Charlotte. Which one is it?

[grodney]

6 minutes ago, HopHead said:

Need input from the board to settle an argument. You have friends from out of town here this weekend. They like different beer styles, but aren't your big time craft beer snobs either. You want to take them to one brewery in Charlotte. Which one is it?

Hahaha, there's no right answer!  OMB is the obvious choice but I hate that place so it wouldn't be that.  It also wouldn't be Unknown (too funky) or Wooden Robot, Free Range, Thirsty Nomad, or Lenny Boy (all too small) or Sycamore (too busy) or Three Spirits (too meh) or any of the way north ones (too north) or Heist (still on my black list until I re-try them).  So I guess that leaves NoDa, Birdsong, Triple C, Sugar Creek, Blue Blaze, and Legion.  All excellent choices.  How's that for a non-answer?  And if you said "no seriously you have to pick ONE", I'd say Birdsong.....given the scenario you've laid out.

 

[nonillogical]

19 minutes ago, grodney said:

Hahaha, there's no right answer!  OMB is the obvious choice but I hate that place so it wouldn't be that.  It also wouldn't be Unknown (too funky) or Wooden Robot, Free Range, Thirsty Nomad, or Lenny Boy (all too small) or Sycamore (too busy) or Three Spirits (too meh) or any of the way north ones (too north) or Heist (still on my black list until I re-try them).  So I guess that leaves NoDa, Birdsong, Triple C, Sugar Creek, Blue Blaze, and Legion.  All excellent choices.  How's that for a non-answer?  And if you said "no seriously you have to pick ONE", I'd say Birdsong.....given the scenario you've laid out.

 

If the goal is to show them around town at the same time, I'd either string together a few southend breweries (definitely Triple C, plus Sugar Creek & Unknown if they're pretty just into the beer, or plus Sycamore & Wooden Robot if they're into more of a party atmosphere). Or just go to Legion. Cool location, cool space, really solid beer with decent variety. 

[InSouthPark]

1 hour ago, HopHead said:

Need input from the board to settle an argument. You have friends from out of town here this weekend. They like different beer styles, but aren't your big time craft beer snobs either. You want to take them to one brewery in Charlotte. Which one is it?

Depends on your friends brewery style!!  If I had to pick just one based on your scenario, probably be Birdsong or Noda.  Birdsong is typically a little quieter and is an easy spot to have a conservation with you buds and I find myself there a little more than other places just because it is nice a laid back without the bro's and crowds (and nice lineup).  

[HopHead]

So Birdsong it is... Despite having been to almost every brewery in town multiple times, I was struggling with this one a bit. But agree that it probably makes the most sense. Plus they have the bottomless peanuts! Cheers!

[grodney]

Beer Growler is closing Aug 15.  I guess this isn't too surprising.....they were reasonably "busy" whenever I was in there, but I have no idea what level of "busy" would be required at those margins and with that business model.  Last time I was in they only had half their taps on, and claimed it was due to running out of stuff over July 4th.  Not sure if that was BS or if they were already ramping down.

Interestingly, a Beer Growler just opened recently in Winston-Salem. Their website only lists 2 Atlanta locations...I swear there used to be 3. 

[kermit]

^ cans have / will kill the growler.

Currently in Dusseldorf, home of altbier. Its great here and I dig the small glasses which constantly arrive, but I gotta say that OMB does a _really_ good job with Copper.

Edited August 7, 2016 by kermit

[NeverSummer]

18 hours ago, kermit said:

^ cans have / will kill the growler.

Currently in Dusseldorf, home of altbier. Its great here and I dig the small glasses which constantly arrive, but I gotta say that OMB does a _really_ good job with Copper.

It sounds like you are tired of playing Altbier "Roulette".  (Couldn't help myself after that OMB ad campaign)

[HopHead]

Random question for some frequent drinkers of Hop Drop n Roll... Does it taste different to you now? For the last several months HDnR, which has long been one of my local favorites, seems to have changed. It's more malty tasting and less bold citrus flavor to me now. Not sure if they tweaked the recipe or maybe something in their brewing process changed it. But it just doesn't seem like the same beer to me now. 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, HopHead said:

Random question for some frequent drinkers of Hop Drop n Roll... Does it taste different to you now? For the last several months HDnR, which has long been one of my local favorites, seems to have changed. It's more malty tasting and less bold citrus flavor to me now. Not sure if they tweaked the recipe or maybe something in their brewing process changed it. But it just doesn't seem like the same beer to me now. 

I connected at CLT two weeks ago and I picked up 4 Charlotte beers at the low low price of $50 (eek) and HDnR seemed different to me too. Thankfully the Jalapeño Pale Ale did not disappoint.

[InSouthPark]

HDnR hasn't been the same in years.  They don't use the same amount of Citra and use the centrifuge to try and make up for it. That and off flavors in can as well. It doesn't taste anything like the award winning beer did. Last year I even had to return a 4 pack to the brewery it tasted so bad. I was basically bitter hop water with no taste.  Other times it is a malt bomb.  Very very inconsistent. 

[kermit]

10 minutes ago, InSouthPark said:

 I was basically bitter hop water with no taste.  Other times it is a malt bomb.  Very very inconsistent. 

Agreed, and that always surprises me since NoDa seems to be very consistent with their other beers.

[HopHead]

I always found that HDnR at the brewery was pretty consistent to what I was used to drinking two years ago. However, it was outside of the brewery that I found a lot of inconsistencies. The cans have always been touch and go, but now it just really seems to me like it's not the same beer at all regardless of where I get them. And even on tap it seemed inconsistent, but I often attributed it to the bars probably not cleaning their tap lines like they should because this has been a problem with other beers I've consumed. Glad to know it's not just me. But rather disappointed that they took this route. I'd rather them produce less of it if it meant a better/consistent product.