Drinking Beer in Charlotte

[grodney]

Something to do on your snow day. We did this two years ago with beers as the properties. Now we can do it with BREWERIES.

 

[grodney]

I'm not familiar with NoDa and the BLE particulars....how is the walk going to be from the BLE to Bold Missy?  Rail trail and sidewalks....or bush-wacking and Frogger?

[kermit]

5 minutes ago, grodney said:

I'm not familiar with NoDa and the BLE particulars....how is the walk going to be from the BLE to Bold Missy?  Rail trail and sidewalks....or bush-wacking and Frogger?

Easy walk, but down a sidewalkless (generally quiet) street from Sugar Creek station. About two blocks. 

Now that I think about it, its basically the same walk (but shorter) as getting to OMB from Scalybark 'back in the day'

[kermit]

Holy crap! JUst when I thought all the excitement had been drained out of Charlotte beer this happens:

 

[InSouthPark]

2 hours ago, kermit said:

Holy crap! JUst when I thought all the excitement had been drained out of Charlotte beer this happens:

 

This is the best news on the CLT beer scene in some time!   Fonta Flora is way ahead of most everything CLT is doing.  

[dylansukkert]

This place is going to be awesome! I'm sure it will have the same Panthers game day feel as the Dog House has but Knights games this will be a very busy place! The Panthers wall is great. Can't wait for this to open and hopefully more bars join in this immediate area. 

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/114794/look-construction-progress-menu-graham-st-pub-uptowns-newest-rooftop-bar/

[grodney]

Game show sad sound....Fonta Flora will only be a "tasting room", not a brewery.  Per Matt at Charlotte Magazine. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by grodney

[CLTProductions]

15 minutes ago, grodney said:

Game show sad sound....Fonta Flora will only be a "tasting room", not a brewery.  Per Matt at Charlotte Magazine. 

Hmmmm, their press release says otherwise. That said, 2,400 SF is quite tiny for a brewery, so he is probably right. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by Jayvee

[InSouthPark]

13 minutes ago, Jayvee said:

Hmmmm, their press release says otherwise. That said, 2,400 SF is quite tiny for a brewery, so he is probably right. 

Have you been to the brewery in Morganton?  It's tiny! Pretty sure my house is bigger.

EDIT - And I could care less where they make it. There new production brewery is fine by me. I just want to drink it.

EDIT 2 - Confirmed tasting room only by Fonta Flora on facebook

Edited January 24, 2018 by InSouthPark

[grodney]

How can Fonta Flora produce enough beer to have a taproom in Charlotte? Do they understand what they've signed up for?  I mean even driving that many kegs down here. Wow.   Do they have a 2nd brewing facility in operation?

[elrodvt]

To heck with the BLE to Tompkins, I'm looking forward to another reason to make my favorite walk along Tryon past the drug guys, the homeless shelter and the ladies of the night. Great people watching.

Edited January 25, 2018 by elrodvt

[InSouthPark]

10 hours ago, grodney said:

How can Fonta Flora produce enough beer to have a taproom in Charlotte? Do they understand what they've signed up for?  I mean even driving that many kegs down here. Wow.   Do they have a 2nd brewing facility in operation?

They do yes.  The Whippoorwill farm site (basically a few miles from Lake James and right at the end of Linville Gorge).  They just started brewing there a few weeks ago and will open a tasting room in the spring.  They are almost a year behind.  I was at the site last April (when it was supposed to open) and they had to completely tear down the barn they planned to use and rebuild it from scratch.   Its way the F out there but its in a beautiful spot with views of shortoff mtn.  Once they tasting room opens, it will be one heck of way to end a day of hiking in the gorge. 

[grodney]

Cool thanks...I knew about the farm, but didn't know if they were brewing there....and couldn't tell from their Facebook page.  Looking forward to visiting there....after the taproom is done.  And of course looking forward to their local presence, even without them brewing here.

[grodney]

Charlotte Independent Brewers Alliance: http://www.beerpulse.com/2018/01/charlotte-independent-brewers-alliance-forms-with-more-than-20-local-breweries-5530/

Noticeably absent:

Sycamore

Heist

D9

Hyde

 

[grodney]

Updates:

I talked to a Southern Tier employee....he says they'll open early May....would have been March if the County computers didn't get hacked.

Seaboard isn't serving yet....still working on the product...have had to dump a few batches.

Divine Barrel says (on fb and ig) they'll be open soon.

 

[CLTProductions]

3 hours ago, grodney said:

Updates:

I talked to a Southern Tier employee....he says they'll open early May....would have been March if the County computers didn't get hacked.

Seaboard isn't serving yet....still working on the product...have had to dump a few batches.

Divine Barrel says (on fb and ig) they'll be open soon.

 

Nice!! and yeah Divine got their ABC permits 

[SgtCampsalot]

I know this sounds weird to ask:

Anyone know of any non-alcoholic or gluten-free options from any local breweries?

[InSouthPark]

12 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

I know this sounds weird to ask:

Anyone know of any non-alcoholic or gluten-free options from any local breweries?

Most of Wooden Robots beers use the clarity ferm enzyme to remove gluten (same as ommision).  Ask the bartender but any IPA or Pale Ale is safe. Sours, stouts, and saisons...ask.

Lenny Boy brews some fully GF options plus all of their alcoholic (and non alcoholic) kombucha is GF. 

My wife has celiac so we know the in’s and out’s around town. 

 

 

[atlrvr]

Unknown makes a delicious Ginger Ale that's non-alcoholic.... not sure if it's in their tap room, but they can it.

[InSouthPark]

Divine Barrel sets opening date of March 10.

http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/February-2018/Divine-Barrel-sets-opening-date-for-March-10/

 

[grodney]

On 1/2/2018 at 10:47 PM, KJHburg said:

Matthew may get another brewery downtown in the old library.  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/01/02/brewery-eyes-rezoning-of-former-matthews-library.html   Another brewery is in the works already there. 

Per their ig feed, they have given up on the library location. Historians were concerned that brides at the next door Reid House would have their weddings ruined by the assumed debauchery at the brewery.

[grodney]

Heist tweetered Sunday evening that they had some cans of Citraquench'l left....I didn't even know they were doing a can release....so never having tasted it, I ubered up there over lunch yesterday.  Cracked one open last night, and I have to say....it lives up to the hype....that's a really good beer.

By the way, they said this batch, along with a can release of Blurred, are their first offerings from their new 2nd location production system.  And with that new system, they will now have way more of their most popular beers.

p.s. Did you know Ft Mill has a brewery now....right downtown? Huh. Yeah.  Me neither.  I reckon that's now the closest brewery to my home. Oh, "Amor Artis" by name, whatever that means.

[HopHead]

37 minutes ago, grodney said:

Heist tweetered Sunday evening that they had some cans of Citraquench'l left....I didn't even know they were doing a can release....so never having tasted it, I ubered up there over lunch yesterday.  Cracked one open last night, and I have to say....it lives up to the hype....that's a really good beer.

By the way, they said this batch, along with a can release of Blurred, are their first offerings from their new 2nd location production system.  And with that new system, they will now have way more of their most popular beers.

p.s. Did you know Ft Mill has a brewery now....right downtown? Huh. Yeah.  Me neither.  I reckon that's now the closest brewery to my home. Oh, "Amor Artis" by name, whatever that means.

I happened to be in NoDa on Saturday afternoon when Heist randomly posted on IG that they did a can release. So I stopped by and grabbed some Blurred and Citraquench'l. Having had it before, agreed it's a can't miss beer. I'd put it up there with some of the best NE style IPAs in the country. 

You definitely need to check out Amor Artis. Neat spot in downtown Ft Mill and their beers are pretty solid. They have a Brown ale and an IPA called Cruisin Down the Street that's excellent. 

[grodney]

While Sycamore's Citropica has become one of my favorite beers, their last three limited releases have been disappointing.  I found First Clouds, Big Fat Juicy, and Juice Willis all to be under-carbonated, so much so that I couldn't really concentrate on the flavor. 

I had an email conversation with the owner about the first two, and even returned a couple cans that were obviously way under-filled.  But then all 8 of my Juice Willis cans, while not obviously under-filled, didn't seem right. Makes me very hesitant to run out and buy Rainbow Dust.

Just me? Or anybody notice similar?

 

[NeverSummer]

5 hours ago, grodney said:

While Sycamore's Citropica has become one of my favorite beers, their last three limited releases have been disappointing.  I found First Clouds, Big Fat Juicy, and Juice Willis all to be under-carbonated, so much so that I couldn't really concentrate on the flavor. 

I had an email conversation with the owner about the first two, and even returned a couple cans that were obviously way under-filled.  But then all 8 of my Juice Willis cans, while not obviously under-filled, didn't seem right. Makes me very hesitant to run out and buy Rainbow Dust.

Just me? Or anybody notice similar?

 

I have really enjoyed them. I think Sycamore has hit a bit of a new rhythm on their releases, but to each their own, I guess. Juice Willis was next level IMO. Honestly, I expect these juicy IPAs to have less carbonation. My friend who brings Trillium back from up North introduced me to the “proper” style, and it always seems less carbed. I dunno. My two cents. I missed the Heist release entirely. Great news! Did anyone make it to Divine Barrel? I saw some pictures of people drinking their beers on the instagrams.

Edited February 21, 2018 by NeverSummer