Drinking Beer in Charlotte

[InSouthPark]

Got a chance to stop by the Broken Spoke (connected to Great Wagon Distillery) and what a great spot! There are still in soft opening phase (and without their own spirits since there was a delay from the ABC) but it is beautiful inside. Once they get up and running I can see this being a very popular spot. 10 taps, hand crafted cocktails, wine, whiskey, etc.  Little bit for everyone, lots of room for big groups as well. Bartenders were very friendly and made it a point to talk to customers.

Also got to stop by the new Bulldog beer and wine in Southend.  This location will do very well, as it is a sort of different niche than the breweries etc. Music was pumping, football front and center, dog friendly inside, beer/wine to go (and wine to consume onsite for $4 more). There was barely any seats at 6pm Saturday on a crappy day. Once it gets nice and they get some patio tables, they will have a fantastic skyline view. Only downside was that the garage door was open so it was kinda cold inside. 

Stopped in Wooden Robot, and while I love their beer, it was just too damn crowded. No place to sit, barely anywhere to stand. 3 of the 4 times i have been there it has been a total madhouse. I would look for them to look for a bigger spot in the next couple of years.

Last stop was Three Spirits Brewery down by Woodlawn. As other have said, I thought there beers were decent, but nothing to write home about. The owner has said before though that is the plan: to create easy to drink "gateway" beers.  Did a flight of all 7 on draft and liked the Honey Porter, Apricot blonde, and Oatmeal stout the best.  The taproom is much bigger than I expected and feels like most startup taprooms do.  Weird hours.  We got there around 7:30 Saturday and didn't realize we would be closing the place down at 8pm.  I think they will do fine if they able to get their beers into more mainstream restaurants due to the "easier drinking" beers they brew. It won't be on my regular rotation but that is because I hophead/sour/imperial stout kind of guy. 

 

[grodney]

Here's another article/preview regarding Growler USA in Ballantyne.  Grand Opening Jan 30.  Other articles have hinted soft opening before that.

Yeah it's a franchise -- very few open right now, with 15-20(?) opening in 2016.  10-15 taps of Charlotte beer (out of 104 taps total) isn't enough for me, but it's not bad.

I'm looking forward to having this option so close to home -- assuming it doesn't disappoint.

http://www.charlottefive.com/growler-usa-microbrew-pub-to-open-later-this-month-in-ballantyne/

[SouthEndCLT811]

Calling Jayvee to reignite his Queen's Park campaign.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/food-drink/article54540400.html

Wasn't it mentioned the old Queen's Park sign is going in front of where Harvest Foods was?  Don't care to have a neighborhood name for every nook of the area but QP wins out over 'LoSo' which makes me think of this:

[CLTProductions]

24 minutes ago, SouthEndCLT811 said:

Calling Jayvee to reignite his Queen's Park campaign.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/food-drink/article54540400.html

Wasn't it mentioned the old Queen's Park sign is going in front of where Harvest Foods was?  Don't care to have a neighborhood name for every nook of the area but QP wins out over 'LoSo' which makes me think of this:

Ugh I know......LoSo needs to STOPPPPP it literally plays into every stereotype and ridiculous reason people make fun of hipster/urban redevelopment

[grodney]

LoSo is cool with me.  Queen Park would be cooler, but please let it be Queen (not Queen's) Park for historical accuracy (and because it sounds cooler).  I know, we already went over this, but now the Sugar Creek guy is saying it wrong in the article.

Edited January 14, 2016 by grodney

[nonillogical]

Its such a common convention in most cities these days that it doesn't even irk me anymore, just is what it is. Its always been a big stretch to include that area in Southend, but since it has an obvious connection in style and is along the lightrail I think a name officially connecting the two actually makes sense. 

[grodney]

I went to Legion for the first time yesterday.  Talked to the head brewer a bit.  She said they're going to start distributing soon.  Will have a core of a few beers that they always brew and distribute.  Other than the core, she plans to brew lots of others for in-house consumption.  Not 100 different in a year like Sycamore, but she said 50 different in a year was possible.  Also said a bottling line is in their plans.  Oh, and doing a Russian Imperial Stout very soon, though it won't be ready for a month she said.

The place itself is pretty amazing, even in the cliche mold of "exposed brick and shiny tables" --- it's different enough and very well done.  I love the deck over the brewhouse....the smell was amazing, but then I like the smell of beer brewing.  The beer was okay in the 8 that I tried...average to a little above maybe?  Nothing fantastic.  Nothing horrible.

Oh, and I went to Common Market for the first time, too!  What a place.  

Edited January 15, 2016 by grodney

[ah59396]

Went to Broken Spoke last night.  It smells like leather and they served me a solid single malt mixed drink that I could have bathed in it was so delicious.  Huge space, lots of wood.  Very very awesome.  9/10, will drink there again (a lot).

[SgtCampsalot]

2 minutes ago, ah59396 said:

Went to Broken Spoke last night.  It smells like leather and they served me a solid single malt mixed drink that I could have bathed in it was so delicious.  Huge space, lots of wood.  Very very awesome.  9/10, will drink there again (a lot).

Sounds magical. What's the liquor pricing? A friend of mine said the beers are a little more expensive than the other breweries ($6-$7), but the hard liquor seemed to be priced well ($5.50-$8); is that for like a finger? 

[CLTProductions]

7 minutes ago, ah59396 said:

Went to Broken Spoke last night.  It smells like leather and they served me a solid single malt mixed drink that I could have bathed in it was so delicious.  Huge space, lots of wood.  Very very awesome.  9/10, will drink there again (a lot).

Can't wait to try this place out. Was it crowded? Anyone know how they're doing business wise?

[InSouthPark]

On 1/16/2016 at 0:14 PM, Jayvee said:

Can't wait to try this place out. Was it crowded? Anyone know how they're doing business wise?

It was slow last Saturday night (Jan 10) when we went but as they still didn't have their own liquor in yet, they were still in soft opening mode with very little promoting on social media. Plus it was raining. You would have had to followed their FB page to even know they were open.  They also just opened the kitchen that day as well.  

Their social media this week past week has gone up a lot since they got their booze in stock. It won't take long for the word to start spreading about the place.  

[grodney]

Wooden Robot has added another day (Tues) to their open hours....now open Tue-Sun.

In unrelated news, I saw (and bought) some Sugar Creek White in 12oz 6-packs at Harris Teeter.

My map of breweries: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zvfji2eVQoVE.kz5BFo-0quQ8

 

Edited January 18, 2016 by grodney

[ah59396]

On January 16, 2016 at 0:11 PM, SgtCampsalot said:

Sounds magical. What's the liquor pricing? A friend of mine said the beers are a little more expensive than the other breweries ($6-$7), but the hard liquor seemed to be priced well ($5.50-$8); is that for like a finger? 

I paid $13 for my drink.  Which isn't cheap.  But you get what you pay for.  And I'm comfortable paying for value.  If the drink was crap, I'd be pissed.  I was not pissed.

 

like InSouthPark said, they are still in soft opening.  It seemed empty because it's a big place, but I'd say there was 30~ people in there.  Which isn't bad considering they weren't "open".

Edited January 19, 2016 by ah59396

[HopHead]

I finally got around to checking out Wooden Robot on Saturday afternoon (feel like I was one of the last ones on here who had not been). First of all, I thought it is a pretty awesome space. Great location in Southend and directly across from the new Bull Dog location. It was packed and they could definitely have used a few more people tending to the taps. Not sure if that is the norm or not. I only had time for two beers. The Overachiever Pale Ale... one of the better Pale Ales I've had in a while. Then I had the Killing Me Softly stout. That was pretty good. Definitely look forward to drinking more there when I have time again. I also did stop in the Bull Dog space -- they were having a grand opening party that night. It was huge. They had a number of taps set up at a bar, then they had their usual bottle selection on the other side. They should do well there. 

[InSouthPark]

1 hour ago, HopHead said:

I finally got around to checking out Wooden Robot on Saturday afternoon (feel like I was one of the last ones on here who had not been). First of all, I thought it is a pretty awesome space. Great location in Southend and directly across from the new Bull Dog location. It was packed and they could definitely have used a few more people tending to the taps. Not sure if that is the norm or not. I only had time for two beers. The Overachiever Pale Ale... one of the better Pale Ales I've had in a while. Then I had the Killing Me Softly stout. That was pretty good. Definitely look forward to drinking more there when I have time again. I also did stop in the Bull Dog space -- they were having a grand opening party that night. It was huge. They had a number of taps set up at a bar, then they had their usual bottle selection on the other side. They should do well there. 

That's the norm when I have been there early evening. Two bartenders and lots of people standing around waiting. They work pretty fast but need at least a 3rd bartender for the volume.  Maybe they add more later in the night as all of the times I have been there were in the 5-7pm range.  

[grodney]

On 1/8/2016 at 4:09 PM, Crown said:

Heard some rumblings about Heist today . . . anyone else out there hearing anything? 

What did you hear?  (This is how rumors work!)

 

Edited January 20, 2016 by grodney

[Guest]

1 hour ago, grodney said:

What did you hear?  (This is how rumors work!)

 

Looking for a bigger space, or some way to expand their current.

Edited January 20, 2016 by Guest

[grodney]

Who wants to play?

 

[tozmervo]

That is seriously awesome

[Deleted.]

I'd play!

I'm the car, always the car. You tozmervo can be the thimble! 

[tozmervo]

As long as I'm not relegated to thimbles of beer.

[Guest]

Heard from two separate sources that there are two more breweries in the works for South End. 

[kermit]

^ Gezzz, I am not confident I can drink two more breweries worth of beer. Guess I better get in shape.

[NeverSummer]

5 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Heard from two separate sources that there are two more breweries in the works for South End. 

That's interesting.  You would think that the South End area is reaching a saturation point and breweries would look at other parts of the city.  Any idea which breweries?  Startups?

[grodney]

Growler USA in Ballantyne opens Saturday.  Tap list here: http://www.taphunter.com/location/Growler-USA--Charlotte-Ballantyne/4920270212562944

The only notable thing to me is the description on the Birdsong Jalapeno: " Our Free Will Pale Ale.. with fresh Jalapenos added to give it a fresh, pepper flavor and this time we’ve included some of the seeds for a little heat! This is a limited release, so enjoy it while it’s here. "