New Breweries in Charlotte - Part 3

See previous posts:
http://www.ratebeer.com/forums/new-breweries-in-charlotte_264720.htm
http://www.ratebeer.com/forums/new-breweries-in-charlotte--part-2_273146.htm

It seems that new breweries come in bursts in Charlotte. Two new breweries initially opening their doors this weekend. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/restaurants/article45484986.html

Three Spirits Brewing in Charlotte has a soft opening on Saturday. "All the beers are easy-drinking and lower in alcohol than many of today’s craft beers" according to the article above. High Branch Brewing in Concord is also opening this weekend, starting on Friday.

Nice! I will be there December 10-13. Liking the emphasis on lower abv stuff.

Legion Brewing looks to be opening this week. The first brewery in the Plaza Midwood area. They hired the Heist assistant brewer on to be their head brewer. I’ve been a fan of Heist, so hopefully Legion will put out some quality beer.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2015/12/plaza-midwood-brewery-targets-thursday-opening.html?ana=e_clt_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2015-12-15&u=32322357774fbfcfabab8cda4e2273&t=1450185226

I just missed Legion. But we did visit Three Spirits which was OK, and Free Range which was a bit disappointing (and no flights). NoDa’s new tasting room was great, tons of space including a nice big patio. Oh, and Rivermen in Belmont had some terrific beers, and they’ll be opening a new place in downtown Belmont soon.

On the bar side of things, Craft Tasting Room was great, and so was Crafty Beer Guys in Cornelius. We passed a new place in Pineville called Pintville, 30 taps and a bottle shop, but it was closed.

I agree with the new NoDa place, it helped out with one of the downsides of the old NoDa place, which was that it would get very crowded and tough to get a drink. I’ll have to check out Rivermen. I’ve been meaning to make my way out there, but just haven’t got to it.

I seriously don’t understand Free Range. When you plan on having 8-10 beers on tap at any time and to rotate your beers, how can you not offer samplers or flights? With all the options in Charlotte now and all the new beer coming out, I don’t waste my time at Free Range where you can’t try any new beers for cheaper than $4/half-pint.

^^^ is the old NoDa place still open, btw?

The old NoDa location is still open, but significantly reduced hours. I know they are still open Wednesday nights because that is when their run club meets. And I think they are still open on the weekends, but not sure if that is supposed to end or already ended...

^^^ they were closed this past weekend

New brewery in Dallas seems to be pouring at events, so I’m guessing they’re licensed. Ole Dallas. Taproom coming "soon": https://www.facebook.com/odb1863/timeline

Salud Beer Shop is now brewing their own beers on-site:

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/33429/salud-beer-shop-charlottes-newest-and-smallest-brewery/

I haven’t been into Salud for several months, but when I talked to them last June, it sounded like they decided to skip the whole brewing on-site idea since they had just finished adding the deli (Fud at Salud) next door. And it sounded like they were planning on instead working with Benford Brewing in South Carolina to brew their beer there. I guess plans changed...

Sahti as their first beer...gonna be some interesting beers coming from these guys...

Congrats to Sugar Creek Brewing Company for taking the title for best new brewery in North Carolina on the new RateBeer Best. They are easily my favorite brewery that has opened up in the last year and a half in the Charlotte area.


In other news, this article is reporting that 21 new breweries are in the works for the Charlotte area. Sounds like Blue Blaze is the closest to opening up:

http://www.charlottefive.com/21-more-breweries-could-be-coming-to-the-charlotte-area/