Red Oak Brewery

Brewery, Beer-to-go

6901 Konica Dr
Whitsett, North Carolina, 27377
United States

(888) RED-OAKS | map
redoakbrewery.com
BEER STATS
Average:
3.86
Beers:
13
Ratings:
793
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.93
Reviews:
14
Ratings:
22
pDev:
16.79%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by EliHammett:
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Rated by EliHammett from Minnesota

3.5/5  rDev -10.9%

Jul 10, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of Singlefinpin
Reviewed by Singlefinpin from North Carolina

4/5  rDev +1.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Modern German style beer hall.
Plenty of seating indoors and out.
German lagers, all very good.
Five beers on tap today. A Helles, an amber lager, a Bavarian style Pilsner, a Bavarian Bock, and a Dopplebock.
Beers rotate in and out.
Food trucks.
If, this place had good German food you'd never want to leave.
Feb 15, 2020
 
Rated: 4.11 by vein1 from North Carolina

Mar 06, 2019
Photo of Buckeye55
Reviewed by Buckeye55 from North Carolina

4/5  rDev +1.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Toured RO once a few years back. I was stuck by how clean this place was. I mean no breweries i've visited were crap holes, but this place was spotless. Smallish tasting room, I know they have food trucks come in, but invite you to bring what you want. Will have to plan another visit soon.
Jan 26, 2019
Photo of TheRougeBastard
Reviewed by TheRougeBastard from North Carolina

4.74/5  rDev +20.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5
Red Oak's new "Bierhous" captures the spiit of a traditional German beer hall, then transcends most with a beautiful, interior with high wood arches, big glass doors that will open in warmer weather to a well-manicured garden. Rotating food trucks provide a nice food option, but patrons are welcome to bring in their own. Oktoberfest's will be awesome here!
Jan 14, 2018
 
Rated: 4.83 by TheHexIsReal from North Carolina

Jan 13, 2018
 
Rated: 3.25 by Renegawam from North Carolina

Nov 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by slym from North Carolina

Jun 30, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by James_Bowers from Colorado

Jun 16, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by HuntDaddy540 from District of Columbia

Apr 29, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by DuffDaddy from Florida

Feb 04, 2014
Photo of KerMUDGEon
Reviewed by KerMUDGEon from North Carolina

5/5  rDev +27.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
Red Oak is a nice brewery with a small tasting room. You can purchase 12 pks and growlers from the facility. The facility is state of the are and the cleanest in NC and possibly the US. Tours are done on Fridays at 3pm and are highly recommended.
Below is a small section copied from the website.

By 2001 Red Oaks popularity had grown so much that we were brewing 24/7...and out of aging capacity. We began the search for a location to build a larger brewery with space to accommodate future growth. After settling on a 12 acre tract along I 40/85 between Greensboro and Burlington in 2003...we began discussions with 3 Bavarian Brewery fabricators. ROLEC Prozess- und Brautechnik GmbH of Chieming, Bavaria was chosen to supply the new brewery; and in 2005 construction began on the building to house it. By the summer of 2007 Red Oak was ready to open the nation's most modern computerized brewing facility...consistently producing the Freshest, Purest, Bavarian Lagers in America.

If you are interested in purchasing our former Brew Pub/Restaurant or it's property, view the listing at www.restaurantstore.com and search through the Greensboro, NC office listings for listing # GSO 00045.
Sep 18, 2013
Photo of VaterRoss
Reviewed by VaterRoss from North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -10.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3
Went to the brewery for a tour and tasting.

The tour was quite nice though clearly geared towards those who were unfamiliar with beer. I enjoyed the historical asides and tales of the beer making of olde. The Brewmaster made it quite clear that he was not a big fan of IPAs and his love for traditional German lagers. The facility is gorgeous, state of the art, and pristine. Seeing the bottling room was especially fun as it reminded me of watching a "how it's made" type show. The tasting room, also the entrance, was very crowded and made getting tastings a bit difficult. 4 beers were on tap including one I had not seen before called Black Oak. Brewmaster stayed around during the tasting and answered questions, seemed like a real nice guy. Received a nice gold rimmed pint glass at the end of the tour. 12 packs of one beer and growlers of the others were for sale.

Negatives: my tour was quite large, leading to crowding. Also the helles lager was a tad funky.

If you're in the area, or don't know much about beer and the brewing process I recommend this tour. A nice way to spend a few hours on a Friday.
Jan 24, 2012
Photo of gopens44
Reviewed by gopens44 from Virginia

3.46/5  rDev -12%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 2.5
This will be a little different of a review for me since there simply wasn't a ton happening here. I'll just tell you about my interactions with the staff and opinion of the product.

First off, I did a little research and found that they only took cash - so remember, get cash before going. They had 4 beers available when I stopped by and sold all 4 in growlers or offered a case of their amber, but nothing else was bottled. As soon as I went in, I was greeted by a lady in the office on the right who explained their beers. She's also the one who ordered up my growler of the Battlefield Bock. She was very nice, and looked a touch too overworked for a Friday afternoon. Hopefully she took a few growlers home. In any case, the transaction was short and sweet. Cases (I believe) went for $20, and a growler (new growler) filled with the aforementioned bock was maybe, $18? The growler lasted two days with no drop off in quality. I've had the amber on tap, and it was pretty much a Boston Lager twin, but a lot fresher.

All in all, I am very happy I sought them out. They were literally right off of I-85, and I had no trouble at all getting in and out. If you love beer and have 15 minutes to spare while heading up 85, you owe it to yourself to stop.
Jun 21, 2011
Photo of uncggop06
Reviewed by uncggop06 from North Carolina

2.3/5  rDev -41.5%
vibe: 2 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 1 | food: 2
Oh Red Oak (or Spring Garden Brewery as I once knew it) how you have changed. From a once bustling brew pub with amazing food, beer, great service, and free chips, to an empty shell with rotating prices every day, vacant servers, reduced menu, and $2.75 chips (probably higher now). Management changes over the years has reduced this Greensboro, NC establishment to a dive where only the hard core fans go. The selection of food used to be phenomenal, but the prices now fluctuate daily and the menu has dropped to one page from three. The new brewery on I-40 has probably become top priority and I can't wait to see some of these great beers become much better and more available. It's just not worth coming here any more, burgers can cost upwards of $10 including cheese or bacon, beer drifts from $2.50 - $4 depending on the day, and the classic Drunken Chicken has a different price EVERY day. It's very sad, but it is just another victim of Greensboro growing up and forgetting its past. Hopefully Natty Greene's will not suffer this same fate with it's new brewery or we'll have no more quality beer pubs in this town.
May 22, 2007
Photo of carolinabeerguy
Reviewed by carolinabeerguy from North Carolina

3.7/5  rDev -5.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Nice place to stop in if you're in the Greensboro area. Small variety of beers but their own are good. They have 3 of theirs on tap: Red Oak (Lager), Battlefield Black (Dunkel I believe) and Humminbird (Light). Battlefield is the premier choice if you're looking for quality; Red Oak is good too and much easier to put away several of them. Food quality is prety good for the price. Atmosphere is a typical high end college bar with several games on all the time. Service has always been good for me. Overall, this is a good place to have some good beer and a good time in Greensboro. Check it out.

EDIT: This review was for the long closed brewpub.
Mar 27, 2006
Photo of Metalmonk
Reviewed by Metalmonk from North Carolina

3.73/5  rDev -5.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5
Clearly the premiere reason to visit the Red Oak is for their house brews, which are brewed in accordance with Germany's Reinheitsgebot purity law. You have to respect their purist approach. We were offered sample shots before ordering, and I found the Battleground dark to have the most character. All their creations match any average to very good German beer, but nothing mindblowing. Apparently their brewmaster is a born-and-raised German, so that's a cool selling point.

Otherwise the beer selection is sub-par, which makes it obvious that they're hoping to put all the attention on their house beers. And why not?

We took the tour, which was informative and not at all rushed. The guide was a helpful chap who was incredibly attentive to our small group of 4, and seemed to know the process and place inside and out.

Didn't try the food, but the artwork in the spacious main room is worth your attention. They also have some sort of mug club, for a fee you get your own pewter mug (looked like pewter anyway), but it's probably only a good deal if you're a local and a regular.

A cool place to stop in, whether you're a local or a visitor.
Mar 14, 2006
Photo of aleyeast
Reviewed by aleyeast from South Carolina

2.9/5  rDev -26.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 2.5 | service: 4 | selection: 2
This review is from summer 05. We stopped to see if we wanted to eat here later and had a sampler, only three beers on tap. a wheat (hummingbird), amber(red oak), and a dark (battleground). The dark was the best of the bunch. The amber was a little funky for a lager, too sweet and definitely something going on with the yeast sour. The inside is a little eclectic (that's polite talk for run down) and the menu didn't excite us so we chose to eat elsewhere. Worth a stop to try it out, maybe they will have more on tap. Also, watch, doesn't open til 4 in the Summer even on Friday/ Saturday probably due to the university being out.
Jan 24, 2006
Photo of SaCkErZ9
Reviewed by SaCkErZ9 from South Carolina

4.45/5  rDev +13.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I live in Greensboro, about 2 miles from the Red Oak Brewery. I love to watch college basketball, especially my Tarheels of North Carolina. Unfortunately, I dont have cable at my house (yes, one of about 4 people worldwide), so I watch all of the Carolina basketball games at the bar at Red Oak. They have a big screen TV and four smaller TV's in each corner of the bar. There are also several booths and tables. Everytime I have been in there, no matter what was on the TV, if I asked them to change the channel to the game, they always comply. I could not ask for more from a beer establishment. I also enjoy chilling out on the patio during the summer months and drinking their brews with my wife.

Another thing of note is the art work in the bar and the entire restaurant. An exceptional painting is in the bar on the wall opposite the outside area. My wife and her associates are Furniture Designers and they always comment on the artwork.

My only complaint is the selection of beers. They have three mainstays and one seasonal on tap (which all are excellent beers themselves) and two others. Otherwise, there is a minimal selection.

Anytime I have a business associate in town, I always take them to lunch at Red Oak and no one has complained about one single thing there. I love this establishment and would recommend it to anyone in the area.
Mar 04, 2005
Photo of Stoo333
Reviewed by Stoo333 from North Carolina

3.85/5  rDev -2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
The atmosphere is very casual at Read Oak...pretty comfortable. The bar area is decorated with paintings from a local artist, and the wooden bar/tables and stools/benches make the environment really comforting. TVs are present and usually show current sporting events. In the bar area you are also in view of some of their brewing facilities. They also have a larger non-smoking dining room that is very spacious and comfortable.

The selection of beer includes their two standard brews, Red Oak and Battlefield Black, along with a handful or two of macros and some imports. Spaten and SNPA are of note. They usually have at least one other current beer of theirs, but availability of their other brews is seasonal or random.

Their two popular brews are Red Oak and Battlefield. Red Oak is an amber lager with a mellow sour malt up front with a pretty neutral finish. Battlefield Black has a similar slightly-sour characteristic with darker roasted malt in the foreground. The sour characteristic is present in all of their beer that I've had... it can be a bit much but some seem to like it.

The food is excellent. The family that owns the restaurant raises their own angus beef w/out growth hormones and antibiotics. The burgers are exceptional. The menu has other traditional bar favorites and quite a bit more. All of their traditional menu items, (i.e. wings, quesadillas, sandwiches, etc) are great. In addition they have a decent ahi tuna and a house specialty: 'drunken chicken,' that is a marinated and smoked in a rotisserie oven--it is excellent. The food has always impressed me, along with everyone who has gone with me.

The amazing food is complemented by great service. Everyone is very attentive and courteous. I've had no problems.
Feb 24, 2004
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Reviewed by Dogbrick from Ohio

3.73/5  rDev -5.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3
I was glad to find a brewpub on my recent trip to the Winston-Salem area. Greensboro is only about 20 min from W-S and seems to have at least as much going on, especially beer-wise. Red Oak is easy to find from 40, and parking is plentiful.

The bar area is pretty cool, it is in the center of the dining area. The bar is square and has a UFO being flown by a man in a suit (?) perched above the center. There is a lot of wood and breweriana adorning the walls. What I really liked was the skylight above the bar! That is a first and I liked it a lot.

The bar had about 12 taps, their own beers hard to find amid all the macros. But they were there. The beers were average, I'd say the Rye was my favorite. The brewer happened to be there that day and was happy to answer questions (like what kind of beer Battlefield black was) that the bartender may not have known.

We didn't try any food (you can blame a Krispy Kreme binge).
Sep 03, 2003
Photo of fattychubs
Reviewed by fattychubs from North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
I found Red Oak to be an interesting place. Upon entering you can see the bar area to your right where there are some wood booths, on your left is a dining area that we sat in. Straight ahead there is what looks to be a modern water fountain, but it is actually an Antique German Wort Cooler where water runs over copper pipes. Where we sat was well lit with large windows, plants hanging and large art work on the walls.

We got a sampler of their four beers which there was no charge for. Interestingly they only brew lagers, and they are all unfiltered and unpasteurized. The server did a nice job of explaining them all and telling us the facts above. We decided on a few, and got some reasonably priced pints.

They seemed famous for their drunken chicken which my wife got and enjoyed. I tried their hamburger. The server explained they raise their own Black Angus beef, which they feed with the left over grains from the brewing process. The seem to make all their stuff naturally and fresh, even the free chips and salsa they serve when you sit. The burger was a bit on the small side for the price, but decent.

We went at an off time, where it was pretty empty in the dining room, but the server took good care of us was attentive and friendly. She gave us lots of info and answered any questions. Overall I think it’s an out of the ordinary place to check out if you are in the area.
Aug 05, 2003
Red Oak Brewery in Whitsett, NC
Brewery rating: 3.86 out of 5 with 793 ratings