BeerAdvocate Does Charlotte, Again!

Brawley's Beverage of course....duh!

No knocks on my part when it comes to Common Market, especially the Plaza location. Tom is great and knows his beer!

hophustler....let's be honest you joined BA today just to stir the pot. Head over to OMB and the first beer is on me!!!! I take it you are not a fan???

 

For what its worth, I have no problem at all with Common Market. I think it's a pretty cool place but I was just curious why it was being touted as the greatest place in Charlotte.

 

Hey, I have been to and love Common Market as much as the next guy, and will continue to go there. But let's have some perspective.

The best place to buy beer in Charlotte is Brawleys. Best draft selection is (still, despite their sins) Duckworth's Park road. OMB is my favorite brewery. Really, ya'll are getting spoiled up there.

 

Now that's something I can agree with.

Charlotte has so much to be proud of beerwise, and everyone is going to have their personal favorites. We really do need to step back and consider ourselves lucky before we start bashing places or throwing out baseless accusations.

We have a plethora of great bars, bottleshops and breweries, with more on the way. Sounds like Sycamore Brewing and The Unknown Brewing Company could find spots this year, and I hope that's true for Free Range and Dukbone as well. And there might even be another brewery or two out there waiting in the wings.

 

I see over saturation soon approaching and that's what will separate the boys from the men. My money rides on the boys with FRB when they get up and running. Dukbone will eventually tag a stud brewer from Hop's......shit is primitive. It is typical Charlotte maneuver where everyone burns out the trendy thing and moves onto whatever is next.

 

I think there likely will be an over-saturation point, but I don't think we're there yet. I love everything I've had from Free Range. I'm also willing to give Dukbone the benefit of the doubt and see what they have to offer.

And while Hops is stagnant in terms of the staple beers they've been serving for the last 15 years, their brewer is actually very talented. It's just Hops isn't really going to let someone showcase their talent, you know?

 

Over saturation? Not even close. Charlotte is a big city and the beer community and culture continues to grow. That's not to say that it will be easy for everyone and there may be some that go out of business if they are in it for the wrong reasons (as you said, being trendy) but there's plenty of people and money here to support more breweries.

 

I agree. I think the shift that will need to occur is at the bar and restaurant level -- we need more bars that support all of our breweries, rather than just a tap of local beer here and there. There are a lot more drinkers starting to demand that be the case, so I think it bodes well for the new breweries coming to town.

 

While I don't think we are at the saturation point yet, I would agree that it would be nice to see more craft beer-centric restaurants and bars open up. A city with alot of breweries is great, but you really need other spots to promote the craft beer scene as well to solidify the culture.

 

So far the only thing getting saturated in Charlotte is me I've been living here since July and love it! Within walking distance to CM Plaza-Midwood (was there last night), work in Ballantyne across the street from Duckworth's, drive by Duckworth's on Park and Brawleys on my home from work. A couple miles from NoDa, Birdsong, and Salude. And will visit Taco Mac and Mac's Speedshop occasionally. Oh and Flying Saucer.

Man, I love Charlotte.

 

Jason, Todd. Great to see ya'll. Hope you enjoyed your short break from Boston as much as I enjoyed sharing a beer with you. Sending you and your town best regards from me and mine.

 

It was great to have the Alstrom Brothers in Charlotte. I was happy to catch up with them at NoDa Brewing. The fact they have been here three times recently speaks to the growing local beer scene. We are lucky to have Olde Mecklenburg Brewing in Charlotte, making some of the best German-style beer west of the Rhine. And we are lucky to have Common Market -- there are a ton of cities with craft beer fans that would die for a place like CM. Before venting about perceived injustices and spreading misinformation take a step back and remember the beer scene in Charlotte in 2005. This town has come a long way thanks to people who have invested heavily in building businesses and worked long hours that few of us could imagine. Now grab a local beer, relax and be happy. As the Alstroms say: Respect Beer. (And I'd add, the people who brew it and the people who sell it here in Charlotte!)

 

Hell yea rick and i will add to your list the people who have have created the very website we are currently using! How ironic that the Jason and todd get grief on this site, the best online resource for beer lovers period that is provided to the public for free.

 

Ill bet you a Coors light hophustler stays anon.

 

But then I'll have to buy Coors light

 

T

This is the correct summation. Anyone can have opinions based on certain preferences, but this is correct.

In all reality, it is the "soul", "snootiness", "hipster", "hippie", etc. in Common Market, Vintner, Brewers in NoDa or whatever else that make them polarizing good or bad depending on opinion. These 3 places are a little more welcoming to a diverse population.

 

I have got some great beers from the CM on frequent visits... and have been VERY surprised with some of their draft selections...sorry you missed it when you came up. too bad you don't live here huh? I must admit though I have NEVER heard of Twenty-Two or Crown Station...and after reading this I checked their websites and found nothing about their beer selections. (Tewnty-Two was a dead link)

http://www.gallerytwentytwo.com/index2.php

http://www.crownstationpub.com/

To me Duckworth's is a given...I assume the Bros have been there, Custom Home Pubs in Matthews is most always overlooked...their list when the Bros were in town:

Boulevard Wheat
NoDa Imperial Coco Loco
Olde Hickory Daniel Boone
Natty Greene's Buckshot Amber
Natty Greene's Southern Pale
Highland Imperial Kashmir IPA
Avery Maharaja
New Belgium Feijoa Tripel

Does the tap list at Twenty-Two or Crown Station compare? I ask because I've never heard of either and again their websites suck.