Breweries To Visit On Road Trip

I loved Wooden Robot in Charlotte. Judging by your avatar you are already a fan of wooden robots, so it seems like a natural....Have fun.

https://woodenrobotbrewery.com/

 

In Richmond, VA you have Veil, The Answer (which also has great Asian food), and Strangeways not too far apart and pretty much right off of the highway.

 

The Scotts Addition area of RVA is a Devils Triangle of breweries... Veil/Vasen/Ardent/Isley all within walking distance of each other, at least to me. Stressing Veil and Vasen here, Ardent is ok, Isley is kinda... meh.

 

Aardwolf in Jacksonville, FL. Very close to I-95.

 

I love Resident Culture it would be my first choice in Nc. They might have cans available maybe not, Crowlers are about $15. Heist is close, and IMO much better than NODA but that's subjective too. Old Meck IMO is a no brainer if you love German style beers, take out beers available.

 

You should be traveling around Greensboro in the route you describe. Depending on time of day, I would suggest visiting Little Brother (opens Noon Saturday and Sunday) would be a good idea. It is a cool old re-purposed bar site from pre and post prohibition. This place has a feel. Across the street is Natty Greene's, which turns out good beer, but is a North Carolina beer pioneer. Good food as well. Up Elm Street you'll find Joymongers and Preyer Brewing which are both quite good. Stop by!

 

Charlotte: Agree with other folks but as a summary

Resident Culture and Heist if the haze bombs are your thing-not if they are not. RC has some canned stuff here and there but most is crowler. Heist with good food, crowlers.

Wooden Robot (your avatar is their mascot) for a great well rounded offering of IPAs, solid other brews and some pretty solid sour/farmhouses>>mainly crowlers. Finger food--good.

Legion openend a super upscale brewpub in South Park but their flagship brewery is near Resident Culture--just solid across board>crowlers. Food not cheap but good in South Park.

OMB has just outstanding German stuff. Not an IPA it sight. Uber traditional. Outstanding representatives of the style (flagship is an Alt). Folks not looking for anything beyond super traditional stuff are often disappointed but their simplicity and tradition is unmatched for German stuff. Most beer offered in 6 packs at the brewery.

NODA is pretty solid across board. Lots of stuff on tap not on shelves. HD&R not what it was 5-6 years ago but seems to have improved (to me) of late. Worth a trip.

There many others--too many to count but that should get you started.

 

Pale Fire, Three Notch'd and Brothers in Harrisonburg.

 

If you decide to stop in Jax, definitely also hit Main and Six! also very close to the highway.

 

you should try to hit Vero Beach's Walking Tree Brewery, it's about an hour from Jensen Beach, Sailfish in Ft. Pierce was ok when i went through there a few years ago. Not sure of what else is within striking distance of Jensen though. Edit: just looked and Civil Society is about 45 min to the south, excellent Hazy Ipas.

 

I would highly disagree unless you are talking strictly NEIPA's. Noda has a much better variety and almost all of their beers are very good to excellent. Heist makes great hazy stuff, Noda makes better beer in general (IMHO). but if NEIPA's are what you strictly want, Heist is a better choice.

 

It's one reason why I think Resident Culture is so interisting, they do different styles as well. Their hazy IMO is as good as anything anybody is putting out, but their Pils was great and my wife loved their twist on sours and Belgian style beers. I'm mainly an IPA guy.

 

I love RC and a big fan (and love the space more than most in town) but the variety (to me) is still TBD compared to places like Wooden Robot and Noda. I want to see more high quality porters, stouts, barrel aged stuff, etc.

 

They’ve only been open a year or so, I’m sure that’s in the plan, but popular ipas is the easiest way to put yourself on the map. I saw more on my last trip there than I did on my first so it’s growing.

 

Columbia Craft Brewing in Columbia is a recent arrival but I’ve been impressed. Good beer and nice folks. Definitely worth a stop since you’ll be coming right by Columbia. Great porter, solid to excellent IPAs and sours, great lagers (especially their doppelbock)

 

I drove down last fall moving from NYC to Orlando. My stops were more for accommodating family and dog but I enjoyed Legal Remedy in Rock Hill S.C. for food, atmosphere and beer. I also hit up Troegs & Natty Green

 

Devil’s Backbone is right off I-81 in Lexington. Their Vienna Lager is great.

Just an 1 1/2 on I-64 is Richmond, The Veil & The Answer are awesome. But I can understand it is a bit out of the way, but they are certainly worth it.

About an hour south of Devil’s Backbone on I-81 is Ballast Point in Daleville. It just opened within the last year, great facility with good food and great beers (especially their stouts).

ps-I just saw this thread, and you probably already made the trip. Any feedback?