Over Thanksgiving I will have time to visit Ass Clown Brewery north of Charlotte. Never been, and I am assuming by the location of the brewery, a lot of other BA's have not had the opportunity. Brewery is located north of Charlotte along I-77 heading towards Winston-Salem. So not exactly on the way from Charlotte-Raleigh, other way around, Asheville-Charlotte, etc. Anyway, Does anybody have any "off the record" remarks about this place. I did some limited research (about 10 minutes) of reviews on this site and looks like a review of the brewery/tap room has not been done in 10 months, and specific beer reviews are sporadic. I follow this brewery on Twitter and "they" always have some interesting stuff on tap and no less than 10 at any given time. Also looks like they mess around with wine. Think it was a "Bourbon oaked pinot noir" and a "bourbon oak cabernet" I saw earlier. Their website provides limited information about draft specifics although what I see on twitter, the variety and selection are amazing. Looks like some "crazy" flavors/combinations they use. I plan on posting a formal review and a follow up in this forum in anybody cares. Cheers!!! Rant.
I've only been to Ass Clown once (a few weeks ago for the D9 Brewing Launch party... they're 4 doors down from one another). Both breweries are located in Cornelius, NC (15 minutes north of Charlotte) and are in a small warehouse district. Ass Clown has some interesting stuff on tap. I had a Chocolate Sea Salt Stout Nitro and it was quite tasty. Since you'll be in the area you should also check out Davidson Beverage Co (awesome bottle shop) which is 10 minutes north of Ass Clown and/or Craft Beer Guys (another awesome bottle shop) which is 10 minutes south of Ass Clown. Enjoy.
I can't speak if it personally, but I had 3 friends visit Ass Clown (I agree- ridiculous name!!) and all 3 didn't taste a single beer they'd go back again for. I believe they also used words like, "horrible," "flavorless," and "crap." Not a place I'm rushing to.
I have to disagree, they have plenty of flavors in thier beer. Everyone should stop in for a flight and make thier own decisions. What's the worst thing that can happen, catch a buzz?
Not sure what type of beers your friends typically like but there is no way with the amount of beers and flavor profiles Matt brews that they could not find something they would like! I'm yet to visit a brewery and like every beer on the menu but with Ass Clown's selection I recommend anyone going on their first visit to get a flight. Their tasting room is one of the coolest I've visited. Tons of custom work. As they say opinions are like....and my opinion is that Ass Clown is another feather in the ever growing Charlotte craft beer seen!
I have had the opportunity to try District 9's black IPA. Black IPAs aren't my favorite, but damn, it's was expertly brewed. Super flavorful and tasty. Quite refined for such a young brewery.
I haven't been myself, but among my friends that have been I have gotten mixed reviews. Some have said that the beer is decent and others have said that it was quite bad, all have agreed that they seem to be trying too hard to be like DFH with very few standard beers and too many with weird ingredients... *And I agree with some of the above posters... terrible name for a brewery
Say what you will about the name, but I asked why Ass Clown when I stopped in last weekend, the story made sense. As for the beer, I think I tried 5 or 6. Sample tastes are free. I wound up buying a glass of there maple bourbon stout that was fantastic. Unfortunately it was only available by the glass so I couldn't take any with me. Stop in and check them out. Friendly folks and wide variety of flavors. Personally I didn't care for the jalapeño offerings...
