Carolina Baseball Trip

I will be heading to Charlotte in the begining of June and I had a coupld of questions for the experts. First off, A few friends and I do a baseball trip every year, and this year, we are doing some minor leauge parks in NC. Charlotte is our first stop to see a Knights game, followed by Greensboro and Asheville. The trip is also a great excuse to hit some good breweries and beer bars. We will be staying off of the Billy Graham parkway, and it's about a mile walk to the light rail station. We plan on using the light rail for some of our travels, since there are a decent bit of breweries/beer bars near some of the stations.

That being said, I was looking at some of the breweries and noticed that most of them don't open until 4 (Thursday). However, I did find some places in the Noda area which did open around noon, so I think we may start up there in the afternoon. 5 places, that are pretty walkable form the 36th St station are Free Range, Heist, Growlers Pourhouse, Salud, and Divine Barrel. Since we don't have a ton of time, should any of these be considered must stops? Also, we would probaly want to hit one of these places for lunch. In the same vicinity is Noda brewing. I assume this is a must stop? It doesn't open until 4, but it seems to be the most known of the Charlotte breweries.

Downtown, before the game, I was thinking of hitting Flight Beer Garden and then Duckworths for Dinner. Are those good choices are am I missing something major? After we leave the game, we were planning on heading back south to the hotel and we wanted hit another brewery or 2 or 3. The ones that kind of seemed solid to me were Wooden Robot, Triple C, and Sycamore. Would these be 3 good selections if we have time? We like most kind of beers, with IPA's probaly being at the top of the list. The only thing we typically don't get into our the sours. Any of your opinions is appreciated.

 

I have heard that Heist is doing great things down there. As far as the Durham Bulls go, I actually got down there about 7 or 8 years ago on my way to the outer banks. Great park! This trip was planned to stay more on the western side of the state to be able to hit Asheville, since it seems like a pretty big deal on the east coast beer scene.

 

I did hear that Burial is a must stop. Sounds like Green Man too. I know Wicked Weed was bought out, but I'll still may have to go and check out one of their places. Plus, Sierra Nevada, since I've never made it to their California location. At least we have 2 days in Asheville. Charlotte will be a quick trip with us driving down that morning, which is why I was trying to gather information on the must stops.

 

I will keep Zillicoah and Zebulon in mind. Looks like they are both a little north of town, but we have 2 days, so we may have time. I also saw that there was a New Belgium in town. I've been to Fort Collins a few times and to the main brewery, so I may let that one pass. Unless, of course, the place is pretty amazing.

 

I have been reading up on Resident Culture and it does seem like most people are liking the IPA's there. At least that is only a short UBER ride from the Noda area, so this may need to make the cut. I just liked the Noda area, since everything seemed pretty walkable from the light rail. I did see that Legion Brewing is in the neighborhood, but I haven't seen too much about that place. High Branch may be a bit too far out with the limited time we have, but I'll keep it in mind.

 

Charlotte on Thursday, Greensboro of Friday, and Asheville on Saturday and Sunday, doing the game on Sunday. So the only chance I would have for a thirsty Thursday would be in Charlotte. I did see that a local brewery has a specific beer for the Greensboro Grasshopper games. I believe it has a grasshopper on the can. Will need to grab one of those.

 

White labs sounded very interesting. I definitely want to check that out. Plus having solid food is a bonus. I gused there are 2 Hi Wire locations. One is down by the hotel I'm staying at, while the other seems to be in the main brewery part of Ashville. Not sure if there is a real difference between the 2, but I'll probably get to one or the other. And I figured they had to have some good drafts at the ballpark. Looking forward to it.

 

I have a strong feeling that we will be spending a lot of time on the south slope. Especially on Sunday, when we head to the game. Saturday will probably downtown and some breweries on the outskirts, like Sierra.