Brew Flowers in the Queen City: Part 1
I haven’t done much to celebrate my birthday in any big way over these past four years. I was pregnant, had an infant, then had two COVID lockdown birthdays. This year, I was ready to get out and celebrate!
Mac suggested a weekend away with girlfriends. I wanted to go somewhere with breweries that I had never visited before. While I had been to Charlotte, NC before, it was generally for a concert or doctor’s appointment, not a situation where I had a chance to explore much of the city. After having that delicious Pink Robot beer from Birdsong Brewing, I started looking into other breweries in Charlotte. There are A LOT!
Mac booked us a place to stay and I got to work researching, to narrow my list of brew stops. Finally, the day came when Poppy, Golden Wheat, Lady Bitteroot, and I hit the road with my ambitious brew list in our phones!
Bloom & Bottle
The top of my list, and our first stop was Bloom & Bottle. I don’t remember how I came across this bottle shop, but it had been on my wish-list to visit since I found it. I was not disappointed and really hope to visit again. It was a great start to our trip. Having some time to kill before check-in, we stopped at Bloom & Bottle first thing. It was a perfect way to unwind from the drive. Sitting in a beautiful shop, surrounded by flowers and plants, sipping rich beautiful brews. For all the details on our Bloom & Bottle stop, check out my previous post: HERE.
Connolly’s on 5th
Next we headed to our Hotel, the Dunhill. We still had some time before check-in, so we took this opportunity to continue to explore the area of the city where we were staying.
Within walking distance there was a great selection of restaurants and bars. We stopped in at Connolly’s on 5th. Coming from the sunny street, the pub seemed almost pitch black with only the glow of a few lit candles scattered on high top tables. Once our eyes adjusted, there was so much to see. Flowery wallpaper decorated with beer signs, Guinness flags, family photos, and sentimental memorabilia. We grabbed a high-top and settled in. The bartender came to our table. He had long salt-and-pepper hair pulled back, and a delightful Irish brogue. Given the setting we had to choose appropriate beers: two Guinness pints and two Smithwick’s pints for the table. It was the best Guinness I had had in a while. It was smooth and creamy to the very end leaving a beautiful white lacing down the side of my glass. If you’re looking for a cozy pub and a creamy pint, this is your spot!
Divine Barrel
After checking in we grabbed an Uber and headed to Divine Barrel. Several people recommended this brewery to me. The vibe here was very hip and very family friendly. Divine Barrel had a small outdoor area, but the inside was very spacious and open. I can also tell you that the bathrooms are very well maintained and I noticed a changing table in the ladies’ room (I didn’t have anyone to do recon in the mens’ room). The Sidekick food truck was there during our visit. Their delicious pizza and wings went great with our brews!
Now for the beers. Divine Barrel had a pretty exciting list of brews to choose from. I grabbed a flight, because I was having a hard time picking what I wanted to taste. I started with the Czech Pils (5.1% ABV), which ended up being my favorite in the lineup. The Czech Pils was perfect with my pizza. It was light, crisp, and seemed to have the perfect amount of bitterness.
Next I tried the Double Ice Cream Paint Job (8%), which is a smoothie pastry sour. This one was actually sold out on draft, so my sample came from a can. I love sours and I have really liked most of the smoothie sours I’ve had. This one wasn’t for me. The lactose flavor was a bit overpowering. I did like all the flavors coming from the fruits (raspberries, sweet cherries and blueberries).
I’m a sucker for a white stout. I love that they taste like they should be a dark brew, but have such light color! Boom Roasted (6.5%) was not an exception. Light in color, but bold in coffee and cocoa flavor. It didn’t go great with my pizza, but I bet it would be amazing with a brownie!
Lastly I tried Unbelievably Annoying (5.3%) another coffee stout, but this one was the color you’d expect. This one was sweet too and would be perfectly paired with a chocolatey dessert.
Salud Cerveceria
Across the street from a beautiful Dolly Parton mural, was our next stop. The Salud Cerveceria Brewery was supremely hip! My first impression was that this brewery would be a great hang out spot or the perfect place for a casual date night. I had the Tiki Dairlynerweisse (6% ABV), which is a sour fruited with pineapple, strawberry, and banana. This special brew also contains coconut cream and hibiscus. This sour was excellent, but reminded me more of a smoothie sour. I think it would be amazing paired with a savory breakfast (which this brewery also offers). Poppy and Golden Wheat had the Una Fría (5.2%), which would also pair well with something savory to eat. I do wish we had planned on having our dinner at Salud, but at this point we were still full from the pizza and wings from Sidekick.
Update: I’ve since been back to Salud and had some delicious wings and more of their extra special brews!
NoDa Brewing Company
It was warm and there wasn’t much traffic, so we made the decision to walk from Salud to the NoDa Brewing Company. This was an adventure, but we saw some really neat architecture on our way, including flowers pressed into huge cement walls. Arriving at the NoDa Brewery we were greeted by huge tanks and colorful artwork. Shockingly, the taproom was nearly empty! We were surprised, because the location was beautiful, clean, and every single beer we tried we ALL liked (that was surprising too)! Of course I had to have a flight here as well!
I started with the Wiezen Up (5.3% ABV), an excellent German style Hefeweizen. I love Hefeweizens, so this was a slam dunk for me!
Next up was the Plum Gose (4% ABV and 18 IBU). I loved this one too! Tart and sweet and all around good!
I also had to try the other gose on tap, the Blood Orange (4% ABV and 15 IBU). This leaned more towards a sour wheat beer, which again, I liked. With it’s low ABV, I could see this brew being a perfect poolside companion!
I tried the Fusion Series (9.4%) which was a hazy IPA brewed with passionfruit. This was a tad more bitter than I wanted, but still great.
(the beers are in the reverse order that is listed on the card, but correct order listed in my review)
I hope this was enough to get you started and maybe inspire you to check out the Queen City yourself!
Stay turned for Part 2!
