Edge City Brewery | #squadgoals Berliner Weisse

Opening a new brewery in Charlotte, North Carolina, is already a risky business move. In a city with more than 30 breweries, it’s hard to stand out and generate the revenue and clientele necessary to survive. But opening a new brewery during a global pandemic in any city is an even riskier business move. Edge City Brewery tossed both of those fears to the wind and opened in Charlotte on April 16, 2020. Read More

Newgrass Brewing | Balloonhead Berliner Weisse

Newgrass Brewing opened its doors in July 2015 in the quaint town of Shelby, NC. They are located between Charlotte and Asheville, just off of Highway 74, making it a convenient stop when traveling between the two cities.

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Brewery Showcase | Salud Cerveceria

I’ve been to over 550 breweries so it is pretty rare for a taproom to “wow” me at this point. When I walked into Salud Cerveceria for the first time a little over a year ago after moving to Charlotte, my jaw dropped.

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Resident Culture Brewing Co. | Iconic Anonymity Hazy Double IPA

Resident Culture is arguably Charlotte’s best brewery. They were just ranked in the Top 10 North Carolina Breweries on Untappd for 2019 and they were named the 2018 10th Best New Brewery in the World from RateBeer, just to name a few of their many accolades.

Located in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood, Resident Culture opened their doors two years ago. Their motto, “Stay Funky,” is encapsulated in their beers, can artwork, swag and in the taproom itself. Read More

Preyer Brewing Co. | Undercurrant

It’s been a season of surprises in North Carolina. First, we have one of the biggest December snow storms I’ve ever seen. Then, I discover a new brewery — Preyer Brewing — that managed to fly under my radar for the past 3 years.

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Lonerider Brewing | For A Few Hops More

We’re hitting the end of a hot North Carolina summer, which means we can look forward to the days being less hot, humid, and sticky. Hopefully you haven’t let the weather change many of your plans this year. But when you do venture outside, I recommend taking with you Lonerider’s new dry-hopped American wheat ale, For A Few Hops More.

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Burial + Other Half | One For Me Helles Lager

Somehow I’ve managed to go years without reviewing a single thing from Burial Beer Company, one of the better-known, Asheville-based brewers in North Carolina. Today we make an end to that with One For Me, Burial’s collaboration Helles Lager brewed with Other Half Brewing out of New York. Read More

Vecino Brewing Company Celebrates Grand Opening with Cinco de Vecino

YesterYears is a thing of the past. YesterYears Brewing, I mean. And from its ashes rises Vecino Brewing Company.

This very weekend, even as I type this, the room is full of patrons, a musician in the corner, and bartenders and food runners and dish collectors (oh my), all of whom are here for Vecino’s grand opening weekend celebration, Cinco de Vecino in Carrboro, North Carolina.

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Heist Brewery | Blurred Is The Word IPA

There comes a time where the lines between “I’ll take another one of those” and “wow, what was the ABV on this again?” become blurred. We’ve all been there and I’d have to say it is a rare feat that is ultimately welcomed. Of course, when browsing a draft list or tap menu, you may take a glance but it’s rare you care to remember the ABV once you order and take a sip or two. Heist Brewery has successfully delivered this experience time and time again with their periodic staple, Blurred Is The Word. Read More

Beer & Book Club | Already Dead

Ben and I are back for another installment of Beer & Book Club (NC chapter)! After our last meeting in the UK, we’ve hopped back across the pond into the good ol’ US of A. Manhattan, New York, to be precise. There we met Joe Pitt, the enigmatic, vampiric protagonist of Charlie Huston’s pulp, noir, detective novel Already Dead. To complement our discussion, we drank Blood Orange Wheat from New Sarum Brewing out of Salisbury, NC. Read More

Resident Culture Brewing | Vicky Virago Double IPA

October of 2017, I decided to take my talents back South to the beautiful city of Charlotte, North Carolina. After four years in Brooklyn’s fast-paced and quite expensive climate, I decided to come back closer to home.

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The Unknown Brewing Co. | 3.5ish

The next stop on North Carolina’s sour beer train takes us to Charlotte, home of The Unknown Brewing Co. This summer they released 3.5ish, a gueuze-inspired lambic-style ale, to celebrate three-and-a-half years (more or less) of beer brewing. Read More

Pisgah Brewing Company | Pisgah Pale Ale

When people think of the Asheville area with regards to craft beer, so many brewery names come to mind. Too many. Asking to list all of the awesome breweries leads down one hell of a rabbit hole, along with the famous special release beers from nearly all of them. What might not be so obvious to outsiders and even some locals is the answer to a question such as “What is the  ______ beer of Asheville?” If that blank space says Pale Ale, there is an easy answer to it: Pisgah Pale Ale.

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Burial Beer Co. Releases Seasoned Skillet and A Paranormal Vibe

Cover photo courtesy Danele Bova @Daneleheartshops

Tomorrow, Burial Beer Co. (Asheville, NC) will release Seasoned Skillet Donut Stout for the second consecutive year and A Paranormal Vibe Double IPA (DIPA) – the latest addition to their DIPA Earth Series. This comes as Asheville Beer Week announces last call for the week’s celebratory and beer-centric events. Read More

The Future of The Unknown Brewing Co. and Their New Head Brewer

Last month, The Unknown Brewing Co. announced Chris Wertman is stepping up and taking the helm from brewery owner Brad Shell as the brewery’s new head brewer. Wertman, a U.S. Navy veteran who served two tours in Iraq, is no stranger to leadership roles, demanding workloads and challenging jobs. Through sheer initiative, drive and discipline, Wertman has fast-tracked himself from keg washer to The Unknown Brewing Co.’s second head brewer in less than a year.

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Ponysaurus Brewing Co. | Bière de Garde

Featured image courtesy of Ponysaurus Brewing

ABV: 6.3%

How many of you have tasted a bière de garde? I bet not many. Up until recently, I was included in that bunch. Truthfully it’s not the most common of beer styles in the U.S., and in North Carolina, it’s even rarer. As a matter of fact, I can think of only one brewer (no doubt there are more) who produces this style of beer: Durham’s own Ponysaurus Brewing Co. Read More

Growing List of National Breweries Rescind RSVP to Wicked Weed Funkatorium Invitational

It has been a rough twenty four hours for the craft beer industry, as droves of national brewers have begun voicing their responses to Wicked Weed Brewing’s acquisition by Anheuser-Busch InBev. The first and perhaps most high profile response came from Jester King Brewing’s Jeffrey Stuffings who shared a heartfelt, but definitive statement on the Austin brewery’s policy toward future collaborations and sales of Wicked Weed products.

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Jester King Nixes Wicked Weed Collab & Addresses Anheuser-Busch Purchase

Diehard craft beer community followers weren’t the only ones shocked to learn of today’s Wicked Weed acquisition by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Jester King Brewery Founder Jeffery Stuffings shared his thoughts on today’s acquisition announcing that Jester King would no longer sell Wicked Weed products based on the principal that the world’s largest brewery conglomerate has actively pushed legislation to oppose the interest of Texas craft brewers. Read More

NEWS | Anheuser-Busch Acquires Wicked Weed Brewing

This morning, Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI), the world’s largest brewery conglomerate, announced the acquisition of Wicked Weed Brewing.

The Asheville, NC brewery began as a 15 barrel pub system in 2012, founded by brothers Walt and Luke Dickinson along with friends Ryan, Rick and Denise Guthy, Originally focused on West Coast style IPAs and Belgians, Wicked Weed quickly developed a reputation for wild, sour and experimental barrel-aged beers. This progression led to the opening of their Funkatorium sour beer taproom and barrel-aging facility in 2014, a second 50 barrel production facility in 2015, and most recently The Funk House and company headquarters which houses a custom designed brewhouse and training facility.

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Event Recap | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Burly Beer Fest

PorchDrinking closed out winter with Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild during their Burly Beer Fest on Saturday, April 1st. The festival featured 113 different beers with some really rare and special offerings available from 55 different breweries from all across the country. According to Margo Metzger, the Executive Director of the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild, Burly Beer Fest “raised $10,000 to support [the] guild’s mission to make North Carolina the best place to brew beer (and drink beer) in the nation.” Combine all that was available with the general atmosphere provided by the grounds around Sierra Nevada and it was easy to relax, enjoy yourself and sip some huge beers in a proper send off to winter all in support of a great cause.

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