The Unknown Brewing Co., one of the more recent breweries to open in the Charlotte area, will expand distribution into South Carolina’s Upstate beginning next month.
Tag Archives: Charlotte
Holy City collaborates with SC, NC, GA breweries for Brewvival
If you’ve been following Brewvival’s Twitter account (and if you’re not, you really should), you’ve noticed they’ve slowly been releasing the beers and breweries that will be appearing at the festival. And there was quite an announcement Wednesday afternoon: Of the five beers Holy City will have on hand, four will be collaborations with regional breweries.
In addition to a Jack Daniels barrel-aged version of their Manuel Fantastico barleywine, HCB will also be offering the following:
- Holy Weed, an imperial IPA brewed in collaboration with Wicked Weed out of Asheville, NC. It’ll include green tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation.
- Sister City Saison, a farmhouse ale brewed in collaboration with Savannah’s Southbound Brewing Co. This one’s an imperial saison brewed with rose hips.
- Half Calf, brewed with Spartanburg’s RJ Rockers. It’s a coffee milk stout that includes coffee from Coastal Coffee Roasters in Summerville.
- Shades of Grace, a blend of HCB’s Graveyard Shiftee and NoDa of Charlotte’s Imperial Coco Loco. So, a massive imperial porter.
Brewvival will be held Saturday, February 22, at the field across from COAST. It will sell out.
Olde Mecklenburg enters Columbia market this month
A few months ago, there was some chatter that the expansion of Charlotte’s Olde Mecklenburg Brewery into more of the South Carolina marketplace was imminent. “Weeks,” I was told by a couple of people in the know, but as time went by, nothing came to fruition. That changed last Friday.
Sources at both OMB and their distributor, Comer, have confirmed that the traditional German-style brewery will enter the Columbia market within the next two weeks. (Comer also represents Charlotte’s Four Friends and NoDa breweries.) The rollout will begin with both draft and bottles of OMB’s flagship Copper altbier and their Captain James Jack Pilsner. Both beers clock in at a sessionable 4.8% ABV. Seasonal releases will also be available, but only at a select few accounts.
OMB is a juggernaut in the Charlotte beer scene. I was once told the brewery sells more beer in the Charlotte area alone than NC-based Duck-Rabbit sells in its entire East Coast coverage area. OMB recently announced plans to move into a much bigger brewhouse – or more appropriately, brauhaus – and have been constantly expanding their output since opening in 2009.
Additionally, their expansion further into SC is interesting due to the pride they take in their product’s quality and freshness. The beer is brewed strictly in line with the German Reinheitsgebot laws – save for some Americanized and barrel-aged variations – and distributed only in Charlotte and some nearby surrounding areas, including the Rock Hill and Fort Mill areas of the Palmetto State.
Because freshness is paramount of the brewery, they’ve worked out a deal with Comer to deliver their beers to the distributor once a week instead of once a month, which is commonplace for many breweries. This means the freshest product possible will be available for Columbia consumers.
“We hold fast to our plans to be a local brewery,” said OMB Director of Sales Ryan Self. “You may someday see the beer an hour or two outside of the brewery, but only if we can deliver it as fresh as we do to Charlotte. If that proves impossible, we’re quite happy to remain hyper-local.”
Self also issued the following statement about the expansion:
“OMB has always taken pride in three things first and foremost: Our beers being the highest quality; being served fresh; and being brewed locally. Customers will vary in what they consider local: some in Charlotte consider only Charlotte-brewed beers to be local, some only consider North Carolina beers to be local, and others apply the ‘local’ tag to regional beers such as SweetWater and RJ Rockers. Ultimately, we are excited to serve Columbia, a fast-growing craft beer scene that has embraced beer made in the Carolinas, and to send this market fresh beer every week. Columbia is a little farther away than we’re used to, but they’ll get the same beer, made fresh and delivered fresh every single week.”
Note: This post has been updated and clarified from an earlier version.
RJ Rockers taps NoDa collaboration IPA Friday
About a month ago, Spartanburg’s RJ Rockers and Charlotte’s NoDa breweries teamed up to brew a pineapple-infused IPA they went on to dub PIPA Long Hoppings. Looking to spread the wealth, representatives from each brewery visited the other and both brewed up their own respective 15 BBL batches of the beer.
On Monday, both breweries announced they would be tapping their own batches to help kick off the weekend. NoDa will break theirs out on Saturday, but RJ is getting a jump on things a day earlier. RJ’s batch will be on tap for Friday evening’s tastings and tours.
RJ Rockers readies pumpkin, strawberry, pineapple brews
Spartanburg’s RJ Rockers have been keeping themselves busy lately, preparing one of their seasonal staples, brewing a collaboration with our beer brethren to the north and getting ready to release a new fruit brew.
On Wednesday, the brewery announced it had started brewing this year’s batch of Gruntled Pumpkin, a 7.3% pumpkin beer. While many pumpkin beers are already on the shelves – a fact yours truly has mixed feelings about – the Upstate brewery is just now getting around to brewing their foray into the style. Look for that one to hit shelves in a few weeks.
As far as new brews go, RJ is working on two fruit-infused beers. The first, Strawbeery Wheat Ale (that’s straw-beer-y), is a lightly hopped wheat ale made with 100 pounds of strawberries from Strawberry Hill in Chesnee. The beer promises to be a perfect complement to a hot summer day and has already been on tap at the brewery, but will be distributed soon, primarily to the greater Spartanburg area.
The other fruit beer RJ is working on is in collaboration with one of my favorite North Carolina breweries, Charlotte’s NoDa Brewing Co. The two breweries collaborated on a pineapple IPA they’ve dubbed PIPA Long Hoppings. Batches of the beer were brewed at both breweries, which means both Carolinas will have the chance to enjoy it when it’s released in a few weeks.
World of Beer hosting NoDa Brewery Spotlight June 20
It’s been great having Charlotte’s NoDa Brewing Co. in South Carolina for the past few weeks. Ever since they hit the Columbia market, the North Carolina brewery has been a hit at bars across the city, with numerous kegs being kicked at the city’s World of Beer location.
NoDa’s initial launch lineup – Jam Session Pale Ale, Ramble on Red, Hop, Drop & Roll Imperial IPA and GABF medal-winning Coco Loco Porter – was impressive, and NoDa fans such as myself were promised there was more on the way. And next week, you’ll be able to get another taste of one of Charlotte’s best.
WOB will feature NoDa in their Brewery Spotlight series with an event on Thursday, June 20. In addition to the four beers already released, a few new NoDa brews will make their first appearance in the Capital City, including:
- Ghost Hop, a 5.9% white IPA brewed with Amarillo and Centennial hops and fermented with Belgian wit yeast;
- Woody & Wilcox, a straight-up American IPA with Columbus, Magnum, Cascade and Santiam hops coming in at 6%; and
- Monk’s Trunks, a Belgian pale ale with Belgian malts and European hops at 5.6%.
I was in Charlotte a couple of weekends ago and stopped by NoDa for a few pints, so trust me when I say these guys do not make bad beer. Be sure to come out and show some love.
NoDa announces expansion into South Carolina market
After months of rumors and whispers about their imminent arrival in the Palmetto State, the news was made official Friday morning: Charlotte’s NoDa Brewing Co. is coming to South Carolina.
In a press release, the North Carolina brewery announced its has signed with Rock Hill’s Comer Distributing – the same distributor Four Friends is signed with – and will begin selling its suds to its southern brother this month.
“Comer Distributing Company is very proud and excited to introduce the fine brands of NoDa Brewing Company to our customers in South Carolina,” Chip Comer, the company’s vice president said in the release. “NoDa Brewing is a great example of local artisans with a driving passion for doing what they love, brewing craft beer. … To have this opportunity and bring these great Charlotte brews with their unique story to our local customers is an overwhelming feeling!”
The company’s distribution will be limited to Fort Mill, Rock Hill and Columbia for the time being. NoDa owner and Brewery Manager Todd Ford said it’s “a logical distribution move for NoDa Brewing as we focus on new markets with growing craft beer demand near our home base in Charlotte.” New markets will open up in the future.
Those markets will see the arrival Hop, Drop ‘n Roll, Ramble on Red and Coco Loco – which won a silver medal at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival – later this month. Hop, Drop ‘n Roll will also be poured at the Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill this weekend.
