Uniquely Charlotte Craft Beers
The number of Charlotte-area breweries keeps on climbing. Whether you’re using the Charlotte Brew Badge to get in your rounds or following the NoDa Craft Beer Trail, there are a myriad of ways to explore the local beer scene.
by Liz Logan
Charlotte Brew Badge
Save time and money as you explore Charlotte's bustling breweries. Get a 1-day or 3-day pass and unlock vouchers and discounts at select locations.
With so many CLT beers brewed, some breweries pay homage with beers specific to the city, its neighborhoods, outdoor spaces or Charlotte’s pro-sports scene. Here are 20 brews to help you show your Queen City Pride, from year-round goodness and seasonal brews to seltzer and cider.
704 Beer
Where to Order: Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
Style: Hazy Wheat Ale | IBU: 25 | ABV: 5.6% | Year-round
Charlotte’s current longest-standing brewery, Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, has crafted this hazy wheat ale with Loral and Mandarina Bavaria hops, perfect for biergarten sipping, the name as an ode to the QC’s area code.
All Knight Long
Where to Order: Birdsong Brewing Co.
Style: Blonde Ale | IBU: 15 | ABV: 4.5% | Seasonal
The Charlotte Knights, Charlotte’s Minor League Baseball team and Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, played their first game at Uptown’s Truist Field in 2014. This ballpark brew, with Pilsner and Munich malts and Fuggle and Cascade hops, among others, rounds out the flavor profile of this blonde ale and is a homerun for sports lovers.
Camp Beer
Where to Order: Free Range Brewing
Style: American Light Lager | ABV: 4% | Year-round
Free Range Brewing’s 2020 opening at Camp North End came with much fanfare as they became the 76-acre destination’s sole brewery. To commemorate their Camp North End taproom and bar, the brains behind the brews created Camp Beer, an easy-sipping lager perfect for a day at Camp.
Carolina Thread Trail Pale Ale
Where to Order: Blue Blaze Brewing
Style: Pale Ale | IBU: 42 | ABV: 4.5% | Year-round
A brewery known for its love of all-things hiking, it’s only fitting for Blue Blaze Brewing to have a beer dedicated to the Carolina Thread Trail, a network of North Carolina trails and greenways with an access point to the Stewart Creek Greenway trail just outside the West side taproom. Light in color and crisp on the finish, this ale is a perfect post-hike refresher.
CLT IPA
Where to Order: Catawba Brewing Co.
Style: IPA | IBU: 80 | ABV: 7.2% | Year-round
Making their way to the Queen City by way of Morganton, complete with a skyline view, Catawba Brewing crafted the CLT IPA with tropical hops and light malts, leaving this heavy-hitting IPA with a crisp, dry finish.
Funny Bus Lager
Where to Order: Ass Clown Brewing Company
Style: Lager | IBU: 38 | ABV: 4.3% | Seasonal
The leader in local comedy tours, Funny Bus has teamed up with Ass Clown Brewing on this easy-drinking lager, perfect for enjoying aboard the Funny Bus on their BYOB tours of the Queen City. Find the Dunkel Lager in the cooler months and the light lager in the spring.
Hornets Nest
Where to Order: Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
Style: Hefeweizen | IBU: 12 | ABV: 5.3% | Year-round
While “Hornets” goes hand-in-hand with Charlotte thanks to the buzzworthy basketball team, Hornets Nest is named for the nickname given to the city when General Cornwallis was unable to take the city during the Revolutionary War. Whether you’re drinking to history or to sports heroes, this Great American Beer Festival winner hits the spot.
Mint City Collective
Where to Order: Lenny Boy Brewing Co.
Style: Pilsner | ABV: 5% | Year-round
With chapters around the state, Mint City Collective gives Charlotte FC lovers a way to chat, connect and cheer on Charlotte’s Major League Soccer team. Lenny Boy Brewing, home to the South End Chapter, brings the fandom full circle with this pilsner perfect for gameday.
No Fuchs Given
Where to Order: Resident Culture Brewing Company
Style: American Lager | ABV: 4.8% | Seasonal
A now-local legend coming stateside via Austria, Charlotte FC defender Christian Fuchs has made a name for himself on and off the field as a passionate player. In collaboration with his catchy and almost-NSFW brand “No Fuchs Given,” Resident Culture has brewed this lager for tailgating or stadium-seating.
Optimist Double IPA
Where to Order: Fonta Flora Brewery
Style: Double IPA | ABV: 8.5% | Limited Release
For their third location at Optimist Hall, local-ingredient-forward Fonta Flora Brewing crafted Optimist Double IPA for their opening at the historic Optimist Hall. With only 40 cases made and served only at the Optimist Hall taproom, this brew is in good company with plenty of other great small-batch brews from this award-winning brewery.
Pitchside Pils
Where to Order: NoDa Brewing Company
Style: German-style Pilsner | IBU: 25 | ABV: 4.1% | Seasonal
Made for match days, this home-team-supporting pilsner made with German malts gives game-goers a Charlotte FC-themed beer to sip whether tailgating or in the stands.
Roaring Riot
Where to Order: NoDa Brewing Company
Style: Lager | IBU: 18 | ABV: 4.5% | Seasonal
Forever the Carolina Panthers fans, NoDa Brewing crafted Roaring Riot with a slight hopiness, balanced with light and crisp malts to create a beer perfect for gameday.
QC Golden Lager
Where to Order: Wooden Robot Brewery
Style: Helles Lager | ABV: 5% | Limited Release
Created in the essence of summer beer gardens brews, QC Golden Lager, inspired by the Bavarian Helles tradition and featuring regional malts from North Carolina’s Epiphany malts, has classic bready notes and a lightly-hopped finish.
Que Golazo
Where to Order: Salud Cerveceria
Style: German Pilsner | ABV: 5.2% | Seasonal
With a name translating to “What an amazing goal!” Que Golazo is Salud Cerveceria’s take on a Charlotte FC beer made to enjoy in the taproom or beer shop, home to NoDa’s Mint City Collective Chapter.
Queen Charlotte
Where to Order: Protagonist Beer
Style: Pilsner | ABV: 5% | Year-round
A beer with the Queen City’s namesake, Queen Charlotte is a light-bodied brew with aromas of lemon and lime, Pilsner and Vienna malts, and German Lager yeast leading to a biscuity flavor typical of traditional pilsners.
Queen City Common
Where to Order: Red Clay Ciderworks
Style: Traditional Apfelwien | ABV: 6.9% | Year-round
This cider, found in Red Clay’s taproom and on draft around the city, is fermented with champagne yeast and has a light apple aroma and crisp dry finish. This semi-dry cider from North Carolina’s first cidery is great for those looking to take a dip into the cider world.
Queens Wit
Where to Order: Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Witbier | IBU: 10 | ABV: 4.5% | Year-round
New York’s Southern Tier Brewing Company made its way to the Queen City in 2018 and to celebrate their inclusion in the Charlotte beer scene created Queen’s Wit, a wheat beer perfect for patio sipping.
Smoked on Dewitt
Where to Order: Gilde 1546 Brewery
Style: Rauchbier | ABV: 6% | Year-round
Making Charlotte their second home from the historic Hannover brewery, Gilde Brewery’s Smoked on Dewitt, named for the street on which the brewery resides, features smoky notes with a crisp lager finish.
South End Shuffle
Where to Order: Wooden Robot Brewery
Style: Blonde Ale | ABV: 5% | Seasonal
Created as the official beer of the South End Shuffle 5K, this end-of-race beer can be found in both the South End and NoDa taprooms and features Willamette hops for floral and fruity notes with moderate maltiness.
Toast to Charlotte
Where to Order: Summit Seltzer
Style: Hard Seltzer | ABV: 5% | Year-round
Charlotte’s first true seltzery and one of only a few woman-owned taprooms, Summit Seltzer creates fruit-forward seltzers perfect even for those with a more beer-forward palate. Toast to Charlotte is made with blueberry and raspberry puree and is acai-conditioned, lending itself to a tart-yet-slightly-sweet flavor profile.
Still thirsty? Explore the NoDa Beer Trail.
