This weekend in Charlotte craft beer (May 11-13)
It’s another busy weekend in local craft beer, and shaping up to be perfect weather to get out to one of these events or try a new beer. Here’s your rundown:
FRIDAY
–I wrote about this a few weeks back in my Spring Craft Beer Festival roundup, but as a reminder the N.C. Brewers and Music Festival is this weekend at Historic Rural Hill in Huntersville. The two-day festival begins Friday with performances from the Larry Keel Experience and Acoustic Syndicate.
Saturday is when the beer flows, as more than 45 local and regional breweries will be on hand pouring unlimited samples from 12:45 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday’s music headliners are Chatham County Line and Leftover Salmon. There are still tickets available, and the cost varies depending on how many days you’re attending, whether you’re camping, just there for music or beer (or both), etc. You can purchase tickets here, and find out more information on the festival’s official website.
–Sycamore Brewing is bringing together two of my loves on Friday: beer and bacon. The brewery’s annual Bacon Fest pairs beers from Sycamore with bacon-themed dishes from eight different food trucks. Scheduled to be serving are Fresh Med, Golden Cow Creamery, Gyro Twins, OooWee BBQ, Papi Queso, Roaming Fork, TIN Kitchen and Yummi Banh Mi. The festivities begin at 5 p.m.
–NoDa Brewing is putting a popular seasonal in cans for the first time. Passion Fruit Gose. This beer is refreshing and drinkable at just 4 percent ABV with some tartness, coming from the sweet and salty style of a gose with added passion fruit. You’ll be able to get 4-packs of Passion Fruit Gose to go while also enjoying it on draft in NoDa’s taproom beginning at 4 p.m. The Michael Martin Band is playing live music during the event, and as always at the brewery, TIN Kitchen is on site with a full menu.
SATURDAY
–Pop the Top is celebrating one year since opening its doors in South End last May. As part of its anniversary party, the bottle shop will be giving out free pint glasses to the first 50 customers Saturday. New Wrap Order is also providing free food throughout the day, and Pop the Top has curated a special taplist for the event as well. The shop’s anniversary party begins at noon and ends at 11 p.m.
–Also ringing in one year on Saturday is Bold Missy Brewery. To celebrate the event, the brewery is putting a spin on some of its core beers and adding ingredients, meaning you’ll get to try a coffee IPA, chai brown ale, key lime golden ale, creamsicle wheat ale and a special barrel-aged version of Bold Missy’s chocolate stout. The festivities begin at noon, and you can also pre-order a VIP ticket which gives you a limited edition anniversary glass and a 4-ounce pour of each of the special beers, along with one full pour of your choice. You can purchase tickets here.
–It’s time for another edition in Birdsong’s IPA series. Goat Fuzz IPA features Ekuanot hops, which the brewery’s Facebook page says contains “aromatice of orange peel, papaya, lime and melon.” The single hop beer joins previous IPAs Sexy Hop, Turn to Stone and Hazy Sexy Cool, with more to come in 2018 from Birdsong.
Goat Fuzz will be available in the taproom when the brewery opens Saturday at noon, in both 4-packs of cans and on tap. The Abbey Elmore Band is playing at 5 p.m., with Strudelteig serving up from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
SUNDAY
–If any brewery can pull off two festivals in three days, it’s the ever-popular Sycamore Brewing. Sycamore is going from bacon on Friday to crawfish on Sunday with its second annual Crawfish Boil. The brewery is hosting Baton Rouge’s Kickstands Kitchen, which will feature three pounds of crawfish with a side of corn and potatoes for $20. This will be a first-come, first-serve basis; no food tickets will be pre-sold. Sycamore’s Crawfish Boil will run from noon to 7 p.m.
