Bayne Brewing Company: Craft beer up at the lake
Bayne Brewing Company in Cornelius opened last Dec. 27, officially making it Lake Norman’s newest brewery by one day. And as with anything new — especially things that include beer — we had to check it out.
Here’s the lowdown on Bayne:
Big Family
Chris Bayne, one of seven kids, is the owner and brewer of Bayne Brewing. Five of his siblings live in the area and have their own families. On any given day, expect to see a decent portion of the Bayne family helping out, and hanging out, around the bar.
Big Demand (but small batches)
Chris, originally from New Jersey, was looking for something to do when he stumbled upon beer. He started homebrewing in his garage. He would brew around 40 to 50 batches a year, and started taking requests from neighbors for parties. A group in the neighborhood formed a dinner club (rotates between neighbors, host plans the menu). One week, the host asked for beer pairings on the menu.
“I think I always wanted to do something on my own,” Chris said.
Enter Bayne Brewing Company, which uses a two-barrel brew system that sits right behind the bar.
Big Extras
And by extras, I mean things like the weekly run club (6 p.m. on Thursdays), pilates (10:30 a.m. on Saturdays) and yoga (11 a.m. on Sundays). The run club has a loyalty card program: Get it punched six times for participating and earn yourself a free pint. The run club is pretty big, but don’t count on seeing Chris jogging beside you.
“The only runs I do are beer runs,” he said.
Yoga and pilates are $10, which includes a pint once the class is over. Coming soon: Live music events and trivia.
Big List
Chris has about 30 beer recipes — 13 of which are on tap, so far. He plans to have three or four staples and rotate the remaining taps (eight total). When I visited, a brown IPA, brown ale, IPA, stout, pale ale, coffee porter, Irish red and a Hefeweizen were all on tap. Be on the lookout for the double IPA, coconut and white IPA coming soon.
Had a chance to check out @BayneBrew, pictures, impressions and more in new post – http://t.co/mbEU8DKyig – #ncbeer pic.twitter.com/2ImAV62inY
— Sam – CraftCarolina (@craftcarolina) December 29, 2014
Big Plans
Although the brewery is new, Chris is throwing around some ideas for future events. He wants to plan a run club 5K with proceeds going to families of law enforcement personnel injured in the line of duty.
Big night this Thurs. We’re taking over 3 of @KiltedBuffalo‘s taps! Come out and support Bayne Brewing! #drinklocal pic.twitter.com/vKi1YGEIGT
— Bayne Brewing Co (@BayneBrew) April 15, 2015
Running, beer and a good cause — that’s something I can get behind.
You can, too. Just take a drive to 19507 W. Catawba Ave. in Cornelius or visit www.baynebrewingcompany.com.
This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Bayne Brewing Company: Craft beer up at the lake."