Despite COVID-19, the Charlotte beer community gave us things to celebrate in 2020
I don’t blame you for not wanting to look back at 2020.
To say it was a tough year for many is an understatement, and that’s especially true for our breweries. Now more than ever, it’s critical that we support the breweries, bars and restaurants that have been dealt a number of hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. For most, these challenges will continue into 2021.
Even with the coronavirus struggles, Charlotte’s beer scene is resilient, with brewers, advocates and drinkers all making the best of a bad situation in 2020.
Doubling down on diversity
The beer industry has long been dominated by white men with beards, but that’s changing, thanks to efforts both local and national. One of the biggest efforts in 2020 came from Marcus Baskerville at San Antonio’s Weathered Souls Brewing Co. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, Baskerville started the Black Is Beautiful initiative and asked brewers across the world to brew their take on a big oatmeal stout, with proceeds going “to local foundations that support police brutality reform and legal defenses for those who have been wronged.”
And the beer world answered. More than 1,000 breweries across the world joined the effort, and in Charlotte more than 15 local brewers produced their own take on the beer (including a mead).
Locally, Eugenia Brown, founder of Beer Chick LLC and @blackbeerchick on Instagram, started an effort of her own in 2020 when Brown announced the Road to 50 — a campaign through which Brown offered to pay for 50 women of color to achieve the title of Certified Beer Server through the Cicerone program.
That Road to 50 soon became a Road to 100, when Cicerone offered to cover the costs of 50 more women. Brown held weekly Zoom calls to help prepare women for the Certified Beer Server exam, which is the first level of Cicerone certification. She also provided five additional scholarships to cover the written portion of the Certified Cicerone exam, which is the second level. For these efforts and more, Good Beer Hunting named Brown as one of its 2020 Signifiers.
New Breweries, and More Coming
Even a pandemic couldn’t stop breweries from opening, as 2020 welcomed in several new taprooms in the Charlotte area. Edge City Brewery brought a brewery to the newly-dubbed “MoRa” neighborhood in April. The Lake Norman area gained three new breweries in Royal Bliss Brewing, Lake Norman Brewery and Lost Worlds Brewing.
In August, Salty Parrot Brewing Co. moved into the Sunstead Brewing space, with beers ranging from nearly non-alcoholic to 10.5 percent craft cocktails. Petty Thieves Brewing Co. opened its “love letter to Charlotte,” complete with its own secret room. Protagonist Beer Co. opened its second location in November, when it moved into the space that formerly held The Broken Spoke and Great Wagon Road Distilling Co. (They moved into the space previously home to Bold Missy Brewery, which closed earlier in 2020.)
Free Range Brewing opened a taproom in Camp North End, sharing a pass-through window with neighbors Leah & Louise. Model A Brewing opened its doors in December. While it’s Tega Cay’s first brewery, it joins a growing number in York County, South Carolina; 1873 Brewing and Little York Brewing are set to open in 2021. In East Charlotte, Vaulted Oak Brewing is currently renovating its brewery in a former bank building.
Producing hand sanitizer
Remember those early days of the pandemic, when hand sanitizer was scarce and what could be found bordered on price gouging? Thankfully our local breweries and distilleries were more charitable. Before releasing spirits under the Wood & Grain Project brand, The Unknown Brewing Co. sent hand sanitizer to hospitals and others in need. Doc Porter’s Distillery and Seven Jars Distillery did as well, and though breweries couldn’t distill, there were a few — The DreamChaser’s Brewery, and later Resident Culture Brewing Co. and others — that helped mix together batches of sanitizer.
Silver and Gold
The 2020 Great American Beer Festival looked very different. How could it not? Inviting thousands of beer drinkers from across the world wasn’t on the table, and the festival — like so many others — pivoted to a virtual format.
One thing that didn’t change, however, was the festival’s annual awards ceremony. Sure, brewers weren’t able to attend in person and celebrate on stage, but they received medals and recognition just the same. And as in years past, Charlotte breweries represented well.
NoDa Brewing Co. took home yet another gold medal for Gordgeous, its pumpkin beer (the beer also won gold in 2018), and the brewery also won silver for its Maibock. Speaking of repeats, Town Brewing Co. took it back to back: The brewery won a gold medal for its Cruise to Nowhere gose in 2019, and did it again in 2020.
Silver medals were awarded to Devil’s Logic Brewing for its Control ALT, a German-style Altbier; to Lost Worlds Brewing in Cornelius for Emmer in the American-style wheat beer category; and to Triple C Brewing Co. for Baby Maker in the Old Ale, Strong Ale or Barley Wine-style category.
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery once again beat the Germans at their own game, taking home another gold for Mecktoberfest in the European Beer Star competition in 2020. (It won the same award in 2015.)
More distribution, lagers and fan favorites
Breweries struggled early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they weren’t able to sell beer on-premise or supply outside accounts with beer, as bars and restaurants were under the same initial restrictions. Unable to focus on selling beer within their walls, many breweries focused instead on outside distribution. Resident Culture Brewing Co. and others started sending beers to grocery stores that were previously sold only at the brewery or in bottle shops.
Selling more packaged beer directly out of taprooms also meant local breweries were able to package fan favorites that were usually only available on draft; it’s why we got to see cans of Birdsong Brewing Co.’s Higher Ground IPA, Legion Brewing’s Juicy Jay and NoDa Brewing Co.’s Ramble On Red. And with more time available, breweries like Town Brewing Co. helped usher in the “summer of lager.”
Most breweries in town were also quick to pivot to curbside options, online ordering systems and even, in some cases, delivery — and that’s something to celebrate about 2020.
