Try these top coffee beers, based on your local roaster preference

Coffee: is there anything it can’t do? From fueling all-nighters to banishing hangovers, or simply making mornings more bearable, this magical brewed elixir can even improve beers from several of Charlotte’s breweries.

Even better, several of our area brewers have forged partnerships with Charlotte’s coffee roasters, adding an additional local layer and raising awareness of the Queen City’s craft coffee scene.

Think all coffee beers are the same? Think again. While it’s true that coffee additions can typically be found in darker brews, that’s certainly not universal; several of Charlotte’s breweries have had much success with lighter beers serving as caffeine carriers.

This is by no means an all-encompassing list of local beers benefitting from a coffee addition; otherwise we’d be here all day (and up all night). So grab a cup of joe, take a sip, and settle in for some coffee-driven local options that will have you contemplating a beer with breakfast.

Wooden Robot Brewery

Roaster: Enderly Coffee Company (Charlotte)

Originally brewed to be a one-off opening day offering, Good Morning Vietnam instead became Wooden Robot’s flagship. This year-round offering features Ethiopian coffee from nearby Enderly Coffee Company, and is buoyed by the richness of Madagascar vanilla beans. Don’t let that blonde color fool you; there’s a richness and depth present, making it easy to see why this beer has developed such a cult following.

Recently, the brewery rolled out a complementary concoction, Good Night Vietnam. The yin to Good Morning’s yang, this porter carries the same Madagascar vanilla and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee as its sibling but runs a bit richer on the tongue, thanks to chocolate notes contributed by the base beer.

NoDa Brewing Company

Roaster: Nightflyer Roastworks (Charlotte)

NoDa first teamed with Nightflyer Roastworks (formerly Parliament Coffee Roasters) in 2016 for the Premium Roast Coffee Stout. Billed as receiving rich, full-bodied flavors from Columbian-sourced beans and bright berry notes from Ethiopian-grown beans, this roast-forward breakfast stout offering recently made the leap from draft-only, and was introduced in pint cans earlier this year.

Lenny Boy Brewing Co.

Roaster: Counter Culture Coffee (Durham)

It’s only fitting that Lenny Boy teamed up with Counter Culture Coffee for Ground Up Coffee Stout. After all, Counter Culture became the first certified-organic roaster in North Carolina in 2002, and Lenny Boy is the only fully-organic brewery in the state. Expect a smooth lighter-bodied affair from Ground Up, with notes of bright citrus from the Ethiopian-sourced Apollo cold-brewed contribution. This fall/winter seasonal may be found on draft and in pint cans during the cooler months.

A bourbon-barreled big brother, Breakfast In Heaven, sees a January release each year. After an extended slumber in Heaven Hill barrels, this decadent richness receives an infusion of chocolate, cherries, and nut flavors from the Colombian coffee. Next year’s batch is already aging away, and should also be making its package debut in 500ml bottles.

Triple C Brewing Co.

Roasters: Summit Coffee (Davidson), Magnolia Coffee (Matthews)

Take the year-round Golden Boy, infuse it with tart cherries and the Guji blend coffee from Davidson’s Summit Coffee, and you’ll end up with a delicate blonde ale that balances lighter-bodied fruit and full-flavored coffee in flavor harmony. Originally a pilot batch brew, this beer’s popularity saw it brewed on the larger production system, and finally debut in cans in the summer of 2016. Releases of this are infrequently scheduled, occurring close to quarterly.

Recently, Triple C released Carolina Rum Barrel Cake, in draft and in bottles. On paper, this beer seems like a paradox; a hallmark of stouts is an a pitch-black opaque appearance, yet the golden-hued brew looks far from the part. A healthy coffee addition was joined by cocoa nibs and cinnamon, and the beer saw a lengthy aging in rum barrels from Muddy River Distillery in Belmont. Flavorwise, this beer certainly tastes “stouty,” even if its flaxen appearance deceives expectations.

Then there’s Up All Night, an imperial breakfast porter that debuted in 2012 and sees an annual bottle-and-draft release. In 2013, the base beer was followed by a bourbon-barrel-aged version sporting flavorful decadence that caused a widespread panic in the Charlotte beer geek community. For this offering, Triple C favors the chocolate-forward roastiness of Magnolia Coffee’s Papua New Guinea-grown coffee.

The Unknown Brewing Co.

Roasters: Enderly Coffee Company (Charlotte), Black Ivory Coffee Company Ltd (Thailand)

Each autumn save this most recent, Unknown releases their robust Tele-Porter, packed with easy-sipping roastiness and a not-too-sweet finish. Cocoa nibs from Asheville-based French Broad Chocolates are added to a proprietary coffee blend from Charlotte’s Enderly Coffee, leaving the imbiber enjoying a beer balanced between nibby bitterness and lush coffee. An Imperial Tele-Porter also sees an October release, after spending some time resting in bourbon barrels.

Then there’s the matter of the recently-released Rarest Bean. This imperial “pastry” stout features two of, you guessed it, the rarest beans in the world: bold Tonga vanilla beans and the unusual Black Ivory Coffee from Thailand. Only 1,000 pounds of this coffee are produced each year, with the rareness the (pardon the pun) end result of an odd manufacturing process that sees raw coffee beans actually ingested by elephants and later, um, extruded before being roasted. Only 100 bottles were made, and folks lined up to sell this batch out in under 40 minutes. Don’t turn your nose up at the coffee’s origin story; this really was dessert in the glass, and exceeded expectations.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Try these top coffee beers, based on your local roaster preference."