What’s next for Charlotte beer? We asked the owners of two of the city’s biggest and oldest breweries

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Who: NoDa Brewing Company and Birdsong Brewing opened within a few months of each other — and across the street from each other — back in 2011, turning 26th and North Davidson streets into brewery mecca in Charlotte. As two of the oldest members of Charlotte’s modern brewery scene (The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery is the oldest, opening in 2009), Birdsong and NoDa have seen the craft beer scene in Charlotte grow exponentially and change over the past several years.

On this week’s CharlotteFive podcast, we talked to NoDa owner Suzie Ford and Birdsong owner Chris Goulet and took a deep dive into Charlotte’s beer scene.

What: Since OMB opened in 2009, more than 15 breweries have opened in Charlotte and many, many more in the surrounding towns and counties. And even more breweries are in planning or expected to open soon. These breweries do more than just produce beer — they’ve become cultural hubs in Charlotte, serving as weekend hangouts, hosting events and getting involved in the community.

We talked to Goulet and Ford about what made the Charlotte brewery scene flourish so well and so quickly, and we asked the future of Charlotte brewing and whether they think there’s room for more breweries in Charlotte.

Anything else? We also talked about:

– The Craft Freedom movement, in which N.C. breweries — especially NoDa and OMB — are pushing to get the self-distribution cap raised. (Ford does an amazing job of explaining this very intricate issue.)

– What it takes to open a brewery. (Spoiler: It ain’t easy.)

– How Ford and Goulet — and other Charlotte brewers — feel about out-of-town breweries (like Catawba Brewing) moving into the city.

– How Birdsong got its name.

– Diversity (or the lack thereof) in brewing.

– And what you should be doing this weekend. (It involves volunteering and horses.)

Photos: CharlotteFive and Charlotte Observer file

This story was originally published May 2, 2017 at 11:00 PM with the headline "What’s next for Charlotte beer? We asked the owners of two of the city’s biggest and oldest breweries."