8 Charlotte beer releases you don’t want to miss this month
It’s not all pumpkin beers and Oktoberfests. Over the next month, Charlotte breweries are bringing back fall favorites and releasing several beers for the first time. Look for these at a brewery or bottle shop near you soon.
MexiCali Stout – Birdsong Brewing Co.
Release Date: Oct. 29
Birdsong Brewing canned this fall favorite for the first time last year, and now it’s back with a new label. MexiCali Stout is brewed with cinnamon, cocoa nibs, Serrano peppers and coffee from Central Coffee. The beer will be released on Saturday, Oct. 29, when the brewery will also host its haunted brewery tours and a costume contest for the second year. The tours are free and run every 45 minutes from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Boll Weevil Brown, Cotton Blonde and Spring Street Wheat – Cabarrus Brewing Co.
Release Date: October
Concord’s Cabarrus Brewing Co. has only been open for about six months, but it’s wasting no time in getting beers to market. Over the next month, it will roll out Boll Weevil Brown, Cabarrus Cotton Blonde Ale and Spring Street Wheat in 16-ounce cans. The beers will be available at the brewery as well as in grocery stores throughout the Charlotte region. Follow the brewery on Facebook and Twitter for the official announcement and the label reveals.
Brown Sugar Brown Cow and Big Hakuna – D9 Brewing Co.
Release Date: Oct. 29
Like Birdsong, D9 Brewing Co. in Cornelius is looking to unveil its latest beers as part of the brewery’s Hallowversary celebration. Brown Sugar Brown Cow is a mocha brown ale brewed with coffee, chocolate, lactose, brown sugar and vanilla, while Big Hakuna is a double IPA fermented with Brettanomyces, a wild yeast.
Sticky When Wet – NoDa Brewing Co.
Release Date: Oct. 10
NoDa Brewing has brewed a lot of beers over the past five years, but it has never done a production run of a wet-hop beer. It can often be tough to acquire enough wet hops — those harvested within a day of brewing — for these larger batches, but the brewery lucked out and was able to have fresh Citra and Mosaic hops overnighted from Washington to the brewery for use in Sticky When Wet, the brewery’s new wet-hopped India pale ale. Four-packs of cans will be available for $13.99 each when the brewery opens at noon Monday, Oct. 10.
Bauern Bock – The Olde Mecklenburg Brewing Co.
Release Date: Oct. 14
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery’s Bauern Bock was initially brewed as a Thanksgiving bock, and while this hefty doppelbock would certainly be appropriate for the Turkey Day table it’s just as fitting for any fall night. At 7.5 percent ABV, the strong lager is one of the brewery’s biggest beers. It will be released at the brewery on Friday, Oct. 14, and at area stores and bottle shops the week following.
White Blaze Winter Ale and Eyes of the World Bourbon Barrel-Aged Smoked Porter – Triple C Brewing
Release Date: Oct. 22 and Nov. 1, respectively
Triple C Brewing has not one, but two releases coming up. On Saturday, Oct. 22, it will release cans of its White Blaze Winter Ale, which is brewed with cinnamon and vanilla beans. A couple weeks later, on Nov. 1, it will release bottles of Eyes of the World, a smoked porter aged in bourbon barrels.
Vehopciraptor and Stupid Flanders – The Unknown Brewing Co.
Release Date: Oct. 7
This Friday starting at 2 p.m., The Unknown Brewing Co. releases Vehopciraptor, a triple IPA that comes in at 9.9 percent ABV. And even though Halloween is a few weeks away, the brewery will have a variety of dinosaur outfits and props to play with. It’s encouraging fans to post photos of themselves in costume and tag them on Instagram, with the winner of the most creative photo receiving a signed bottle of Vehopciraptor (winner announced Saturday). Sours more your style? Toward the end of October the brewery will also release Stupid Flanders, a Flanders Red-style ale aged in barrels for 16 months.
Galactic Nexus – Wooden Robot Brewery
Release Date: TBD
On the cusp of its one-year anniversary, Wooden Robot will release its first bottled offering. If you frequent the brewery, perhaps you’ve had Galactic Nexus, the brewery’s golden sour ale that is fermented in their big oak foeder and then re-fermented with red raspberries. This beer is currently conditioning in the bottle so the release date is to be determined, but the brewery expects to release bottles in the next month or so. Follow Wooden Robot on Facebook and Twitter for updates.
Photos: Birdsong Brewing, D9 Brewing, NoDa Brewing, The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Triple C Brewing, The Unknown Brewing Co.
This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 12:20 AM with the headline "8 Charlotte beer releases you don’t want to miss this month."