The craft brewery scene in Charlotte has expanded rapidly over the past few years, with 40 or so breweries operating in and around the city. These breweries in Charlotte NC have become popular community hotspots where the locals get together for a drink and good conversation. If you are moving to Charlotte or planning a trip through the Queen City, you don’t want to miss out on what these establishments offer!
To make sure you try the best, check out our list of the breweries currently running in and around Charlotte:
Protagonist Beer
Protagonist Beer opened in the heart of NoDa back in 2019. They opened a second location in the Lower South End with a production facility and their very own New York Style pizza kitchen. They offer a unique mix of hazy IPAs, pale ales, blonde ales, light and hard lagers, pilsners, ciders and seltzers, and sour ales. If you are not a beer person, you can also try their fine wine and cocktails collection.
To make your night more entertaining, they also host a variety of events year-round, from board game nights to yoga classes and live music.
Wooden Robot Brewery
The Wooden Robot Brewery is hands down one of the most popular destinations for craft beers in Charlotte. They have two branches in Charlotte, at the South End and Noda – each serving unique creations to craft beer enthusiasts.
The brewery features a welcoming space with comfortable couches, banquet-style tables, and a warm atmosphere. Settle in and try their lagers, pilsners, IPAs, and ales collection. They also serve snacks and meals to pair your drink with fine foods.
Sycamore Brewing
When visiting the South End, make a stop at Sycamore Brewing. Expect a lively interior space with plenty of people coming in for a drink. After all, their 21,000-square-foot facility is much more than a simple craft beer bar. It includes a taproom, a beer garden, a cafe, and a food truck in one. Several brews are available on the menu, including the Indian Pale Ale (IPA), blonde ales, and lagers.
Apart from serving fine beers, this Charlotte brewery hosts various music festivals each year, which are a community favorite.
NoDa Brewing Company
The NoDa Brewing Company is one of the oldest-running breweries in Charlotte. Hence, it is regarded as one of its crown jewels. Their taproom has served beers in the North End for over 12 years. You can easily spot them by their exposed brick wall exterior decorated with tasteful local art. Visit the brewery to taste its excellent collection of IPAs, pale ales, pilsners, blond ales, and classic beers.
Birdsong Brewing Co.
The Birdsong Brewing Company is the perfect spot to visit if you want to sit back and relax as you sip on cold beer with a couple of friends. Expect a laid-back, comfortable environment with a nice spacious patio attached. Their interior features custom-made wood tables that give the space a unique feel. They specialize in serving American-style ales, IPAs, pilsners, and more. Try one of their specialties, such as the Jalapeño Pale Ale.
Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, also called OMB, is one of Charlotte’s oldest and largest breweries. They are popularly known for producing award-winning beers that are known around the country. Their beers are almost entirely derived from German-style brews. Apart from trying their unique collection of pilsners, IPAs, and lagers, you should try their award-winning Hornet’s Nest. It is a classic wheat beer.
Apart from beer, they also serve a limited collection of red and white wine, local ciders, and hard seltzers.
Heist Brewery
Heist Brewery is one of the top breweries and cocktail hotspots in Charlotte. It was opened in two locations – Noda and the North End. It is among the original breweries that kickstarted the craft beer scene in Queen City. What started as a small facility producing traditional Belgian and German-style news has now developed into a popular destination for hazy IPAs, pilsners, fruited sours, stouts, and more! This is one of the best breweries in the NoDa area in Charlotte, NC.
People don’t just visit for the drinks but also come for their selection of fine foods.
Triple C Brewing Co.
The Triple C Brewing Company is another well-known label. It is considered one of the first Charlotte breweries to open up in the South End. They don’t just supply beers but have expanded their facility by adding an event space. As for their brewery services, they have developed several popular brews that are well-known around Queen City. Popular mentions include the Golden Boy Blonde Ale, the 3C IPA, and the Zest-a-Peel, all award-winning brews. Hence, this is among the finest breweries in Charlotte, NC.
They also offer tours around their facility with tastings if you want to learn more about how they craft their brews.
Lenny Boy Brewing Co.
Lenny Boy Brewing Co. in the South End of Charlotte is a popular facility best known for its booming kombucha business. It is now a best seller of specialty craft beers. You should stop here and try their traditional ales, lagers, and sours, or go to their classic organic Kombucha.
With a dedicated food menu to complete the scene, this is the perfect space to hang out for drinkers and non-drinkers alike. Apart from its fine brews, it hosts various events in its taproom. The events range from live music and trivia to weekly yoga classes!
Divine Barrel Brewing
Located in the NoDa neighborhood of Charlotte, Divine Barrel Brewing is a popular brewery. This popular place doesn’t hesitate to experiment with its beers and flavors.
At first sight, it seems like an ethereal brewery with modern light fixtures, exposed brick, and an overall rustic appeal. But inside, you will find a delightful mix of flavors and brewing styles. While they keep traditional brews on tap, they offer nontraditional sour, sweet, and funky mixes such as salted watermelon sours, coconut key lime pie pastry sours, and cooling strawberry ciders.
Free Range Brewing
Free Range Brewing has two popular locations in Charlotte, One at North Davidson St., where they brew the beer and host tours and various events for the local community. Their second location is a 76-acre bar at Charlotte’s North End. The Bar serves customers a wide selection of quality beer, wine, spritzers, seltzers, and nonalcoholic beers in an intimate interior.
The best part about this brewery is that it sources 95% of its ingredients fresh from the local community. Apart from its beverages, the establishment hosts regular live music performances you can enjoy with your friends and family.
Town Brewing Company
The Town Brewing Company is a popular brewery in the Wesley Heights neighborhood of Charlotte, NC. What started as a dreamchild of four home brewers has now become a bestselling manufacturer of distribution of craft brews in North and South Carolina. For that reason, they are one of the best breweries in Charlotte, NC.
The facility provides a fine mix of seasonal beers, sours, lagers, barrel-aged rum, IPAs, pilsners, hard seltzers, wine, cedar, and nonalcoholic beverages. In addition to their craft brews, These breweries serve a variety of foods on their menu that pairs well with the drinks, making them known for their excellent food and drink combinations.
Legion Brewing
Legion Brewing is one of the most rapidly expanding breweries in Charlotte, NC, with two more locations popping up around the city after its original opening in Plaza Midwood. Since its opening in 2015, Legion Brewing has been serving Charlotte freshly brewed craft beers. Their notable Juicy Jay IPA garnered most of their popularity and is a must-try at their facility. Since then, they have expanded to create more flagship beers, pilsners, and fruited sour ales.
Besides serving fine beers, they offer private and semi-private event spaces with full-service catering and private bar options.
Blue Blaze Brewing
Blue Blaze Brewing is located in Charlotte’s West End and has been serving fresh, full-flavored beverages and craft brews since it started operations in 2017. The facility offers a diverse mix of classic American, English, and German beers.
This quaint family-owned brewery focuses on providing fresh beers to hikers, backpackers, and other visitors headed to its nearby Stewart Creek Greenway. So, this doesn’t obscure that it receives visitors from all around Charlotte.
Catawba Brewing Company
The Catawba Brewing Company is housed within a stunning 10,000-square-foot facility in the Belmont neighborhood close to Plaza Midwood. It provides a laid-back ambiance with a mix of indoor and outdoor spaces. The facility features a 10-barrel brewhouse and a tasting room for visitors who want to try out their collection of fine brews. Their creations include the classic pilsner, the hazy IPA, the white ale, and a fine mix of other brews. It is one of the top local breweries.
The pièce de résistance is their magnificent view of the city skyline from the facility patio.
Salud Cerveceria
Salud Cerveceria is a gem of a brewery in the NoDa neighborhood of Charlotte, NC, connected to the Salud Beer Shop. They have built their taproom into a state-of-the-art 3,100-square-foot facility. Visitors seem to admire their eclectic and lively interior, perfect for a fun drink night before or after a game or get-together.
This Charlotte brewery serves curated craft beer and fine wines alongside a full wood-fired kitchen menu. Besides serving good food and drink, they host Loche Latina Latin nights with monthly free salsa lessons.
Fonta Flora
TheFonta Flora brewery at Optimist Hall is bringing artisan Appalachian-flora-inspired brews to Optimist’s many visitors. With two other locations at WhippoorWill Farm and Morganton, Fonta Flora create a hot-spot gathering place at Optimist Hall that mixes Belgian brewing inspirations and North Carolina flora flavors.
Fonta Flora combines art to the regular brewing process by utilizing local artists in creating art out of the medium of fermentation. This unique process brings the Charlotte community closer by uniting brews and artists.
Suffolk Punch Brewing
Suffolk Punch Brewing is a relatively newer establishment with multiple locations in Charlotte, including the South End, South Park, and an upcoming opening in Birkdale Village. The space features a warm, lively interior with an attached patio seating area.
Their facility serves classic, strong seasonal beers and limited-aged brews, including lagers, seltzers, ales, and sours. Apart from their craft brews, they offer a diverse food menu so you can grab a bite to eat during your visit.
Red Clay Ciderworks
Red Clay Ciderworks is a veteran-owned cidery in the South End of Charlotte City known for its small batches of unique and amazing flavors and craft brews. They launched operations in 2015 and have since grown to one of the most frequented breweries in Charlotte, NC.
You will find a fine mix of core and seasonal ciders at their facility. Their drinks are best paired with the selection of small bites and flatbreads on the food menu.
Lower Left Brewing Company
The Lower Left Brewing Company is considered a somewhat underrated craft brewery in the historic Lower South End of Charlotte but is quickly grabbing the attention of locals and visitors. It commits to offering old-school, traditionally brewed drinks and modern and trendy flavors.
Visit the outlet and try their IPAs, sour ales, Belgian-inspired brews, barrel-aged beers, fruit infusions, and other styles. Their Cemetary Gates smoke porter is a 2021 award-winning beer brewed with smoked malt, chocolate, and oats.
Gilde Brewery
Gilde Brewery opened last year in LoSo and hails as a true German brewhouse in the Queen City. With over 450 years of knowledge, the Gilde team has created a unique and immersive experience from your first sip to your last.
If you like something on the lighter side, the Lemon Radler is the bier for you. The Red Rooster and Pilsener are two classic German brews for the real beer lovers.
Armored Cow Brewing
Armored Cow Brewing is the name given to the 35,000-square-foot taproom located at University City, counted amongst the most welcoming, family-friendly destinations to visit for craft beers. At their facility, you can try their intriguing collection of beers or wines or their collection of nonalcoholic beverages if you don’t have plans for drinking.
Their beer menu usually consists of traditional mainstay offerings and seasonal specialty beers. If you seek something healthier on their drinks menu, try their 100% gluten-free brews.
Pilot Brewing
Pilot Brewing is a popular nano brewery located at Plaza Midwood known for its collection of small-batch, experimental brews. What sets them apart is their ever-changing menu of beers. Rather than depending on singular flagship beers, they always brew new and exciting flavors for beer enthusiasts.
At their facility, you can expect a fine collection of sweet stouts, West Coast IPAs, pilsners, ales, ciders, and spiked seltzers. They also host a range of events year-round at their venue that are perfect for friends and family!
Amor Artis Brewing
Head to the historic downtown Fort Mill in Charlotte, where you can try Amor Artis Brewing’s collection of high-quality brews. Amor Artis Brewing is a family-owned, community-based brewery that serves a wide assortment of pilsners, hazy IPAs, blonde ales, stouts, fruited sours, and more.
Their primary focus is serving good drinks, so if you plan on having a meal, you may have to look elsewhere. To keep things entertaining, they host several events year-round, including trivia, taproom yoga, bingo, and live music.
Monday Night Brewing
Monday Night Brewing is the newest addition to Charlotte’s brewery scene. Located in South End, this Atlanta-based brewery has a huge indoor and outdoor space, making it the perfect spot to meet up with friends.
Not only will you find unique beers on the menu, but also a full cocktail list and one-of-a-kind pizzas. The Hot Honey pizza and Taco Tuesday mexican-style lager are a must order!
The DreamChaser’s Brewery
The DreamChaser’s Brewery is one of the little breweries in Waxhaw, a suburb of Charlotte. Here they serve a wide range of beer styles that will tantalize your taste buds and have you return for more. Some craft brews at their facility include the pale lager, the east coast IPA, the Belgian-style wheat ale, the dark Kolsch, and others.
Apart from serving regal drinks, plenty is happening around this Charlotte brewery. Comedy, trivia, pinball tournaments, and open mic nights are traditions here!
Resident Culture Brewing Company
Resident Culture Brewing Company first opened its doors in 2017 at the South End and soon opened a second location in Plaza Midwood. It quickly became a popular community destination hosting local cultural and community events. It also provides live music and serves a selection of fine brews.
Inside their facility lies a state-of-the-art taproom. It is an open outdoor patio connected to a beer garden and a private event space. What’s on tap? Year-round, you will find a mix of hazy IPAs, pale ales, lagers, barrel-aged beers, and fermented ales, all worth a try!
Queen Park Social
Queen Park Social is the go-to social club in Charlotte’s South End, with people all over town pouring in with their friends to eat, drink and enjoy their night. It is also counted among the best places to get cooling craft beers. Some of the varieties they excel at include IPAs, sours, pale ales, ciders, lagers, and pilsners. They further serve an assortment of cocktails and wines.
There is plenty to do at Queen Park Social, take a photo at the photo booth, try your luck at a claw machine, or try playing their collection of classic arcade games.
Cabarrus Brewing Company
Cabarrus Brewing Company is a well-known craft brewery in Concord, Charlotte. Their facility is split in the center to form a production brewery and taproom, separated by large glass windows. Visitors can have clear views of their 15bbl brewhouse and see the vast assortment of beers and wines on tap.
They also have a large outdoor deck for those who enjoy their drinks in the open air. Some core creations you need to try are Cabarrus Cotton blonde ale and Sew Juicy, a hazy IPA.
King Canary Brewing Company
The King Canary Brewing Company in Mooresville is a great spot to grab a beer. The space features a large, inviting seating area expanded into outdoor sections at the front and back. They have a variety of craft brews available on tap, including Belgian-style beers, American IPAs, German pilsners, traditional Russian stout, and their flagship New England-Style Pale Ale.
Alongside their delicious craft beers, they also serve a selection of wines, ciders, and nonalcoholic options, including the locally brewed Kombucha.
Brewers At 4001 Yancey
Brewers At 4001 Yancey is another must-visit brewery in Charlotte. It is the 28,000-square-foot central headquarters for Artisanal Brewing Ventures, which owns several other smaller breweries around Charlotte. Here they experiment with new and exciting creations that are added to their list of drinks for any of their brands.
Since this is the central headquarters, you can expect several beer styles. While best known for their Belgian and French style ales, they offer noteworthy lagers and IPAs.
High Branch Brewing Co.
High Branch Brewing Co. is a family-run, artisanal brewery in Concord near Charlotte. This quality-driven brewery experiments with a beer in new and innovative ways, introducing groundbreaking flavors without overdoing it. You can visit the facility at the Gibson Mill Market and have a first-hand taste of their delicious brews, which include beer, cider, wine, and various non-alcoholic options.
They also organize activities and special events you enjoy with friends and family.
Middle James Brewing Company
Middle James Brewing Company is a popular brewery founded in the Pineville suburbs of Charlotte. Visit their 2,800 square-foot taprooms and featured patio, where you can look at their flagship brews and new creations. The drinks include wheat beers, American pale ales, amber ales, IPAs, fruited sours, ciders, hard seltzers, and more. They further offer an assortment of fresh snacks and meals for you to pair with your drinks.
HopFly Brewing Company
The HopFly Brewing Company is another renowned brewery in the South End of Charlotte, NC. It features a large open-space brewery with a large patio seating area. You can spend your time browsing through their selection of drinks; there is plenty to choose from. Some varieties include wheat ales, Mexican-style lagers, pilsners, hazy pale ales, IPAs, ciders, seltzers, wines, and craft cocktails.
Go Out For A Drink!
You can’t call your visit to Charlotte complete without a trip to any of its fine breweries. If you are unsure where to catch your next drink, check out any of the best breweries in Charlotte we have listed above to indulge your drinking pleasure!
