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Best Bars in the World Vacation is a time to relax and cut loose. One of my favorite ways to do that is sauntering up to a local watering hole for an afternoon or evening. It’s also one of the best ways to get to know locals or meet fellow travelers. Thus, it only seemed fitting that the second installment in the Best… in the World series should focus on bars! What’s…
Read moreSeriously? Another craft beer festival? Less than a year ago I was saying the same thing about craft breweries. How many is too many? It seemed like every week the Charlotte Business Journal published an article about another proposed opening. Don’t get me wrong, I like beer (just look at my belly), but was the mug about to spillover? While I’ve come to the conclusion that the craft beer market has not…
Read moreThe Craft Beer Festival Movement I kind of feel like a hippy going to Woodstock when I attend a craft beer festival. The whole craft movement is still pretty new and the festival phenomenon is even newer with multiple popping up in almost every major metropolitan city (We have well over a dozen here in Charlotte). When I tell friends that I’m going, it’s like I’m wearing a renegade badge of honor where…
Read moreWeighing the Good with the Bad at Southern Star This is one of the toughest brewery reviews I’ve written. Mainly because I’ve been taught that if I don’t have anything nice to say (or in my case type), then I shouldn’t type anything at all. Thus, I tend to focus on the positives over the negatives. It’s not that I sugarcoat my reviews to spin a bad experience good. That will never…
Read moreB-52 Brewing is a Brewery You Just Have to Visit Some breweries, for whatever reason, you just have to visit. Maybe it’s to worship at the throne of their creativity like Cigar City Brewery in Tampa, FL. Or maybe it’s to gorge on kick-ass food alongside superbly crafted beers like North Country Brewery in Slippery Rock, PA. Or maybe it’s to participate in community driven conversation while sipping brews as inspiring as…
Read moreOur tour to South Africa had a huge focus on wine. And while I love wine, I couldn’t travel across the world without exploring the Cape Town craft beer scene. We arrived the night before the tour began and stayed in Central Cape Town. This was our chance for some grain before an immersion in grapes. Our hotel was a few blocks from Devil’s Peak Brewery with both award winning beers and…
Read moreExploring the Rome Beer Scene After almost two weeks in Italy, it pains me to say that I was wined out. And no, my liver wasn’t exhausted after twice (and sometimes thrice) daily intakes of wine – lunch, dinner, and the occasional mid-morning Prosecco – as it earned a degree in party from Ohio University. Instead, my taste buds were screaming for hops. As we wrapped up our Italian odyssey in the Eternal…
Read moreSome breweries are worth making a road trip to visit. North Country Brewing, a brew pub in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, is worth the trek. When my parents first told me they were taking us to a surprise restaurant an hour away I was scared. I have my rotation of must eat restaurants when I visit home. Unplanned substitutions are just not welcome – especially when they’re an hour away. Didn’t they know…
Read moreIt’s easy to be unknown in Charlotte’s exploding craft beer scene. From the time Brad Shell, Boss Man at Unknown Brewing, decided to open shop in Charlotte and the taps started pumping beer, the brewery count jumped from one lone brewery to five. Today, a little more than a year after opening, the city boasts ten plus breweries with weekly announcements of additional breweries in the works. Up until I had the…
Read moreLately I’ve been infatuated with the idea of the tavern as a meeting place, where people and minds gather for more than just talk about sports. Where people come together for camaraderie and to share ideas on politics or business. Where people are drawn to simply be with friends for a round or two of beer. This interest has been sparked by the history books I’ve been reading (and the re-runs of…
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