What are you drinking right now?

[Jackalope]

Tap water.

[SteelCurtain]

Bell's Cherry Stout.

Awful. It is simply awful. This beer is listed in the 1001 Beers to try Before You Die, and it undermines the integrity of the entire book. Anybody want 5 beers?

[thesummerqueen]

NoDa's "Jam Session" - a local Pale Ale.

I used one can to make a beer-based chili, and I need one more to make another...that left two cans for me. What a sacrifice.

Y'all ALL need to come to Charlotte, Because Beer.

[c172]

Been to Asheville a couple times, and it seemed like they had a craft beer scene there. Didn't know about CLT. But, hey, they're the biggest city in the  Carolinas.

Tap water for me (filtered).

[thesummerqueen]

"Seemed" is a pitiful word for what all of North Carolina has going on for beer.

It's basically the state religion, anymore.

[c172]

Even craft beer, though? That seems so hipster and so not NASCAR.

[thesummerqueen]

It is SO craft beer.

NASCAR doesn't rule the state, no matter what our bumfuck gov'r wants you to think.

[c172]

And anyway there's Rutledge Wood, presenter who's a little of both. 

More water. Gotta hydrate. Kinda curious about those Aquafina fizzy drinks.

[thesummerqueen]

It's really not about being hipster - there's not a lot of pretentiousness, except in that if you are there, you better not be buying Miller/Bud/Coors/etc. Plenty of people buy PBR because it's cheap and we're poor, but beer prices aren't that bad here, and they make a bunch of reasonably priced high-gravity beers that will get you fuckin' LIT.

Remember, I'm a whiskey/whisky drinker. 3 beers down here will often make it impossible for me to drive, depending on what I order. I remember someone on the forums claiming that all American beers were watered down - no they are not. First of all, it's not limited to North Carolina - there are many amazing craft breweries all over the country which have national distribution. However, I live here, so I'm partial to and tend to seek out local stuff in order to support my state. That said, you want something chewier than Guinness? We can basically give you bread in a glass. You want enough hops to strip the enamel off your teeth? Have you ever had a Dogfishhead 90 or 120 minute IPA?

Heist brewery here makes a chocolate stout that backwashes into chili pepper. Triple C makes a porter they call "Up All Night" and then they take a batch of it and age it in bourbon barrels. Except once they put a small batch in a barrel that had held both Canadian whiskey and maple syrup at various points in its life. I was there for the uncasking, and I was singing O Canada afterwards with no shame. Birdsong makes a Jalapeno Pale ale - light and sparkling and cool, until you get a pinch at the end. Little Sugar Creek has a handful of very refreshing 'light' beers - things that are usually a little too wheat for my taste but their Saison is the best post-bike-ride beer. Wooden Robot and Free Range both have had amazing sours in the last year. Old Mecklenburg is basically a German pub - their Copper is phenom, and I don't go much for German beers.

These are just the places I attend regularly - and that's not even counting the tasting/growler houses I go to which feature many, many other North Carolina or US beers.

Oh, and I just went to Cabarrus Brewing the other night to listen to a Gaelic music concert and did a flight with my friend - their Amber and their Pale were fucking on point, as was their vanilla porter.

We're spoiled for choice here, just in the Charlotte Metro area. You can't throw a stone without hitting a bar/pub that not only sells local GOOD beer, but also sells good food. We don't fuck around. A lot of NC may be NASCAR-watching, but Charlotte cares about other shit too. We're the reason HB2 was created, after all. Terrible of us - trying to protect transfolk.

[Astreja]

Bell's Cherry Stout.

Awful. It is simply awful. This beer is listed in the 1001 Beers to try Before You Die, and it undermines the integrity of the entire book. Anybody want 5 beers?

I think that was one I tried at a wedding reception last month.  Disappointing and weird.

I just finished the last glassful from a bottle of Diabolica white (Canadian west-coast wine).  I'm more of a red wine fan but this was really nice and I would get it again, and will probably also try the red from that winery.