Dry City Brew Works

Until the mid 1980's the western suburb of Wheaton was known as a dry city. If you wanted a drink you had to go to one of the neighboring towns that was referred to as "Whiskey Creek." Well, my have times changed cause this month a small batch brewery just opened up in downtown Wheaton called Dry City Brew Works.

Dry City Brew Works is a small nanobrewery that only brews beer in small batches. Currently they have four beers on tap in their small taproom. The taproom has a view of the brew kettle and fermentation tanks and has a few tables to sit and relax in. I ordered a flight of beers first so that I could sample them all and decide which one I wanted a full pour of. By the way you can only order 3 beers and 1 flight is considered as 1.

First up was their wheat beer, Homophonic, and I thought it was just average. Nothing really special about it in my opinion and everyone has opinions and everyone's tastes are different. Onto the Ryejacked an India Pale Ale brewed with hops from the Pacific Northwest. Now this is more to my tasting. I love me some hops especially west coast IPA's and rye beers. It had a nice hop aroma and a dry finish to it. Next was their Scotch Ale called I Saved the King. I haven't had any Scotch ales in a long time and this one was quite nice. Smooth and malty. Then the last beer from the flight was their coffee milk stout, Providence, brewed with coffee from River City Roasters a coffee shop that is located in downtown Wheaton as well. If you love coffee then you would probably like this beer more than I did. I'm not a coffee drinker and not a fan of beers brewed with coffee. My favorite was the Ryejacked so I ordered a pint of it after finishing off the flight.

Dry City Brew Works will have 4-5 beers on tap and will have growlers and 22 oz. bombers for sale soon. There's no signage on Main Street and you have to enter from the small parking lot behind the building. There will be a small patio area when the weather gets warmer and they don't sell food but you can bring your own in.

For more info on them: Dry City Brew Works

Da Bears!!! Da Beers!!! Road trip to Charlotte, NC

Yeah that's right I should of wrote this sooner. Anyways, it was a month ago that I took a road trip to Charlotte to see Da Bears!!! And of course check out the local breweries and food too while I was there.

We arrived in Charlotte around noon and by the time we dropped off our luggage at the Hilton Charlotte Center City we were all thirsty and starving. Just a hop, skip and a jump from the hotel was the Epicentre that had a variety of dining options. We chose Blackfinn Ameripub, a perfect spot to grab some lunch, enjoy a pint and watch some college football. Unlike some of my buddies that are just happy to drink some watered down Miller Lite, I went with a local brewery and had a pale ale from Sugar Creek Brewery. Ah and a nice bacon cheeseburger to go along with it. Next beer was an IPA from Highland Brewing Company called Kashmir IPA. It was an English style IPA and the only thing missing was some Led Zeppelin playing on the jukebox. Well, it was past 3pm now and so I bid my buddies adieu and that I would meet up with them for dinner since they didn't want to go to any of the local breweries.

My first stop was to the newly opened Sugar Creek Brewery. They took over the facility that Olde Mecklenburg Brewery was in before OMB moved down the street into a newer and bigger location. Wow, this brewery was very nice. They had about 4-6 beers on tap and I had a flight of 4 beers there and my favorite one was the pale ale. I liked it so much that I wound up buying a growler of it.

Next was a walk down the street to where Olde Mecklenburg Brewery was having their annual Octoberfest party. I had a pint of their Mecktoberfest and personally I wasn't that impressed and thought it was just average. The atmosphere outside of the brewery was nice though with bands playing Bavarian music and games to play and of course the frauleins there. 

I walked back to Sugar Creek Brewery to get my growler and then after explaining to the bartenders there that I wasn't driving, I walked further down the road to hit up Triple C Brewing Company. I had myself a pint of their 3C IPA that is hopped with Citra, Centennial, and Chinook hops. Had a very nice hop aroma to it and I would of sampled a few more of their beers while there but I wanted to meet back up with my buddies for dinner. Hopped on the light rail back to the hotel and then finally met up with my buddies who had already ate somewhere else and some just called it a night while the rest of us went out to see a shoe show. 

Game day!!! Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!

After filling up on breakfast at the hotel it was back to the room and drink the growler of pale ale from Sugar Creek, cheers. Don't ask me why but some of my buddies decided to take a taxi to the game. Bank of America Stadium was like only a half mile away. Me and one of my buddies walked to the stadium instead. 

Cutler and Da Bears blew it towards the end of the game and we lost. So time to drown our sorrows in more local craft beer. But no, my buddies decided to go to Hooters. I'm like, " I can go to Hooters back home, I'm going to Unknown Brewing Company and see ya later for dinner." Three blocks later and I was at Unknown Brewing Company. There was a band playing outside that was pretty good. Got a sampler of some of their beers, all of which were pretty darn good but why serve pints in plastic cups when you have all them pint glasses behind the bar? I hate drinking out of plastic cups so instead of getting a pint after my fight, I opted for a 6 pack of IPA's and walked back to the hotel room. Meet back up with my buddies and the steak dinner was out since they all wound up eating at Hooters. And even before our trip they were all talking about going out for steak dinner somewhere. I went to Carolina Alehouse to get something to eat but cause their service was so slow I got up and left the bar and went back to Blackfinn's where the food and service was awesome. 

Well, my buddies all flew home in the morning but I stayed in Charlotte for another day cause I have never been there before. So, I hopped on a bus and went out to Davidson to meet up with a coworker that attends Davidson College. I had lots of time on my hands before meeting up with her for lunch so I walked around campus. After a nice lunch I had another couple hours to kill before catching the bus back to Charlotte. So, she told me to go check out Summit Coffee. I don't drink coffee so I would never even think to go into a coffee shop and lo and behold they had five beers on tap and some more in cans and bottles. What a great way to relax and enjoy the afternoon by sipping on local beers that I can't get back home. Oh my the best beer that I sampled while there was Greybeard IPA from Pisgah Brewing Company. Wow, the hop aromas, the flavor, it was truly amazing. 

Zoom! Zoom! Went right to the NASCAR Hall of Fame as soon as I got back into downtown Charlotte. Only had about an hour and half to roam around there before it closed for the day but that was enough time for me to check it all out. 

Okay time for some more local breweries and this time around I went to the NODA area of Charlotte and first stop was Heist Brewery. Sampled some of their delicious beers and then ordered a pint of Cloud 9 to go along with one of the best soft pretzels I have had.

Next up was a walk down the street to get to NoDa Brewery before they closed and I was unable to visit Birdsong which is across the street from them because they were closed. Nice hospitality here at NoDa just like Heist, and some good beers to drink as well. 

And that's a wrap. Loved the southern hospitality at all the breweries that I did have a chance to go to and hopefully be back again soon. Cheers!