When traveling, do some research. I failed at this concept last week, but I got lucky. Let me explain …

Sign welcoming me to Salisbury

I was heading to a conference in Salisbury, North Carolina. I didn’t think ahead to actually research breweries that I might find while there. I knew I’d be near or through Asheville, Greenville, Charlotte. But I just didn’t have time during my commute to stop in for a brewery tour. But the brain didn’t think to process PAST that and research my actual destination. Do your research, people.

Salisbury is a beautiful town of about 35,000 people east of Charlotte. It’s a railroad community, and a lot of downtown consists of rustic brick manufacturing buildings that once supported the industries. As soon as I got downtown, I spotted two places of particular interest … a brewery and another brewery. I look at my handy conference agenda and see: three hours of free time Wednesday afternoon and two hours Thursday night.  Sold.

New Sarum Brewing has just celebrated their one year anniversary. There is a nice clean tasting

The paddle is shaped like North Carolina

room, complete with a small seating area. Outside are some picnic tables, cornhole, and music playing. Very nice setup. Enough about that … how was the beer? I ordered a 5-sample flight and was pleasantly surprised. Nothing will go home as my favorite beer of all time, but all of them were good. Good, solid beers.

  • 142 Blonde Ale (it’s made with grits!)
  • Old Stone House IPA
  • Hurley Park Blood Orange Wheat
  • Round House Robust Porter
  • High Rock Red
The Hurley Park was the best of the bunch. I don’t know why, but the blood orange that’s dropped late into the brewing process really adds a super fun element to the wheat flavoring. 

The next day, I walked down through the old railroad manufacturing buildings to a new, gleaming space that is an absolutely spectacular place to have a beer. Railwalk has a very impressive beer lineup and is a must visit. I was actually able to try 6 beers here before leaving … some of them were quite exotic.

Cayenne Imperial Stout

  • Cayenne Imperial Stout. It was a very nice stout, but I truly didn’t pick up on the cayenne.
  • Nitro Flat Creek Swamp Water. It’s just fun to say. It’s a great stout with nice chocolate flavors. The nitro obviously makes it smooth. This was the winner of the bunch.
  • Lee Street Wheat
  • Buffalo Head IPA
  • Ridge Red. They had this one available in six-packs, so it came home with me!
  • Belgian Strong Pale. This was another fantastic choice.
Bottom line, it’s not necessarily about finding the best beer ever. It’s all about trying something new. Because I didn’t do my research, it was only by fortune that I found these two hidden gems. Next time, I’ll plan MUCH better!
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May 2, 2017
Mike Pennington

Author: Mike Pennington

Mike Pennington, normal, 40-ish, father of three, living the suburban dream north of Atlanta.  

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