by Brian Beauchemin

February finds Charlotte breweries surrounding us with a multitude of both German lagers and wheat beers. For those of us who prefer beer-flavored beer, these wintertime lagers hit the spot. On the other end of the spectrum, adjuncts abound with some releases reminding people of their grandmother’s banana pudding or multi-flavored chocolate covered pretzels. No matter which beer you prefer, local brewers have you covered this month. Unless otherwise stated, all products are already available in taprooms and/or in the local market.

Birdsong Brewing     

Rain Fruited Sour from Birdsong Brewing offers a host of berry notes. Photo courtesy

Fabulous and funky, Rain Fruited Sour is a smooth American sour ale with blueberries and strawberries. Big berry notes and a hint of effervescence make this 6.2% ABV beer juicy on the palate with a pleasant, clean finish.

Turtles On Pterodactyls, the 10.5% ABV imperial stout, is back on draft and in cans. The smooth, dark imperial stout was brewed with cacao nibs, cinnamon, and brown sugar and then aged in bourbon barrels.

Releasing February 15, Good As Helles is a tropical dry-hopped lager. Strata hops provide pleasant aromatics of mango, passionfruit, and orange with a hint of dankness. The 5.4% ABV full-flavored brew will have you dreaming of beach vacations.

Devils Logic Brewing

Two beers will be available February 15. Perpetual Paradox is a classic west coast IPA brewed with Centennial hops. The 7.5% ABV is piney and resiny with citrusy notes and is a new addition to their core line up. The second beer, Fuster Cluck, is a New England IPA hopped with El Dorado, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Simcoe Cryo, The 7.2% ABV brew provides aromas of pineapple, stone fruit, lemon, and lime.

Cliffs of Moher, an Irish stout releases February 17. With aromas of roasted malt, chocolate and coffee, the 4.6% ABV light-bodied brew has a smooth mouthfeel and moderate bitterness.

Free Range Brewing

Free Range Brewing’s You Know What Makes Me Feel Good uses only Galaxy hops. Photo courtesy

You Know What Makes Me Feel Good is a Carolina hazy double IPA. Brewed with 92% locally-sourced ingredients, this heavy-hitting batch is brewed to celebrate Galaxy hops. The 9.5% ABV brew utilizes only Galaxy hops which provide a wonderfully complex range of citrus and tropical fruit notes.

Jenny Bought A Farm is a 5.5% ABV Carolina classic saison brewed with 99% locally-sourced ingredients. A harmonious balance of crispness and earthiness with bright herbal notes makes this a beer that calls for more than one.

NoDa Brewing   

Nuthin’ But A G’s Thang is a 5.5% ABV Vienna lager brewed in collaboration with Town Brewing and Jon G’s BBQ. The Vienna malt utilized in the beer was smoked in Jon G’s BBQ smokers providing the medium-bodied beer with a very subtle and savory accent of BBQ smoke character. This beer, and the other releases this month, will be on draft at their North End taproom.

Tastey’s Hoppy Brown Ale is a classic American brown ale with Centennial and Chinook hops providing a hop-centric brew with light roast and caramel character. The 6.6% ABV beer releases February 9.

Releasing February 16, Trials and Tripel-ations is a classic-style Belgian tripel. The 8.6% ABV brew boasts a large amount of pilsner malt and is accented with a touch of Munich and Belgian Aromatic malt. It’s fermented on a blend of two different Belgian yeasts delivering pear, vanilla, banana, clove, and allspice notes.

A week later, Bock Samson, a classic German helles bock debuts. The 6.7% ABV lager utilizes German hops and Heritage German pilsner malts which provide cakey pastry and shortbread flavors.

Olde Mecklenburg Brewery

Munzler’s Vienna Lager returns February 9. The 4.9% ABV lager is named after Martin Munzler, North Carolina’s first commercial brewer. Dark malts typical of Munzler’s era provide light toasty, caramel, and biscuit notes in tandem with a subtle sweetness.

A first for the brewery, Hazy IPA releases February 16. The hazy IPA was brewed with Sultana, Strata, and Simcoe hops, and fermented with London Fog yeast. The combination emits flavors and aromas of fruity, juicy, pineapple, grapefruit, and strawberry. On draft only in their taproom.

Pilot Brewing

Pilot’s Late Czech Out weighs in at 4.7 ABV. Image courtesy

A rich, dark, and sweet Czech lager with light roast character and subtle notes of chocolate, Late Czech Out releases today. Noble hop character balances out the sweetness to yield a clean, smooth, and flavorful 4.7% ABV lager. This beer won silver in the 2023 US Open Beer Championship for the Dark Lager category.

Kolsch Me If You Can is a 5% ABV clean, crisp, pale colored ale with subtle fruit and hop character. The malt profile shines throughout and leads into a refreshing finish.

Rebuilding Schwarzbier was brewed to support the brewery’s Charity of the Month, Rebuilding Together CLT, whose mission is repairing homes, revitalizing communities, and rebuilding lives. The 5% ABV black, German-style lager balances chocolate, roast, and smooth malt flavors with moderate bitterness. Don’t let the dark color fool you, this beer is light in body with a dry finish that makes it quite drinkable. On draft only in their taproom.

Serena’s Weizenbock releases February 10. As part of the Co-Pilot (super small brew) series, their brewtender Serena brewed a 5.4% ABV weizenbock. Expect a malty, fruity, wheat-based ale combining the yeast flavors of a weissbier with the malt-rich flavors of a doppelbock.

Staying with German wheat ales, Hazy Skies Hefeweizen Returns February 16. The 5.8% ABV pale, refreshing German-style wheat ale has a dry finish, fluffy mouthfeel, and banana-clove character. This beer won bronze at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival for the German Wheat Beer categories.

February 23 showcases a pearfectly, lip-smacking fruited gose. Prickly Pearfection, is a 4.5% ABV refreshing and tart German wheat ale with a low coriander note and restrained sea salt character, fermented with red prickly pear fruit.

Southern Strain Brewing

The brewery releases two beers on February 28, with both brews using 100% North Carolina malt. This Schitz Bananas is an ‘experimental’ 5.2% ABV dunkelweizen. This classic dark German-style wheat beer was fermented with Omega Yeast’s Bananza strain, and then rested on Madagascar vanilla beans. Expect aromas of perfectly ripe bananas, and a rich velvety vanilla that blends perfectly with roasted chocolate malt. The hope is the beer “reminds you of grandma’s famous nanner pudding.”

SPOONMAN! is a smooth and juicy 6% ABV hazy IPA brewed with Mosaic in the kettle, and dry-hopped heavily with Azacca and Comet. Expect a fruit salad of flavors and aromas including tropical mango, ripe berries, zesty grapefruit, and tangerine.

Triple C Brewing

North of the Border is a Paloma-style gose brewed in collaboration with Amor Artis Brewing from Fort Mill, S.C. Inspired by the Mexican drink, the 5.5% ABV salty and sour beer was brewed with grapefruit, lime puree, and pink Himalayan sea salt. Releases February 9.

February 16 sees the release of 4 variations of the brewery’s Chocolate Covered Pretzel Stout (CCPS). All variations are 9.2% ABV bourbon barrel-aged imperial stouts. CCPS Bitter was brewed with vanilla and black coffee. CCPS Salty utilized cacao nibs, sea salt, and peanut butter. CCPS Sweet combines cacao nibs, toasted coconut, and maple syrup. Lastly, CCPS Spicy kicks things up with chili peppers and ghost peppers.

Cranes In the Sky, a 5.3% ABV hazy pale ale, returns February 23. This hazy pale pours light yellow with a pillowy white head. Aromas of juicy fruit, candied pineapple, sweet mango, and a hint of shredded coconut segue into flavors of tropical fruits, bright citrus, juicy mango, and a slight melon presence.

A still-to-be-named oatmeal vanilla porter debuts March 1. The porter, aged on vanilla, provides sweet vanilla and chocolate aromas, reminiscent of Tootsie Rolls and vanilla fudge.

Wooden Robot Brewery

Beep Boop is a crushable 5.6% ABV blonde ale boasting a smooth, malty body accented with citrus and floral aromas and a dry finish.

Botbier is a 6.0% ABV foeder-aged farmhouse ale, inspired by traditional Belgian saisons. A simple recipe of local pilsner malt and noble-type hops allows their mixed farmhouse culture to shine through, with notes of citrus, stone fruit, and a light funk.