Birdsong Brewing

merc7186

New York

3.57/5  rDev -8.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.5 | $$

On a recent trip to Charlotte, my best friend wanted to show me all of the new breweries that had opened up over the past 18 months.

A: Average looking place, large sized outside patio with picnic tables and lounge. Inside was kind of cramped with about 6-8 tables, with a bar that could seat about 8-10 people.

Q: We had tried several of their offerings and they were drinkable but nothing special.

S: The place was about half full when we went in there on a sunday afternoon. The bartender was working efficiently to take care of everyone but seemed a little overwelmed...but wait times were not that bad.

S: A slightly above average selection as they offered several beers outside of the traditional styles.

V: Prices for a pint were reasonably priced, especially for the area.

Overall, a nice place to visit but not my favorite brewery of the area. The beers were drinkable but nothing special unfortunately. We had missed a berleiner weiss that they had done two days earlier.

05-03-2013 16:19:22 | More by merc7186

jroberge1981

North Carolina

4.08/5  rDev +4.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Birdsong Brewing is a nice quaint taproom and brewery in the NoDa arts district of Charlotte, NC. The tasting room is fairly small, with one long table with benches that holds 12-15 (think picnic table), a bar with about 8 seats, and 6-8 hightop tables that seat 2 or 3 each. The atmosphere inside is casual and fits in nicely with the industrial area. There are viewing windows into the brewery, and local art on the back wall featuring various birds(no surprise) to add to the atmosphere. The patio outside is spacious and hosts live music quite often.

Beer quality is quite good! The jalapeno pale ale is one of the things that draws you in, and while not my favorite, it's tasty and the pepper flavor really shines through without a whole lot of the heat. The Lazy Bird Brown is probably my favorite of the regular line-up with a nice malty, roasted flavor and just enough hop bitterness to balance. Their winter seasonal (an abbey style ale) is quite delicious as well! Selection has greatly improved as time goes on. There were eight beers on tap this past weekend, pale ale, jalapeno, IPA, Saison, Dark Rye, Abbey, Brown, and Wit.

Service is very good but it is an order at the bar kind of place. The folks at the bar seem knowledgeable about the beers, and are quite friendly. The two bartenders were able to handle a rush of 100+ brewery crawlers dressed as Santa with aplomb.

No food is sold directly at the taproom, but there tends to be a food truck at either Birdsong or NoDa brewery next door on the weekends.

Prices are reasonable - $4/pint for the normal stuff, $5/smaller tulip of the high gravity such as the Abbey ale. Pint and tulip glasses are on sale for $5, and various T-Shirts are available for around $20.

One of my favorite places in Charlotte for a brew!

12-16-2012 17:54:52 | More by jroberge1981

CBlack85

South Carolina

3.88/5  rDev -0.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $

Went on a mini brewery crawl this weekend stopping at Triple C, Heist, Birdsong, and finishing with dinner at Growlers Pourhouse. Started with Triple C, then Heist Brewery, now on to one of Charlotte's newer craft breweries; Birdsong Brewing...

Located directly across the street from NoDa Brewing. Unlike NoDa, Birdsong is a bit more of a mystery. While the entrance to NoDa is directly in the front of the building, Birdsong is situated in the back by the old railroad tracks.

There is a fairly large patio area with outdoor seating, large enough to accommodate live music and plentiful seating. As you walk in you see that the interior is long and narrow, with an unfinished feel. The walls are metal siding and cinder block with posters/artwork featuring dogs and beer. Not nearly as polished as most of the other Charlotte area breweries (with the exception of Four Friends). While the place lacks the artistic touch and finish of Heist, it is cozy and comfortable, and you feel at home when you are there...

There is really not much in the way of service... You have the bar tender and that is about it, if you want another beer you either walk up to the bar, or signal to the bartender; and luckily the place is small enough that this system seems to work well. We did not sit on the patio, so I don't know how the service was there. Unfortunately, unless you are talking to the brewer, the bartender/waitstaff does not know much about the beer besides whats on tap and whats not.

There is no kitchen; sometimes there is a food truck outside, but otherwise the bowls of peanuts on the tables will have to suffice. So it's best to either eat before you come or call ahead to see if one of the food trucks will be on site.

Now... on to the beer. I have tried a few of their beers in restaurants/bars around town, but there were some on tap that I had not tried yet so I got a flight of all of their offerings. There was a pale, a saison, a witbeir, a brown, an IPA, and a jalapeno pale ale. I am not a big fan of saisons, but as far as saisons go this one was decent. The brown was decent, the IPA was decent, the pale ale was pretty good, the witbier was quite good and the jalapeno pale was terrific. All in all the best beer selection of the night!! I am quite impressed with this little hole in the wall brewery. I will be on the lookout for Birdsong beers around Charlotte...

Well, now that I have samples or pints of beers from Triple C, Heist, and Birdsong I am ready to get some food... On to Growlers Pourhouse.

09-21-2012 02:37:40 | More by CBlack85

Viper29223

4.44/5  rDev +13.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Easy place to find in the Noda district directly across from Noda brewery the brewery generally opens at 2pm the prices were relatively inexpensive I sampled 6 different ales and porters the inside is small but has a cool vibe small operation feel to it we had 2 growlers filled and listened to the band outside on the porch all in all cool brewery and also right by Noda another great brewery with friendly staff 2 brewery's in walking distance my kinda town after youve had you fill check out bordeuxs down the road that serves spicy Cajun food with local beers.

09-19-2012 22:17:39 | More by Viper29223

Bung

North Carolina

3.56/5  rDev -9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | $$

Typical North Davidson old light industrial turned artsy area. Great covered patio. Inside is smaller, but plenty of room. Modern/open high ceiling. Bring your own food, similar to other new tap rooms popping up.

Room for 5 taps, 2 were out. 2 regulars and one more unique. Oatmeal stout and a Rye were out, Pale, Brown and a pepper pale were in. Had the brown. Flight of all on draft for a reasonable price, can't remember. Brewer was there, sounds like he's a one man operation. Friends/investors helped staff the bar. Were plenty helpful and knowledgeable enough.

Practically shares the same parking lot as NoDa Brewing, might as well hit both if you're in the area. Not quite as polished, but worth checking out.

Side note, TONS of people there with their toddlers. Literally had a party of some sort there, not sure if it was for one of the kids, I hope not. Just fricking weird to me, not as bad as a bar I suppose, but just not a place for kids. Not something I will ever be doing. Weird ass No-Daians, nothing is going to stop them from getting a beer and socializing.

01-22-2012 02:20:42 | More by Bung