Saisons and Sundaes
Post by Scott - 11/7/2024
It’s been a week. You’re gonna need a beer and some ice cream to get through it. These breweries are all within a few hundred yards of ice cream shops.
Located in the same NoDa shopping plaza, this wonderful marriage allows you to find out what a Good Morning Vietnam Coffee Vanilla Blonde ale tastes like with a scoop of Blackout Chocolate Cake ice cream. The answer? Really freaking good.
I have no clue what makes gelato different from ice cream. I do know, though, that if I head to Optimist Hall and get a Hopbeard from Fonta Flora for myself and Salted Caramel Brownie gelato for my daughter, everyone leaves happy. Same situation applies with the Ballantyne Olde Meck Brewing (BOMB? Just trying it out) and a Copper and a stop at the Honeysuckle gelato next door in the Ballantyne Bowl.
Free Range is known for pushing boundaries in their beer, focusing on local ingredients and interesting styles. What better beer to savor while enjoying the innovative gluten-free, vegan recipes from Seemingly Overzealous? Take a chance with a Sea of Companion’s Oyster Stout and Second Place Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Salty and sweet. Your tastebuds will never be the same.
Burial and Legion Plaza Midwood/Ochoa Time
Both of these breweries are within sight of Ochoa Time, an ice cream, boba tea, and Vietnamese coffee shop. Nothing like drinking an IPA with the name that evokes the end of the world and eating a Taiyaki style Japanese ice cream out of a waffle cone shaped like a fish. If that doesn’t bring a smile to your face, nothing will.
I’ve done this duo more than any other pairing on this list. While not a brewery, Carolina Beer Temple has an awesome selection of cans and drafts inside and a fantastic sideyard for your family. What’s in the backyard? A Local Scoop outpost slinging Cookie Monster ice cream. If I’m bending the rules on breweries, Seaboard Brewing is right across the street. Get two spoons and a Sunland Kolsch.
Old and new coming together here. Tony’s is like a time capsule. Burgers, hot dogs, and about 20 of your all time favorite flavors of ice cream. And grape. I’ve never had the grape, but people rave about it. Walk it across the street to one of the newest breweries in the Charlotte region, Keepsake, that has an old soul. Keepsake doesn’t have a massive taplist, but every single choice is on point. Don’t mess with classics, old and new.
While these two are just over a mile apart, if you’re headed to Monroe, you owe yourself a trip to both. You’re more likely to find Southern Range beers in my garage fridge than anything else. I’m a sucker for Ice Cube’s a Pimp! Hank (sorry, Hank is the dog)Tony is dedicated to using only the best ingredients including Southern Range’s I’d Fruit That blackberry sour in his Halloween-themed Black and Booberry Sherbet. The beer is IN the ice cream!
Wooden Robot: The Chamber
You can watch trains go by from the patio.