Don’t get lost like we did trying to find the RIGHT Heist Brewing. Smoothie beers and tasty bar cheese made for a memorable stay. Oh and is that paint flaking from the ceiling?
Charlotte Sprawl
Heist Brewing is located in the trendy Noda neighborhood of Charlotte. For those that are not familiar with the area, it is a very modern area featuring lots of new constructions and renovated historic buildings. Heist Brewing is located in one such industrial revival complex that is clad in a chic grey and white color scheme. The industrial revitalization and trendy atmosphere remind me of Casita Brewing in Wilson.
We visited Heist brewing during the same trip when we visited Catawba Brewing. Both are very close to the Bank of America Stadium and the City center complex in Charlotte.
Do be careful when you plug this into your GPS. There is the Heist Brewery and also Heist Brewery and Barrel Arts which are about 6 minutes apart. We were meeting friends and neither of us realized that there were two locations so close by. We will have to come back to visit the Barrel Art location.
The parking in the area is fair. It is shared by adjacent shops but it could get crowded during peak times on weekends. We came on the early side of Saturday lunch and did not have any issues.
Is It Like A Crime Den?
Like many trendy breweries, Heist does not seek to make many structural changes to the historic industrial building it calls home. This makes for some disjointed spaces and some trouble navigating to your seat at times. The main entrance is more on the modern side but then you walk into the back and see the massive secondary seating area and bar.
I found the back area a space comfortable but it could easily get cramped the way the chairs were arranged. The trendy tap room in the back has a neat second floor overlook that give the room some added depth. Nothing was overly polished which seems normal for these types of breweries.
Unfortunately, there were some elements beginning to show significant wear. For example the paint on the ceiling in the brewing area was peeling off. I work in industrial environments so I really hope that is just a result of picking the wrong paint and not an indication of some underlying safety hazard like poor ventilation. My day job aside, the atmosphere here was fairly typical. Edison bulbs, unfinished wood and black chairs.
Funny Beer, Bland Mac
The beers here were unique to say the least. I can honestly say I have never seen a “smoothie beer” before but they had it here. The beer came out looking thick and exactly like you expect a smoothie. One of our friends, William, tried it and gave it a solid 7.5/10. If for no other reason then to say that you did, might be worth trying. The smoothie beer was called “Spilled Pickin'”.
They had other full beer with names like “Can You Smell What the Bock Is Cooking?” and many more. Their selection was substantial but not so large that it was overwhelming.
Heist Brewing, however, missed the mark on their food for me. They had a full menu with quite a spread of options. We started out strong with some pretzels with bar cheese but the rest of our meals were subpar. They looked good on paper and in person. It just did not taste good and was not very filling. For example, my brisket mac and cheese sounded like it would be really tasty and be a rich comfort food flavor. On the contrary, it generally lacked flavor. I finished the dish because I was hungry not because it tasted good.
Two of the four of our party were satisfied with their meals and two of us were not. They mastered the plating, the service, and the presentation even. The taste just needs some work.
Smoothie Beer!
The smoothie beer is probably the most novel thing we saw when we visited and will stick in my memory for quite a while. Heist definitely took the time to make sure they curated their own brand of quirky brewery which can be hard to do in modern context. I fully appreciate they tried some off the wall stuff at the risk of it not working.
Overall
Heist Brewing is an at par brewery and slightly sub par restaurant. I love that they took a risk with some new stuff and made this odd ball building work. Nonetheless, I was really shocked at how lack lust all the food tasted. I look forward to trying Heist Brewing again to see if it was a one time fluke.
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