Red Hill Brewing: Speakeasy Vibes in Downtown Concord #WhereRacingLives

Hello, Great Beer Now readers! This is the third entry in a multi- part series highlighting the Great Beer Now Race to Taste Beer Tour 2018, a trip through Cabarrus County North Carolina that highlighted the best beer and whiskey the area has to offer. Cabarrus County is right outside Charlotte and a short drive from the airport so it’s easy to get to and the beer scene, while relatively young, has so much to offer. Cheers, and have fun following along as I explore!

 

Breweries sometimes feature a prominent presence that grabs your attention and makes you want to investigate further. A large building, easily viewable signage, and a prime location all make a difference and can help a brewing operation meet its sales goals. But other breweries are tucked away from view and are known only by those who have specifically sought them out or heard about them from a friend. A good example of the latter is Red Hill Brewing, located at 3511, 21 Union St S, Concord, North Carolina.

Downtown Brewed

Named after the famous Red Hill Plantation, Red Hill Brewing is located in downtown Concord, occupying the upper level of a two- story business building. The brewery can be accessed from the front of the building, through the Cabarrus Creamery, but the main entrance is in the back of the building.

Red Hill Brewing is small, production- wise, utilizing a one barrel brewing system. The brewery is dog- friendly and features a bicycle theme, even though the theme is quite subtle. There are two large auxiliary rooms adjacent to the tasting room, which are used for private events and as overflow space when it gets busy.

Small Batch Beer

Visitors to Red Hill Brewing can expect to find about eight beers on tap, plus a possible cider option. Here is a summary of the beer I tried, listed in alphabetical order by name, followed by the style and my Untappd rating on a five point scale:

• Austin’s Amber, American Amber, 4.25
• Hammerfest, American Pale Ale, 4.25
• Janes Blonde, Blonde Ale, 4.5
• Murph IPA, American IPA, 4
• Plastic Paddy, Irish Dry Stout, 4
• Rye and Hops and You, Red IPA, 4
• Scaled, Session IPA, 4

Overall average rating: 4.14

I found many beers to my liking at Red Hill Brewing. The standout was Janes Blonde, a beer that easily ranks among the best blonde ales I have tried in the past year. All of the beers are solid entries overall, memorable and well- crafted.

Speakeasy Vibes

Red Hill Brewing is one of several Concord area breweries I visited during my beer tour of the area. Small, intimate, and cozy, it’s the type of place you visit when you want to have a beer or two with friends or meet new friends, all from the comfort of what feels like a private, secret club.

I visited several breweries when I embarked on my beer tour of the Concord area and among them, Red Hill was the most difficult to locate. The map said it was right there, on Union Street in downtown, but a quick glance up and down the street on each side revealed nothing. I decided to walk inside the area businesses to try to figure out where Red Hill Brewing was hiding and I eventually tracked it down. The main entrance is in the back of the building and you feel like you’re entering a speakeasy when you visit.

Red Hill is definitely a brewery constructed with lots of sweat and manual labor. Talking with Chris, Red Hill’s co- founder, I learned that much of what you see in the brewhouse and the bar was constructed by hand. He and his business partners/associates were determined to get their new brewery open and running and they improvised wherever possible to create the taproom and brewery on a shoestring budget. Don’t visit here expecting to see the latest designer tables and chairs and state of the art equipment. You won’t find anything like that, but you will find a design that is unique, charming, and extremely non- pretentious, making anyone feel right at home.

One area where Red Hill doesn’t improvise is with the beer. They take great care at Red Hill to brew beer of great distinction and I found every single beer in the lineup better than average. They don’t have the huge variety of beer that some other breweries serve, but there is more than enough here to satisfy. Probably most surprising to me personally is that I rated the Blonde Ale as the best beer of all! I almost always prefer the porters, stouts, and IPA, but the blonde was the standout at Red Hill Brewing, at least to me.

Red Hill Brewing brews and sells its beer only on draft at the moment, but Chris told me that cans are coming at some point in the near future. This will be great for growth, as it will mean getting Red Hill beer into more consumers’ hands. Until that time, draft beer is the only option and the best place to find it, fresh and ready for your immediate consumption, is right here at the brewery.

Breweries often try to take advantage of their location as a means to drive business. Those breweries that are located on a busy street with a highly visible store front do, indeed, have an advantage over the rest. Red Hill Brewing is more low- key and it isn’t positioned to take advantage of drive- by traffic. But Red Hill excels where it matters most: Brewing beer with artisanal distinction served in an atmosphere that, while historic looking, is like that of an exclusive club. It’s a cool place for beer and good times so pay a visit to Red Hill Brewing the next time you find yourself in downtown Concord, North Carolina. And tell them Great Beer Now sent you.