Long ago, I documented music mail order companies for my own needs and shared it as a product, later I documented deployment tips and technical information and shared that as AppDeploy/ITNinja. So when I realized I was spending effort to document Charlotte area breweries and bottle shops for my own needs, it didn’t take me long to decide it was time to spin up a new site: CraftBeerSpots.com was born.

While I may well evolve the concept to add additional value in the future, I decided the first step was to keep it fairly simple in order to create content quickly. After all, a guide to a small fraction of what is available in any sized region is of limited value. It’s been just over a year as I write this having started the effort in July of 2017. There are now over 150 craft beer spots documented which feature a quick description of the setting, what is offered there, several photos I’ve taken, hours and an embedded Google map.

The site aims to bring you quick summaries, helpful attributes and photos to help visitors decide the next place to grab a craft beer.  What is the seating and parking like? Is the bar tough to order from? Is there live music? How about video or board games? How many taps do they have? What does it look like? Do they offer flights, pitchers, growlers, crowlers or bottles and cans? Is it dog friendly? What are the hours and where exactly is it? How about food; are there snacks? Appetizers? A full menu? Food trucks? Craft Beer Spots groups venues into three categories: breweries, bottle shops and bars. While I focus largely upon my local town of Charlotte, NC you’ll also see coverage of areas I travel to on vacation or work ranging from Asheville (where my Cousin Wes contributes) to where my company has offices such as Chicago, India, Copenhagen and London.