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After being delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues, Gilde Brewery will be opening its Charlotte, North Carolina brewery and brewpub on Saturday, Feb. 26. “Our opening is as much anticipated for us as it is for the German beer lovers in Charlotte and across the U.S.,” Gilde CEO Karsten Uhlmann said.
Neither the 9,500-square-foot brewery with a yearly capacity of 5,000 barrels (5.870 hl) of beer nor the restaurant with seating for 350 guests is something extraordinary in the United States.
However, the fact that the new Gilde Brewery is part of TCB Beverages, one of the largest brewing groups in Germany, makes the opening really special. If TCB is successful in Charlotte, the next steps will be to open similar craft breweries in other cities in the Southeast and to build a much larger brewery in the U.S. with a production of about 500,000 barrels (600,000 hl) of beer per year. “This would supply the American market,” Mike Gaertner, managing director and co-partner of TCB Beverages said earlier. (inside.beer, 12.5.2021)
“We have been brewing beer since 1546, and we look forward to sharing our heritage and authenticity with Charlotte and the U.S.,” Gaertner added.
The brewery is run by German brewmaster Willi Wallstab and his team and will serve Gilde’s six staple beers: Pilsener, Red Rooster, Radler, Urbock, Hefeweizen and Black Beer — all made according to the German Purity Law. Additional craft beers that will be unique to Gilde’s Charlotte location will complement the offering. The beer is sold as draught beer on-site but cans of its core beers will be also sold in stores and markets around the Charlotte area for off-site consumption.
