Road Trip! Cavendish Brewing

The Basics

Location: Cavendish Brewing, 207 N. Chesnut Street, Gastonia NC

Website: cavendishbrewing.com

Facebook: facebook.com/CavendishBrewery
Instagram: @cavendish_brewing

Vibe/Atmosphere: quirky, unassuming, homey, eclectic, comfortable; former Studebaker dealership turned brewery/dive bar

Beers We Tried: Orange Wit Hefeweizen, Blueberry Gal Fruited Pils, Glad That’s Over Pils, Island Cloud Gazer NEIPA, Foggy Mountain Cave In NEIPA, Social Lubrication Belgian Blonde, Hoppy Feeling Pale Ale, Oktoberfest Marzen, Rooster Red Ale, Dragonbane Oatmeal Stout, Grizzly Brown English Brown Ale, Chester Street Porter

Parking: ample free parking in adjoining lot, street

Important NC Beer Explorer Tip: When consuming alcohol, always have a designated driver. Be safe out there, friends!

We had twice run into Cavendish Brewing at Brewgaloo Raleigh, and we always enjoyed talking to their friendly people and drinking their Old World style beers. On our Charlotte trip, we decided to venture outside the big city to nearby Gastonia and explore Cavendish’s beers in more depth. What we found on our visit was far beyond expectations. But we will get to that in a minute.

Founder Scott Cavendish is a native of Canada and a mechanical engineer by trade, specializing in power plant repairs. Cavendish had a long-standing passion for home-brewing, which he pursued as a hobby for 15 years before establishing the brewery. He opened Cavendish Brewing, Gastonia’s first ever brewery, in 2017 with a focus on "old-world beers" not commonly found in the Charlotte region. He also was dedicated to helping revitalize Gastonia's Highland neighborhood, also known as the Gateway to Gastonia. The brewery itself is located in an old Studebaker Dealership, which adds to its nostalgic feel.

A few "dead soldiers" later, we eventually cried, "Onkel!" (that's German for "uncle.") We fully enjoyed our visit to Cavendish Brewing and will be back. There is truly something for everyone: town tavern feel, community camaraderie, and terrific, inventive beer. We say that Cavendish Brewing is wonderfully unafraid and open — “a Funky Kaleidoscope of fun.”

Anthony Paige, bar manager, welcomed us as we walked into Cavendish Brewing. We had an immediate feeling of our favorite hometown bar, à la "Cheers," where everybody knows your name. Even around lunchtime Wednesday, there was a group of first-name-basis regulars telling stories and talking about an upcoming local pool competition. The space flowed organically with everything from comfy chairs you’d find at your grandma’s house to table seating to picnic tables.

Cavendish serves sturdy pub fare, headlined by excellent pizza. We have to mention their superb (dare we say life-changing?) pretzel with house made beer cheese and mustard. We don't have a picture of said pretzel because it had a very short life.

OK, now for the beers! We asked Scott to pick out a few beers for us to taste. We were expecting maybe a flight or two of solid old world styles. This is where we were knocked off our bar stools. Cavendish has 23 beers on tap and we ended up sampling 12 (!) of them before losing count. The range of beer styles was far beyond “Old World.” Yes, they had faithful versions of classic styles like German Pils, Oktoberfest Marzen and Belgian Blonde Ale. But they also had Foggy Mountain Peelings West Coast IPA, Island Cloud Gazer NEIPA and Blueberry Gal Fruited Pils. We were so impressed with the inventiveness and quality of the beers that we were easy prey when Scott would say, “You need to try the Dragonbane Oatmeal Stout … or the Chester Street Porter.” See our tasting notes below for more details.

(We just had to include a photo of Scott's Harley hanging out at the brewery.)

NCBE's Beer Notes - Cavendish Brewing

• Blueberry Gal Fruited Pils

  • Style: Fruited Sour

  • ABV: 5.3%

  • Color: light gold

  • Aroma: blueberry muffin

  • Taste: toasted white bread, blueberry

  • Mouthfeel: astringent

  • Aftertaste: short and sourish

• Orange Wit Hefeweizen

  • Style: Hefeweizen

  • ABV: 4.8%

  • Color: light hazy gold

  • Aroma: orange/orange peel

  • Taste: “Dreamcicle,” crusty bread, pleasantly dank secondary notes

  • Mouthfeel: light

  • Aftertaste: bitter, crackers

• Social Lubrication

  • Style: Belgian Blonde

  • ABV: 6%

  • Color: gold

  • Aroma: caramel

  • Taste: caramel, clove, banana

  • Mouthfeel: light

  • Aftertaste: slightly tart

• Foggy Mountain Cave

  • Style: NEIPA

  • ABV: 6.5%

  • Color: gold, hazy

  • Aroma: tropical thiols

  • Taste: tropical fruit, light hops

  • Mouthfeel: juicy

  • Aftertaste: balanced bitter/sweet

• Hoppy Peelings

  • Pale Ale

  • ABV: 5.5%

  • Color: straw, clear

  • Aroma: light pine and citrus

  • Taste: classic pale ale, nice hop balance

  • Mouthfeel: somewhat juicy

  • Aftertaste: lightly resinous

• Island Cloud Gazer

  • Style: NEIPA

  • ABV: 6.2%

  • Color: yellow, hazy, fine bubbly head

  • Aroma: tropical fruit

  • Taste: burst of pineapple, lime, guava, mango; significant malt character but not too cloying

  • Mouthfeel: pillowy, highly drinkable

  • Aftertaste: subtle bitterness

• Oktoberfest

  • Style: Marzen

  • ABV: 5.5%

  • Color: amber

  • Aroma: toasted bread

  • Taste: graham cracker, seeded wheat bread

  • Mouthfeel: medium, smooth

  • Aftertaste: subtle bitterness

• Rooster Red Ale*

  • Style: Red Ale

  • ABV: 5.2%

  • Color: light coppery brown

  • Aroma: malty

  • Taste: toasty chickory/coffee, vanilla

  • Mouthfeel: balanced, smooth, medium body

  • Aftertasted: light malty sweet

    *Rooster Red Ale and Dragonbane were our our favorites

• Glad That’s Over

  • Style: German Pilsner

  • ABV: 6%

  • Color: straw, slightly cloudy

  • Aroma: hoppy

  • Mouthfeel: well-made classic German Pils; cracker, malty, with moderate hoppy bitterness

  • Aftertaste: bittery

• Dragonbane*

  • Style: Oatmeal Stout

  • ABV: 5.4%

  • Color: black

  • Aroma: wafting notes of chocolate, coffee

  • Mouthfeel: surprisingly refreshing, highly drinkable, not heavy

  • Aftertaste: fades to a neutral finish

    *Rooster Red Ale and Dragonbane were our our favorites

• Grizzly Brown

  • Style: English Brown Ale

  • ABV: 5.2%

  • Color: brown

  • Aroma: toasted walnuts, toast, chicory, coffee, light chocolate

  • Mouthfeel: medium

  • Aftertaste: moderately bitter

• Chester Street

  • Style: Porter

  • ABV: 6.5%

  • Color: dark brown

  • Aroma: sweet chocolate, coffee, molasses

  • Mouthfeel: astringent (almost like a dry white wine)

  • Aftertaste: slightly sourish

Tell us what you think about Cavendish Brewing.