Road Trip! Incendiary Brewing Co.
Incendiary Brewing has seriously mastered a range of beer styles and has the hardware to prove it!
ROAD TRIP
Ben Marmaduke
12/30/20254 min read
Incendiary Brewing comes by its name honestly. The Winston-Salem flagship brewery and taproom is situated within the space of the former coal pit of the RJ Reynolds power plant. But that is not all that is smokin’ hot at Incendiary. Their beer – across a broad range of styles – is exceptional! And then there is their footprint: in only seven years of operation, they have expanded to four locations including their flagship, plus Greensboro, Lewisville, and Raleigh.
Incendiary is the brainchild of Brandon Branscome and John Bacon, both raised in Winston-Salem, who began homebrewing in 1997 while pursuing business degrees at UNC Greensboro. Several years later, they rekindled their interest, eventually winning competitions; in 2016, they took home first place in the national Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing for their IPA, Shift (still their flagship beer). This is when Brandon and John decided it was time to finally transition their homebrewing hobby into a full-fledged brewery.
The Basics
Locations: Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Lewisville, Raleigh
Brewery & Taproom: 486 N Patterson Ave #105, Winston Salem, NC 27101
Parking: street and nearby parking decks
Website: incendiarybrewing.com
Social media: facebook.com/incendiarybrew, instagram.com/incendiarybrew
Vibe/Atmosphere: Industrial, underground lair, speakeasy, casual, roomy
Beers We Tried: Solemnity Helles; Shift Experimental NEIPA; Cloak & Dagger Vienna Lager; Our Darkest Days – Coconut, Chocolate, Vanilla, Cinnamon Stout
Important NC Beer Explorer Tip: When consuming alcohol, always have a designated driver. Be safe out there, friends!
Setting the scene
We visited Incendiary on a chilly, overcast late-December Friday afternoon. Our path to their brewery/taproom wove around and through the substructure of the massive former RJ Reynolds power plant, passing under a no-longer functioning coal car railroad track. The entrance is a large industrial door, opening into the cavernous brewery/taproom. There is ample seating at well-spaced high-top tables inside and picnic tables outside.
What's in a name?
Warm welcome
We were promptly greeted by Chris Straus, who we later found out is the Director of Taproom Operations for all of Incendiary. We ordered a flight of four beers with the intention of sampling some of their award winners and also trying a range of their beer styles. You can see details in our tasting notes below but we have to expand on a couple of highlights.
The Incendiary Brewing taproom in Winston-Salem showcases some of their awards.
This was the scene early on a Friday, around noon. By the time we left, about 30 patrons filled the taproom.
On a typical day with good weather, dozens of folks gather on Incendiary's unique patio for beer and socializing. (Photo credit Wheree.com)
An explosion of flavor
Our first highlight was Shift Experimental Imperial New England IPA. As mentioned above, Shift is the beer that started the ball rolling for Incendiary’s founders by winning the Amateur Brewing Masters Championship, beating out 450 other IPAs. The beer is called "Shift” because the hop profile is changed each time it is brewed. Each version is identified by a different color name; for example, Shift: Orange, Shift: Pink, and Shift: Green in accordance with its hop blend and flavor. In the case of Shift Experimental, Incendiary “loaded up on Manilita hops from Freestyle Farms, NZ, showcasing the tropical, grapefruit, mango and nectarine notes with hints of gummy candy and stone fruit” (as per their website). For us, Shift Experimental was an explosion of Imperial NEIPA goodness, and it expressed everything we like about this over-the-top style that took craft beer by a storm in the late 2010’s. But Incendiary has managed to maintain a balance of medium sweetness with restrained bitterness, providing a delightful bouquet of hop notes without overdoing it.
Our second highlight was Our Darkest Days Coconut, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Cinnamon Stout. With five beers on their menu over 11% ABV, it was clear to us that Incendiary is serious about their Imperial Stouts and other aged beers. The web description is: “Aged 1 year in Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels, then conditioned on a blend of toasted & regular coconut, organic Madagascar vanilla beans, Ecuadorian cacao nibs & cinnamon.” Need we say more? Yes, we will! Our take: the appearance of Our Darkest Days CCVC is black as midnight with complex aromas of chocolate/cherry/raisin. The taste is dark and mysterious, with notes of sweet flaked coconut and chocolate-covered cherries. The mouthfeel is full and lightly carbonated. Overall, it's compelling and absolutely delicious! You can bet we took home bottles of both Our Darkest Days and Shift Experimental!
Our only regret was that we did not try the Dulce Muerte Mexican Imperial Stout with Pepper (11.4% ABV). We learned in our interview with Chris that this is one of her favorites. However, since Incendiary Brewing has now claimed an exalted status in one of our favorite NC cities, we will definitely be back!
NCBE's Beer Notes - Incendiary Brewing Co.
Solemnity
Style: German-style Helles
ABV: 4.9%
Color: clear, light gold
Aroma: cracker, hibiscus
Taste: wheat cracker, hibiscus; sweetness that opens up but is balanced by the bitter
Mouthfeel: light body, crisp, bright, medium carbonation
Aftertaste: sweet malt, light finish
Overall Impression: highly crushable, balanced, well-crafted
Shift Experimental*
Style: Imperial NEIPA
ABV: 8.1%
Color: hazy, gold
Aroma: mango, pineapple, grapefruit
Taste: grapefruit punch with mango, pineapple, grapefruit and pine, medium sweetness, restrained bitterness
Mouthfeel: pillowy
Aftertaste: medium finish (±15 seconds), grapefruit/sweetness
Overall Impression: see write-up above
Cloak and Dagger
Style: Vienna Lager
ABV: 5.4%
Color: amber
Aroma: toasted walnut, caramel, bread
Taste: complex, caramel, toasted bread, banana, clove, a little dankness in the bottom
Mouthfeel: medium to low carbonation
Aftertaste: smoke, charcoal, charred sweetness balanced with bitterness
Overall Impression: excellent depth of flavor for the style
Our Darkest Days Coconut, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Cinnamon Stout*
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 12.2%
Color: black as midnight.
Aroma: chocolate/cherry/raisin
Taste: sweet flaked coconut, chocolate-covered cherry/raisin.
Mouthfeel: full body, light carbonation
Aftertaste: same as taste
Overall Impression: complex, dark and mysterious, yet playful
