Hi-Wire Brewing Charlotte

Hi-Wire Brewing's Charlotte taproom opened in July 2022 at 340 W Tremont Avenue in South End, directly across the street from Pins Mechanical, and Queen City Nerve readers voted it the city's Best New Brewery in 2024. The Asheville brewery built something closer to an entertainment venue than a tasting room here: 8,700 square feet with seating for more than three hundred, two full bars, 360 degrees of vibrant indoor murals, a large sun-shaded patio, and arcade games, ping pong, foosball and shuffleboard through the space. There is no kitchen — the taproom points guests to nearby options including Benny Ferrovia's pizza and The Dumpling Lady, and outside food is welcome while outside drinks are not. It is pet-friendly and family-friendly until 8pm, after which it becomes 18 and over. Parking is limited and free immediately in front, with towing enforced elsewhere in the apartment lot.

The non-alcoholic offering is stated on the taproom's own page and is broader than most breweries manage: non-alcoholic beer, mocktails, kombucha and soda, so a non-drinker has a choice of formats rather than a single can. What Hi-Wire does not do is publish the specific items — no names, ABVs or prices appear anywhere online, and the taproom's live tap list does not log its non-alcoholic pours, so what is actually available on a given evening has to be asked about at the bar. One thing does need stating plainly, because it sits in the same sentence as the non-alcoholic list on the brewery's own site: Hi-Wire also serves Hi-Jinks, its THC-infused sparkling water. That is alcohol-free but psychoactive, and it is offered alongside the mocktails rather than separately from them. For anyone avoiding alcohol only, this is a genuinely comfortable room with plenty to do and no pressure to drink; for anyone avoiding intoxicants generally, order by name and check what you are being handed.