Popular Asheville brewery Bhramari opens second taproom in South End

The taproom is in the former Salty Parrot Brewery space, just down the street from Bank of America Stadium.

Why it matters: It’s the latest in a string of Asheville breweries expanding to the Queen City, including Hi-Wire and Burial Beer, which opened this year.

• Plus, this will be the third brewery in this space in recent years. Most recently, it was the Salty Parrot, and Sunstead Brewing was there before that. The Salty Parrot closed in December 2021 — less than two years after opening.

What’s happening: Bhramari is currently in its soft opening phase, with a grand opening set for Saturday, August 13, from 12pm to 8pm. 

• This will be Bhramari Brewing’s second taproom. “[Charlotte is] the second largest city in the south and the third fastest-growing and that’s just something that we wanted to be a part of,” co-owner Josh Dillard tells Axios.

What to expect: The inside has lounge areas and high-top seating, and the outside has a more casual seating area with picnic tables.

• “We really leaned into the history of Charlotte. I believe the first gold rush in America was in Charlotte in 1799. And so we got a lot of gold-themed things going on in there,” Dillard said.
• The 6,500-square-foot building also has honeycombs scattered about in honor of the hornets and its design is primarily black and gold.

Menu: Bhramari is known for its hazy IPAs, fruited sours and lagers and unique beer flavors like their “Dropping Science,” a witbier made with toasted coriander, blood orange and tellicherry black peppercorn. They’ll have 16 beers on tap, ciders, wine and their signature”Bhong Water” seltzers.

• The brewery doesn’t have a kitchen but will have food trucks on site regularly.

The elephant in the room: Earlier this year, a former Bhramari employee took to social media to raise serious concerns against one of the brewery’s owners. The anonymous employee detailed a toxic work environment and recounted instances when they were harassed by an owner. They also said they were brushed aside by HR, who they said was the wife of the accused owner.

• In response to the accusations, Bhramari apologized in an official statement, and said “we have listened and are working to implement changes based on those concerns and other employee feedback.”

• I asked Dillard what changes have been made and he said, in addition to hiring a new HR representative, they’re also mandating that all brewery leaders go through Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead workshop, an eight-week-long course that forces leaders in training to have difficult conversations.
• “We value our employees, and we’re trying to be the best that we can be,” Dillard says.

Details: Bhramari is located at 1200 S Graham St. It’s open 3-10pm Monday-Thursday, noon to midnight Friday and Saturday and noon to 10pm Sundays.

Editors note: This story was originally published on June 3, 2022 and updated July 21, 2022 to include new information about the opening.