Belt’s Beer Garden: People Pleaser

If you travel just 30 minutes northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, you’ll find the city of Concord. Concord is home to nearly 80,000 people and Twenty-Six Acres Brewing…which is *the* place for “High Performance Brewing” in the Tar Heel State and has been for more than six years now.

The team at Twenty-Six Acres loves variety so, while they have some mainstay brews that take up their 15 barrel system, they also have a separate 2 barrel pilot system just for experimental, seasonal, and limited-release beers.

However, as this is the first time they’ve been featured on BBG, I chose one of their year-round brews to share today - Industrious People.

Named after the first settlers of Concord, Industrious People is an American IPA brewed with Centennial and Magnum hops and then an obscene amount of Citra hops. Every pint packs a solid 6.7% ABV and 82 IBU. And a pack of four 16-ounce cans costs just $12, or you can get 24 cans for $60…which, honestly, seems like the way to go here.

Industrious People poured a bright copper color with just about a finger of eggshell white head building up. The head fizzled away almost immediately, leaving only a razor thin ring around the edge of the glass and just a few strands of lacing down the sides.

The aroma was dank and resinous with a bit of tropical fruit backing it up. The hops gave off earthy notes of pine and grass along with some lemon and grapefruit while the malts backed everything up with sweeter notes of caramel and biscuits.

My first sip began with just a minor flash of carbonation before the hop flavors really began to shine. The lemon and grapefruit notes hit first with some citrus rind flavors meeting my taste buds. From there, the hops slowly turned more earthy and offered up notes of pine, grass, and just a touch of nuttiness.

The grist balanced out the beer nicely. Midway through it hit with those calming notes of caramel and bread that cut most of the bitterness out.

From there, the beer begins to fade out and does so really cleanly. There is a small bitter twinge that lingers afterwards. It features some hoppy pine notes and a bit of that grapefruit pithiness from early on in the sip.

Industrious People is light, crushable, and a great example of a classic American IPA. It allows the hops to showcase multiple flavors without being overly bitter or sitting too heavy. It’s an everyday beer for everyday people.

The Charlotte area has a lot of beer options but a few breweries have been head and shoulders above the rest…Twenty Six Acres is one of those breweries. If you’re in North Carolina, this is a brewery you need to check out!