The Court Shoes Only community-wide beer initiative is off and running and the traffic, chatter and enthusiasm we’re seeing and hearing has been awesome. Thanks to all who have been keeping up with this year’s brewery participants and hopping around to new and familiar taprooms to discover these unique and limited offerings. There are some Court Shoes Only variants still to release, including Pilot’s tomorrow, April 8th and Percent Tap House next Friday, the 15th, but we certainly have enough intelligence from some fantastic Court Shoes Only correspondents to offer you the Court Shoes Only Beer Release Guide!

Asheville Court Shoes Only

A session IPA base recipe co-created by Luke Holgate from Hi-Wire Brewing Company and John Parks from Zillicoah Beer Company.

Zillicoah + Hi-Wire
4.2% session IPA using zuper saazer and chinook hops for notes of lemon candy and tangerine with a light malt bill.

Charlotte Court Shoes Only

An imperial stout base recipe co-created by Ben Dolphens from Divine Barrel Brewing and TJ Creighton from High Branch Brewing.

Amor Artis
A 6-hour boil pastry stout brewed w/ raspberry, vanilla, and cocoa nibs.

Birdsong
12% imperial stout with coconut using a blend of black and chocolate malts, flaked oats, and brown sugar. A tad sweet with a nice thick body and a rounded coconut aroma and flavor thanks to the addition of vanilla.

Blue Blaze
10.1% imperial stout true to the base recipe.

Buzzed Viking
9.2% whiskey barrel Irish cream stout. Subtle notes of chocolate and vanilla with a smooth and distinctive oak and whiskey undertone, accentuated by Irish cream.

Cabarrus Brewing Company
10% imperial stout true to the base recipe.

Catawba
8% imperial stout brewed with crystal malts, flaked oats, roasted barley, and Vienna malt.

Divine Barrel
12% imperial stout brewed with Magnolia coffee, maple syrup, and vanilla.

Dust Off
9.5% imperial stout brewed with caramel and cocoa nibs.

Edge City
12% imperial stout conditioned on Teton cocoa, cocoa nibs and Himalayan Sea salt.

Ghostface
9% imperial stout made as a chocolate caramel pretzel stout.

High Branch
11% imperial stout and barrel aged imperial stout blend. Aged on coconut and coffee. The barrel aged portion was a wine barrel then aged with bourbon, then we aged the beer.

King Canary
9% imperial stout brewed with a blend of German and Belgian crystal malts with a base of Munich and pilsner and a touch of chocolate malt to make this a smooth and subtle stout.

Lake Wylie Brewing Co
8.6% imperial stout true to the base recipe

Legion
6.5% red ale with mosaic hops

Lore
Three versions known as the “Grand Slam.” Clay court – 6.6% dark French Saison; grass court – 7.2% Black IPA; hard court – 7.2% American stout.

Lower Left
8.7% 67 IBU imperial black IPA. Loaded with citra, galaxy, and a touch of simcoe. Heavily dry hopped.

Middle James
9.2% imperial stout brewed with peanut butter and marshmallows.

Model A
9.7% 63 IBU imperial stout brewed with lactose, vanilla, marshmallows, and toasted pistachios. Thick and decadent, the beer starts off sweet with big notes of marshmallow and pistachio yet finishes with a nice firm bitterness that prevents it from turning cloying.

NoDa + Armored Cow
8% double dry hopped blackberry double black IPA. Hopped with simcoe, chinook, mosaic lupomax, centennial and fermented on blackberries.

Percent Tap House
Releasing 4/15; a 12% imperial stout brewed with white chocolate, toasted macadamia nuts, cheesecake, cacao nibs, graham crackers and vanilla beans.

Petty Thieves
8% sour double black IPA, conditioned on blueberry, sweet cherry, raspberry and vanilla; Hopped with centennial, strata and crystal.

Pilot
5.4% Schwazbier; a light-bodied German-style lager with smooth malt flavors, slightly roasted character and moderate hop bitterness.

Replay
9.5% imperial stout brewed w/ Cheerwine syrup, cocoa nibs, and lemon.

Resident Culture
9% ABV imperial stout with toasted peanuts and coconut.

Seaboard
12.5% double mash thiccc pastry imperial stout with Ecuadorian chocolate, Tahitian vanilla, marshmallow, and graham cracker.

Slow Play
Imperial stout loaded with 100 lbs. of Oreo cookie wafers, mounds of chocolate syrup in the kettle, and finished off with lactose and vanilla. The result is a fudgy, silky sweet, chocolate bomb clocking in at 8.9% ABV.

Southern Range
9.5% imperial stout brewed w/ loads of peanuts, caramel, and chocolate.

Suffolk Punch
14.3% ABV Imperial rye dessert stout. This barely legal rye dessert stout was brewed with cherries and raspberries then aged on cocoa nibs. Full bodied, sweet, and incredibly smooth.

Sugar Creek
10.1% imperial stout recirculated through cocoa nibs and coffee beans.

Town +Protagonist +Devil’s Logic
14.9% salted caramel chocolate imperial stout with cacao nibs and salt, blended with rum barrel aged imperial brown and bourbon barrel aged barleywine.

Traust
8.5% Russian imperial stout brewed with malted barley, caramel malt, oats, roasted barley, midnight wheat, and Opshaug kveik yeast. Offers a deep chocolate roast and a monster body with complex notes of toast and raisin.

Triple C + Lenny Boy
10.5% ABV chocolate coconut cream imperial stout with toasted coconut, cacao nibs, marshmallow and vanilla.

Triad Court Shoes Only

A west coast IPA base recipe co-created by Andrew Deming from Four Saints Brewing Company and Sam Victory of Wise Man Brewing.

Bright Penny
7.0% west coast IPA with citra, zeus and nugget hops. Sticky pine tar and dank herbs dominate the aroma, while juicy tangerine and bitter grapefruit greet you on every sip. Finishes moderately dry with a warming alcohol finish.

Fiddlin’ Fish
TBA

Four Saints
Releasing 4/8; a traditional west coast IPA, simple malt base and classic hops with a Kviek yeast. 7.3% abv and 57 IBU.

Incendiary
7% west coast IPA brewed with citra, centennial, simcoe & columbus hops. Using all locally grown Carolina malt.

Kernersville/Little Brother Brewing/Goofy Foot Tap Room
6% west coast IPA brewed w/ cascade, centennial, and citra. Dry hopped with el dorado.

Paddled South Brewing
TBA

South End Brewing
7% west coast IPA featuring cascade and amarillo hops.

Wise Man
7% west coast IPA using chinook, centennial, and amarillo along with a hefty dose of malts from Carolina Malt House.

Triangle Court Shoes Only

An English style lager base recipe co-created by Whit Baker from Bond Brothers and John Federal from Vicious Fishes.

Bond Brothers
TBA

Botanist & Barrel
6% dry-hoped cider using hops grown by the breeder, NCSU in Mills River, NC. Made with 100% Virginia Hewes Crab from Old Orchard Creek in Efland, NC.

Crank Arm
5.6% modern English pale with Tropics yeast, HBS 586 and azacca hops.

The Glass Jug
4% English medium lager. A completely made-up beer style that takes some of our favorite attributes of English mild, English bitter, Scottish ale and German lager.

Vecino
TBD ABV%; English medium lager/English bitter fermented as a lager.

Vicious Fishes
4.9% English style ale with Golden Promise base, British crystal 15 and hoped with East Kent Goldings.