Daniel B.
Yelp
We enjoyed our visit to Hi-Wire Brewing in Durham. This is an Asheville-based brewery and taproom with, at the time of writing this review, four locations in North Carolina (two in Asheville, one in Durham, one in Wilmington) and locations in Tennessee (Knoxville) and Kentucky (Louisville, new).
This Durham location of Hi-Wire Brewing opened on November 17, 2018. You can read the press release on Brewbound here: https://www.brewbound.com/news/hi-wire-brewing-opens-durham-tap-room/. A few quick statistics from Hi-Wire's release:
1. The taproom is 10,522 square feet with an outdoor patio.
2. There are 24 taps.
3. The taproom can accommodate nearly 400 people.
We visited on a Saturday around 3:40pm and the place was quite busy, but not uncomfortably slammed and our waits for food and drink were reasonable. For beer, there was one line that fed to 3-4 registers, so the wait was not bad at all. Our group of 10 was able to find a table immediately upon arrival. The space is large, communal, and dog-friendly. We saw a lot of dogs. Two dogs from separate parties got into a fight. Inside, people were playing ping-pong. There is a beautiful, colorful mural on the wall opposite the main entrance.
Food and beverage menus were available via QR code at each table. Paper menus were available at the bar. Food is prepared and served by J. Lights Market & Cafe, the food vendor on-site, not Hi-Wire (apparently, Hi-Wire just does beer only). My wife got one of the beers on tap, the Sour Smoother Series - Orange Creamsicle ($8 for 16 oz draft) and I had an A&W Root Beer ($2, 160 calories, lots of sugar). As someone who doesn't really drink, I have to say I thought my wife's Creamsicle was quite delicious. Of the Creamsicle, she said that it was not as sour as the typical sour beer. The name made her think it might be too sweet, but it wasn't sweet at all. She thought it was good. She also tried Hi-Wire's Pink Lemonade Session Sour Ale ($6 for 16 oz draft). She didn't like it. She said it had a funky fruitiness to it. One of our buddies we were with didn't like the Pink Lemonade either. He was expecting it to be a sweeter beer.
Here's how Hi-Wire described these two particular beers on their website (https://hiwirebrewing.com/durham/):
' Orange Creamsicle Sour Smoothie Sour - Fruited
5.5% ABV - 20 IBU
"Orange Creamsicle Sour Smoothie is brewed with 100 lbs per barrel of tangerines plus orange peel, vanilla, and lactose. This orange and cream-colored delight is super tart yet balanced by sweet vanilla accompanied by electric citrus aroma sweet via orange peel. *Contains Lactose"
' Pink Lemonade Session Sour Ale Sour - Fruited
4.2% ABV - 5 IBU
"This incredibly crushable and refreshing fruited sour beer was brewed with some of our favorite summer ingredients. Raspberry fruit sweetness is balanced with just the right amount of lemony zip from lemon peel and nostalgic candied-lemon aromas from lemongrass."
We ordered food too. I'll review that experience separately on J. Lights Market & Cafe's Yelp listing: https://www.yelp.com/biz/j-lights-market-and-cafe-durham.
I liked the laid-back and convivial atmosphere at Hi-Wire Durham. It did get quite loud at times and it was difficult to listen and speak to others sitting directly across from me, but that's bars, breweries, and taprooms in general. The sound really echoed and reverberated inside the taproom.
Hi-Wire Durham is located inside a "historic 320,000-square-foot mill that once housed textile and tobacco facilities, and [was] the only remaining 1900s-era conversion opportunity of its kind in the area" (https://hiwirebrewing.com/hi-wire-brewing-durham/). The "campus" and immediate surrounding neighborhood is known as Golden Belt, a former industrial area. I used Waze to navigate here and it led us through what appeared to be a rough, low-income neighborhood immediately north of the property. This is all just southeast of downtown Durham and City Center.
Parking was tight when we arrived, but I was able to find a spot in front of Strata Solar, right next to Hi-Wire. Parking was free.