Stella Brew

On Saturday night, John and I headed to the grand opening of Stella Brew, a new wine & beer shop in Ardmore. Ardmore is a cute neighborhood in Winston-Salem, and while there are other shops in this area, it’s always felt a bit run down. But I feel like Stella Brew coming to that street will be the beginning of a major upgrade! I love seeing all these quaint local shops opening in Winston-Salem.

They carry a huge variety of craft beers and a great selection of wine. They also have a little disc golf section of the store. (Side note: I played disc golf a little in high school….I. was. terrible. I cannot catch or throw a frisbee.) I love all the wood and steel shelves and how they restored the building to a lot of its original state, including the original concrete floors. 

The owners — Matt & Caitlin — are so friendly & helpful! (Small world, I actually heard of Stella Brew through Ashley from Edible Perspective. She has been friends with them for years! Ashley, move back to NC! 🙂 ) I told Matt I’m pretty new to the beer scene and he helped me pick out a couple to try. It was great to have such personal help in choosing beer; usually I waste tons of money trying ones that I end up hating. 

I asked Matt how they came up with the name for the store, and he said it started with “the Grateful Dead song Stella Blue. It is one of the most beautifully true songs I have ever heard.  We actually named our dog “Stella Blue” as well after the song.  One night Caitlin was talking to our dog and the name “Stella Brew” kind of came out.  A light bulb went off in our heads and we knew the perfect name for the store.” Cool story!

They were tasting a bunch of wines and beers at the Grand Opening (and imagine they will at future events too). There were caramels made by a sweets store across the street using Foothills pumpkin beer – they were delicious. I love caramels and these tasted just like pie. 

We ended up buying all three wines we tasted (they were an excellent price point at ~$7 each!) and some beer. John bought Omission, his favorite GF beer, and I bought some four-packs and a single pumpkin beer. The one on the left is a Canadian beer that Matt said I’d like if I like hefeweizens and ciders. And he was right – it’s a new favorite. The one on the right was made in bourbon barrels – you really could taste the bourbon, which I loved. 

While I enjoyed a beer, Maizey slept on a pillow like a human. Silly girl.

If you are in the Winston-Salem area, definitely visit Stella Brew! It’s a great addition to our town. [Here’s the Stella Brew Facebook page.]

What are your favorite beers? I like Shotgun Betty, most hefeweizens and blue moon. I also learned recently that I like hoppy IPAs.