Charlotte Company Creates ‘The Great NC Beer Map’

A Charlotte-based map-making company has created an extensive guide to enjoying one of the fastest-growing industries in the state: craft beer.

Amanda Fisher is the creative director and co-founder of EDIA, which stands for “Every Day Is an Adventure.”

Like the Great NC BBQ Map the company created last year, the new Great NC Beer Map is intended to highlight something seemingly ordinary, and make consumers aware of how extraordinary it really is.

Fisher said the decision to make a beer map was easy.

“We love beer,” she admits, with a laugh. “ You know, with the barbecue map that was a big passion of ours – and how we really got started making maps in the first place – when we were thinking about other maps we would want to use ourselves, and what we thought was missing out there from North Carolina guides, we thought a beer map was completely in order.”

Websites that list breweries throughout the state, and use Google Maps to plot points are already in existence. But Fisher said the Great NC Beer Map offers much more.

“We really wanted to do something different,” said Fisher, “and, you know, take everybody a little bit deeper into it. And give more information – not just about each brewery, but also about craft brewing, and craft beer in general, to make those travels more fun and interesting.’

Users can get updated on new breweries as they open. It also comes in handy for anyone planning a North Carolina brewery tour.

“With the map, we’re actually going to let you know ones that are really close, so you can actually do a ‘brewery crawl,’” said Fisher.

EDIA surveys local brewers to get information about every aspect of their facilities; including the food menu; policies regarding kids and pets, special beer releases; and availability of brewery tours.

Fisher said the decision to make physical maps instead of phone apps comes down to one thing: She and her partner Paul Bright are map nerds, as well as beer nerds.

“One thing about a phone app is that you can’t hang that on your wall,” said Fisher. “And you can’t really pin all the cool places you’ve been.”

She said that, for her, it’s not just a map. It’s a piece of North Carolina memorabilia.

EDIA has launched a Kickstarter campaign until July 24, to cover the cost of producing the map. Donors can pre-order the map, and receive all kinds of reward packages at various donor levels, including a beer-pairing dinner, or even having a beer named after them.

Fisher said she hopes the maps will be ready for sale at stores and breweries in August.

You can find the Kickstarter campaign here.