Plaza Midwood Charlotte’s Pilot Brewing endeavors to expand the boundaries of craft beer through original recipes that represent traditional and experimental styles with a strong focus on locally sourced ingredients and community involvement.
Oral history interview with Rachael Hudson (2018)
I didn't want to take over the world, I didn't want to distribute, but I knew that this is an industry that needs more leaders that are going to take it upon themselves to build a better workplace for brewers, and brewers are becoming more valuable.
Rachael Hudson, owner and head brewer at Pilot Brewing in Charlotte, NC, discusses the challenges related to opening a new brewery, the importance of a small batch and experimental beer focus, and her projections for the growth of the industry. She talks about challenges related to being a woman in a male-dominated industry, including issues related to maternity leave that may limit a woman's professional growth in the field.
Oral history interview with Jen Blair (2018)
The malting community is being the driving force behind getting malting barleys that can be grown in the southeast. It's really quite incredible, just the amount of research that they've been able to spur on through Virginia Tech, through North Carolina State University. Just going to them and saying, "Okay, we need to figure this out. Because we want to grow malting barley here. We want to be able to use that and have a local product."
Jen Blair of Pilot Brewing in Charlotte discusses Pilot Brewing, Cicerone training, the Beer Judge Certification Program, home brewing, the Craft Maltsters Guild, and the brewing process.
Oral history interview with Raelle Childers (2018)
Because of the challenges of a woman being in a male dominated industry, I have never met a woman in the industry who didn't know her stuff, who wasn't extremely educated on what she was doing, and who didn't make excellent beer.
Raelle Childers, assistant brewer at Pilot Brewing in Charlotte, NC, discusses her background as a home brewer, her process in developing new recipes, and some challenges that come with moving from home brewing to commercial brewing. She also discusses some of the challenges that come with being a woman in a male-dominated industry.