By The Triad pours like nowhere else in North Carolina. Within a roughly 30-minute drive of one another, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point hold a dense, friendly cluster of craft breweries, from a lager-only pioneer with a Bavarian biergarten to downtown taprooms tucked into century-old storefronts. This road trip is built for a weekend (or a few unhurried day trips) and works whether you are a visitor mapping out a beer-soaked itinerary or a local who has somehow never made it to all of them. The golden rule first: pick a designated driver or line up a rideshare, because the best part of the Triad is how close everything sits.
How to Run the Trail
The smartest way to tackle the Triad brewery trail is by city. Each of the three anchor cities has a walkable downtown core where you can park once and hit several spots on foot, then drive to the next city. Greensboro and Winston-Salem are about 30 miles apart on Interstate 40, and High Point sits between them. You can do the whole loop in a long Saturday, but breaking it into two or three outings lets you actually taste the beer instead of racing the clock.
A few practical notes before you start:
- Most taprooms open in the afternoon. Many Triad breweries do not open until 2 or 4 p.m. on weekdays, with earlier weekend hours. Always confirm the day-of hours on the brewery’s own site, since they shift seasonally.
- Food varies. Some spots have full kitchens or wood-fired pizza; others rotate food trucks or let you bring your own. Plan a meal stop accordingly.
- Bring a plan for getting home. Rideshare coverage is reliable in all three downtowns. Some breweries are family- and dog-friendly, but a few biergartens are 21-and-up only.
For an official jumping-off point, Visit Greensboro’s brewery guide and the breweries section at Visit Winston-Salem both stay reasonably current.
Stop One: Downtown Greensboro
Greensboro’s South Elm Street is the easiest walking cluster on the entire trail. Park near the southern end of Elm and you can reach several breweries without moving your car.
Natty Greene’s Brewing Co.
Greensboro’s original microbrewery has been pouring since 2004, and it remains the natural first stop downtown. The brewpub runs roughly a dozen taps alongside a full menu, plus a separate beer garden that opens on weekends. It is a reliable anchor for a Triad beer crawl and a local institution.
- Address: 345 S Elm St, Greensboro, NC 27401
- Phone: (336) 274-1373
- Hours: Mon to Wed 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Thu to Sat 11 a.m. to midnight, Sun 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Sunday brunch 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
- Website: nattygreenes.com
Little Brother Brewing
A few doors down, Little Brother occupies a historic downtown storefront and leans into rotating, frequently award-winning small batches with live music on the calendar. It is a great second stop because it is a short walk from Natty Greene’s.
- Address: 348 S Elm St, Greensboro, NC 27401
- Phone: (336) 510-9678
- Hours: Closed Mon, Tue to Thu 4 to 10 p.m., Fri and Sat noon to midnight, Sun noon to 9 p.m.
- Website: littlebrotherbrew.com
Joymongers Brewing Co.
Just north of the central downtown, Joymongers pours up to 17 small-batch beers from an open-air taproom with a landscaped park area, making it a strong warm-weather stop. It is a short drive or a longer walk from the Elm Street cluster. Joymongers also runs a Barrel Hall location in Winston-Salem, so you can bookend your trail with the same brand.
- Address: 576 N Eugene St, Greensboro, NC 27401
- Hours: Mon to Wed 4 to 10 p.m., Thu 4 p.m. to midnight, Fri 2 p.m. to midnight, Sat noon to midnight, Sun noon to 9 p.m.
- Website: joymongers.com
Oden Brewing Company
For something a little west of downtown, the family-owned Oden Brewing sits in a restored 1930s bottling plant with around 15 rotating taps. The setting alone makes it worth the short hop, and the space is roomy enough for groups.
- Address: 802 W Gate City Blvd, Greensboro, NC 27403
- Hours: Mon to Thu 2 to 10 p.m., Fri and Sat noon to midnight, Sun noon to 10 p.m.
- Website: odenbrewing.com
Stop Two: Red Oak and the Drive East
If you only make one detour off the downtown crawls, make it Red Oak. Tucked in Whitsett just east of Greensboro along the I-40/I-85 corridor, Red Oak Brewery bills itself as North Carolina’s oldest lager-only craft brewery, and its Lager Haus Biergarten brings a genuinely Bavarian feel to the Piedmont, complete with food trucks, festivals, and live music. Note that the biergarten is 21-and-up, so this is an adults’ stop. It sits conveniently on the route between Greensboro and Burlington, making it an easy add-on if your trail wanders east.
- Address: 6905 Konica Dr, Whitsett, NC 27377
- Phone: (336) 447-2005
- Hours: Closed Mon and Tue, Wed to Fri 4 to 10 p.m., Sat noon to 10 p.m., Sun noon to 7 p.m.
- Website: redoakbrewery.com
Stop Three: High Point
High Point, the Triad’s furniture capital, anchors the southern end of the trail with one of the region’s most decorated breweries.
Brown Truck Brewery
Brown Truck has racked up serious national hardware (including major medals at the Great American Beer Festival) and built a loyal following around its award-winning patio. It is an easy stop on the way between Greensboro and Winston-Salem and a worthy reason to give downtown High Point a closer look.
- Address: 1234 N Main St, High Point, NC 27262
- Phone: (336) 886-1234
- Hours: Mon 4 to 9 p.m., Tue to Thu 4 to 10 p.m., Fri and Sat noon to 11 p.m., Sun noon to 8 p.m.
- Website: browntruckbrewery.com
For more on High Point’s drinking and dining scene, Visit High Point keeps a current rundown of local attractions.
Stop Four: Downtown Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem may have the densest walkable beer scene in the Triad. The tourism bureau promotes a “Craft Draft Crawl” with multiple breweries clustered within roughly a mile and a half of downtown, so park once and wander.
Wise Man Brewing
Set in a renovated warehouse in the West End, Wise Man is a Winston-Salem flagship and one of the friendliest taprooms for a long afternoon. Notably, it opens early most days (as early as 8 a.m.), so it doubles as a morning coffee-and-pastry hangout that happens to also pour excellent beer.
- Address: 826 Angelo Bros Ave, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
- Phone: (336) 725-0008
- Hours: Sun 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Mon 4 to 10 p.m., Tue and Wed 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thu 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fri and Sat 8 a.m. to midnight
- Website: wisemanbrewing.com
Foothills Brewing
One of the best-known names in North Carolina craft beer, Foothills runs a downtown brewpub on West Fourth Street that has been a Winston-Salem staple for years. Its seasonal releases, especially the celebrated winter stout, draw beer fans from across the state. A separate tasting room sits on Kimwell Drive if you want to see the production side.
- Downtown brewpub: 638 W 4th St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, (336) 777-3348
- Tasting room: 3800 Kimwell Dr, Winston-Salem, NC 27103, (336) 997-9484
- Website: foothillsbrewing.com
Joymongers Barrel Hall
The Winston-Salem outpost of the Greensboro favorite, the Barrel Hall, gives the trail a satisfying full-circle moment. It keeps a similar laid-back vibe and a rotating tap list.
- Address: 480 W End Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
- Hours: Mon to Wed 4 to 10 p.m., Thu 4 to 11 p.m., Fri 2 p.m. to midnight, Sat noon to midnight, Sun noon to 10 p.m.
- Website: joymongers.com
Where to Stay
Because the trail spans three cities, basing yourself in one walkable downtown and driving (or riding) to the others is the easiest approach. Downtown Greensboro and downtown Winston-Salem both put you within steps of multiple breweries and restaurants, which means you can leave the car parked overnight. For Expedia-bookable options, look at downtown hotels such as those near the Greensboro Cultural Center and the South Elm corridor, or the cluster of properties around Winston-Salem’s Fourth Street and the Innovation Quarter. Booking a centrally located hotel and using rideshare between cities keeps the whole weekend safe and simple.
A Planning Tip Before You Go
Build your route around opening times rather than geography. Several Triad taprooms do not open until 4 p.m. on weekdays, so a Saturday gives you the widest window and the earliest start (Wise Man’s 8 a.m. weekend opening is a genuine head start). Map your stops the night before, confirm each brewery’s hours on its own website that morning, and lock in your ride home first. Do that, and the Triad rewards you with one of the most relaxed, close-knit beer trails in the state. For broader trip planning across the region, Visit NC is a useful statewide resource.