Charlotte, NC

Resident Culture is a local craft brewing concept that occupies 14,000 square feet of production, tap room, patio and beer garden space in Charlotte’s historic Plaza Midwood neighborhood. Braird served as a development consultant on the project, and was responsible for the creation of the original business plan, development of the financial models necessary to obtain debt financing, selection of architecture and construction firms, management of the build-out, procurement of equipment, and recruitment of brewing staff. For the position of head brewer, Braird found and hired Chris Tropeano, formerly of Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, California – one of the most critically acclaimed breweries in the world.

With a 100% onsite sales focus, the 15-barrel brewery offers a range of beer styles including East Coast style IPAs, clean lagers, and a collection of barrel-aged and wild beers using yeast from flowers and tree bark collected in the neighborhood. Resident Culture is also the first brewery in Charlotte with a coolship, an open-air tank used for spontaneous fermentation to create interesting and sometimes unpredictable flavors.

Braird Founder Slates Snider interlaced his passion for visual arts with the project in recruiting SCAD artist Marissa Pickett as a full-time creative director for the brewery. Pickett, a North Carolina native, provides custom artwork for the brewery space, can labels, release announcements, and social media posts. Her work completes the brand identity with irreverent and avant garde visuals while sustaining a thriving connection to the local arts scene.