Jump to content

List of Breweries in North Carolina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article regards brewing in North Carolina.

History

[edit]

The earliest documented commercial brewery in North Carolina was in the Moravian town of Bethabara in Wachovia. According to the Moravian Diaries, a log house was constructed for a distillery and brewery in 1756.[1] The May, 1764 brewery and distillery inventory listed 270 gallons of brandy, 40 gallons of rye whisky, and 90 gallons of beer on hand.[2] The Bethabara brewery and distillery continued operating until the last brewer moved away in 1814.[3] The Bethabara brewery operated longer than the Single Brother's Brewery in nearby Salem, NC

In 1985, Uli Bennewitz pushed a change in the North Carolina law books. This change made it legal for a brewpub to exist under state laws. The next year (1986) Bennewitz opened NC's first brewpub, Weeping Radish Bavarian Restaurant.

On August 13, 2005, House Bill 392 from the NC General Assembly was signed by then-Governor Mike Easley. HB 392 (commonly known as the "Pop The Cap" Bill[4]) defined a "malt beverage" as any "beer, lager, malt liquor, ale, porter, and any other brewed or fermented beverage" that contained between .5% and 16% alcohol by volume.[5] This represented an increase from the previous limit of 6%. As of 2021, there were more than 340 active breweries in North Carolina.[6]

Notable breweries

[edit]
Name City County Opened References
Asheville Brewing Company Asheville (3 locations) Buncombe 1998 (original)
2006 (South Slope)
2012 (South Asheville)
[7]
Bearded Bee Brewing Company Wendell Wake 2020 [8]
Carolina Brewery Chapel Hill(original)
Pittsboro (2nd location)
Orange
Chatham
1995 (original)
Gizmo Brew Works Raleigh (original)
Chapel Hill (2nd location)
Durham (3rd location)
Wake
Orange
Durham
2013(original)
2019 (Chapel-Hill)
2022 (Durham)
[9]
Green Man Brewery Asheville Buncombe 1997 [10]
Mother Earth Brewing Kinston Lenoir 2008 [11]
New Belgium Brewing Company Asheville Buncombe 2016 [12]
Red Oak Brewery Whitsett Guilford 1991 [13]
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Mills River Henderson 2012 [14]
Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery Chapel Hill Orange 1996 [15]

Notable closed breweries

[edit]
Name City County Opened Closed References
Nantahala Brewing Company Bryson City Swain 2009 [16]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Fries, Adelaide L. (1921). Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, Vol. I. Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards & Broughton. p. 156.
  2. ^ Naturalien Tabelle den Monatlichen Bestand. Winston-Salem, N.C.: Moravian Archives. 1764. p. C122:3.
  3. ^ Fries, Adelaide L. (1947). Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, Vol. VII. Raleigh, N.C.: State Department of Archives and History. p. 3230.
  4. ^ "Pop The Cap North Carolina". Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  5. ^ "House Bill 392 (2005-2006 Session) - North Carolina General Assembly". www.ncleg.gov.
  6. ^ "North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild". Archived from the original on March 1, 2021.
  7. ^ "About Asheville Brewing Company". Asheville Brewing. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  8. ^ Andrews, Betsy; Grinberg, Danielle (March 17, 2021). "North Carolina's New Bar Owners Show the Spirit to Succeed During Covid". vinepair.com. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  9. ^ "About Gizmo Brew Works". Gizmo Brew Works. July 9, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  10. ^ "The Brewery". Green Man Brewery. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  11. ^ "About Up". Mother Earth Brewing. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  12. ^ "Our Story". New Belgium. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  13. ^ "History of the Brewery". Red Oak. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  14. ^ "Our Story". Sierra Nevada. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  15. ^ "About". Top of the Hill. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  16. ^ "Nantahala not flowing in Sylva". The Slyva Herald. February 14, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
[edit]