Triangle Business Journal Staff Writer Dawn Curry
The American Tobacco Campus and Capital Broadcasting are coming together in Rocky Mount to create North Carolina’s first craft beer incubator, and it’s in an old mill.
There are a few other craft beer incubators around the country, such as in Houston, Silicon Valley and Oregon. A craft beer incubator, much like American Underground or HQ Raleigh, is a shared space in which craft brewers can use equipment, collaborate and learn what it takes to get a craft brewery up and running. Capital Broadcasting has had the mill and property since about 2007, and has been looking for the right project that would support local economic development and create jobs.
“The gist of it is, making craft beer an economic development tool for eastern North Carolina,” says Margo Knight Metzger, executive director of the N.C. Craft Brewers Guild. “Eastern North Carolina, including Rocky Mount, has struggled economically for quite a long time. I think this project has the potential to put Rocky Mount on the map for manufacturing again, as well as make it a bona fide tourism destination.”
Still in the planning stages, the goal is to bring in enough equipment for eight nano-breweries, and allow brewers to rent space and live in the mill village, allowing them to collaborate and be personal with their business. The mill sits on the Tar River, just a short drive from Raleigh on U.S. Highway 64.
Once the Rocky Mount Brewmill is in full swing, organizers hope tours can be offered, so tourists can see the entire brewing process from barley malting to canning and bottling, and can taste the products as well. Another part of the mission is to partner with Nash Community College to offer a brewery education program.
Between the Triangle and the coast, there are not many breweries. Duck Rabbit, Mother Earth Brewing and Beer Army of New Bern have blazed the trail, according to Metzger, proving you can set up a brewery in practically the middle of nowhere and watch it grow.
Meanwhile, several other breweries are in planning around Eastern North Carolina, including Regulator Brewing Co. in Hillsborough, Tarboro Brewing Co. in Tarboro, and Fox & Crow Brewing Co. in Wilmington. According to Metzger, the Greenville Economic Development office is actively searching for a brewery to establish itself in the Greenville area.
Story originall published in the Triangle Business Journal