News
NC’s brewers adjust to sobering reality of fewer drinkers with new strategies
Gallup finds US drinking at an all-time low, with young adults leading the decline — impacting culture, health, and North Carolina’s beer industry.
Opinion
Curfew is Cooper’s latest move in state’s fight against bars, alcohol
Gov. Roy Cooper — and scores of politicians like them — have since March imposed noxious closures and lockdowns with the altruistic goal of keeping us safe. In reality, these government-imposed suppressions have done little but wreck our mental and physical health and devastate our economy. About 100 Triangle restaurants, bars, and similar service businesses...
News
Lawmakers pass bill expanding dining and drinking options, but Cooper signals a veto
Editor’s note: This story was updated Friday, May 29, to include current numbers on COVID-19 deaths, as reported the NCDHHS. A bill to reopen private bars and clubs, as well as expanding outdoor seating in restaurants and brewpubs, is awaiting a decision from the governor. He’ll probably veto the measure, which also applies to breweries,...
Opinion
‘It’s always something:’ Alcohol industry always preparing for the worst
Distilleries, wineries, and breweries are growing at an exponential rate. All with an eye on Washington, D.C., and, in our case, Raleigh. North Carolina has well more than 300 breweries, for instance, yet burgeoning entrepreneurs seemingly have little fear of a coming glut. New breweries continue to open in all the usual places — Asheville,...
Opinion
N.C. treats distilleries differently from breweries, wineries, but why?
A friend of mine, who, along with a group of his friends, owns a distillery on the N.C. coast, once told me a story about a customer who asked him for a drink. I tell the story every time I have the opportunity. There’s a moral. The distillery, because of its location on the Atlantic,...
News
Changes in Beer Franchising Law Have Distributors Happier Than Brewers
RALEIGH – The state House has said cheers to a compromise beer distributorship agreement that will make changes to the state’s decades-old beer franchise law. The distributors would gain in that breweries essentially would have to sell their products to distributors at the same price statewide.
