North Carolina Craft Beer History: From Prohibition to 400 Breweries

North CarolinaCraft Beer History

North Carolina's craft beer story runs from early, strict alcohol laws through a near-empty brewing landscape in the 1980s to one of the largest craft scenes in the country. As of the Brewers Association's 2025 state statistics, North Carolina had 418 craft breweries, ranking 7th in the nation, with an economic impact of about $2.2 billion.

In the second half of the 1800s, German immigrants spread lager brewing across the United States, and by 1890 beer had become the country's most popular alcoholic drink by volume. North Carolina followed the national pattern of saloons, many of them tied to large breweries, and in some communities there was one saloon for every 150 to 200 people. The state also grew some of its own hops in the 1800s, though production declined steadily over the century.

The temperance movement was strong in North Carolina. In 1908, 62 percent of voters in a statewide referendum supported banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol, making North Carolina the first Southern state to go dry, twelve years before national Prohibition began in 1920.

Federal repeal came in 1933, but the state ban stayed on the books until the legislature repealed it in 1935. In 1937, the Alcoholic Beverage Control law created the state board now known as the ABC Commission, let counties decide whether to allow alcohol sales, capped beer at 6% alcohol by volume and prohibited brewpubs. Those rules shaped North Carolina beer for the next half century.

For decades after repeal, beer in North Carolina mostly meant national brands. Two large plants defined in-state brewing:

• Winston-Salem. Jos. Schlitz opened a large brewery there in 1969, the first new North Carolina brewery since repeal. Stroh's bought it in 1982, and it closed in 1999 as Stroh's went out of business.
• Eden. Miller opened a brewery in Eden in 1978; it was the first plant to produce Miller Genuine Draft. MillerCoors announced in 2015 that it would close the plant, with operations winding down in 2016.

By 1985 those two plants were essentially the whole North Carolina brewing industry.

Uli Bennewitz, a German immigrant who had settled in eastern North Carolina, wanted to open a small brewery with a restaurant, like the ones he knew from Bavaria. State law stood in the way, because breweries could not sell beer directly to customers. Bennewitz lobbied for a change, and a 1985 amendment allowed brewpubs.

On July 4, 1986, he opened Weeping Radish in Manteo, the state's first brewpub since Prohibition. It brewed under the German purity standard of malt, hops, yeast and water. The brewery moved to a larger farm site in Grandy in 2001, and the original Manteo location closed in 2007.

Through the late 1980s and 1990s, a small wave of brewpubs and microbreweries opened around the state. Highland Brewing, founded in Asheville in April 1994 in a downtown basement, was the first brewery founded in that city since Prohibition and became a cornerstone of western North Carolina's beer culture. By 2010, the state had more than 20 brewpubs and more than 40 breweries in total, more than any other Southern state at the time.

The 6% limit on beer kept many classic styles, including imperial stouts, barleywines, many Belgian ales and double IPAs, off North Carolina shelves and out of local brewhouses. A grassroots campaign called Pop the Cap began organizing in 2003, and in 2005 House Bill 392 raised the cap to 15% ABV. Governor Mike Easley signed it on August 13, 2005. The full story is in our Pop the Cap article.

Growth accelerated quickly after that. By 2014 the state had passed 100 breweries and brewpubs. National craft breweries took notice: Sierra Nevada built an East Coast brewery in Mills River near Asheville, opening it to the public in 2014; New Belgium broke ground on an Asheville brewery the same year; and Oskar Blues set up in Brevard. Asheville became a four-time winner of the online Beer City USA poll, sharing the first title with Portland, Oregon, in 2009. Our guide to North Carolina beer regions covers how the scene spread statewide.

According to the Brewers Association's 2025 state statistics, North Carolina has:

• 418 craft breweries, 7th most in the country.
• 5.1 breweries per 100,000 adults of drinking age (19th).
• About $2.2 billion in economic impact from craft brewing (9th).
• 772,964 barrels of craft beer produced per year (10th).

The industry has also faced harder years. NC State University reported in July 2025 that, according to the NC Craft Brewers Guild, 24 breweries opened and 25 closed in 2024, a small net loss after decades of growth. The same report noted the community's response to Hurricane Helene in September 2024, when a Pouring for Our Neighbors campaign raised more than $250,000 for western North Carolina.

Even with consolidation, the scale is remarkable for a state that had two breweries in 1985. If you want to explore the beer itself, start with beer styles explained.