If you have never visited or even heard of brewery incubators then I feel sorry for you. If you've ever drank a beer around the world in Disney's Epcot then you'll love brewery incubators! As a beer traveler and connoisseur brewery incubators are like hitting the jackpot. If you are unfamiliar with the concept, let me explain. A brewery incubator is no different than a standard business incubator. Someone buys property and equipment and rents it out to aspiring brewers. No massive building or renovation costs or pricey equipment purchases for these upstart breweries. This eases the brewery into the commercial brewing world without as much risk than if the brewery decided to take out loans, use savings, etc. All brewery incubators are unique, but that's the basics.
So obviously starting small with less risk is great for these opportunistic breweries, but as consumers of beer this can be like visiting an amusement park of beer. Hopefully all these breweries have taprooms and if they do, you are in for one hell of a day!
Economic Impact
The economic impact for the brewery is quite obvious. But a successful upstart brewery means nothing but positive economic growth for the community. Add to that multiple successful breweries and you have the equation for huge community growth.
But there's so much more than simply a few success breweries. When you have multiple breweries clustered so tightly together you invite thousands and thousands of brewery travelers, like you, to visit. In contrast, you may skip an area with only one or two breweries.
Everyone benefits from brewery incubators! This influx of beer tourists need food, so local restaurants see growth. Beer travelers need somewhere to sleep, so the hotel and hospitality industries benefit. Even other tourist spots like museums and shops can benefit from beer travelers when they aren't drinking!
Rocky Mount Mills
Take for example THEbreweryauthority's latest visit to a brewery incubator in Rocky Mount NC. Rocky Mount Mills, a former cotton mill, is a prime example of a brewery incubator. As of 2023 this venue boasts 5 breweries with taprooms and a few others that use the provided brewhouse for contract brewing. THEbreweryauthory was lucky enough to get an indepth tour (courtesy of General Manager Scott Roberts and Assistant Property Manager Julie Baggett) of not only each brewery taproom, but the commonly shared brewhouse and the rest of the vast property. No expense was spared by the Rocky Mount Mills overseers when it comes to assuring the quality of the beer and making sure each brewer has the best equipment possible.
History Lesson
As mentioned earlier, Rocky Mount Mills is a former cotton mill set on the Tar River in eastern North Carolina. We come from an area that prefers to rip down historic buildings rather than preserve them. So seeing the effort and money that went into rescuing and modernizing The Rocky Mount Mills family is a breath of fresh air. Truly a community all on its own, Rocky Mount Mills (aside from breweries) features restaurants, a bottle shop, a coffee shop, event spaces, outdoor gathering areas, countless other businesses and so much more. It's also on the National Register of Historic Places. Finally, Rocky Mount Mills offers a unique hotel experience. "Tiny houses" are available to rent, which are made of repurposed shipping containers. There's really no reason for anyone to leave!
The Breweries
Now onto what you came here for....beer! The main advantage of a brewery traveler at brewery incubators is that there's no route planning. Pick one and start drinking! However, we started at HopFly Brewing which you may have heard of. They've found such great success in the brewing world that they opened up a massive facility in Charlotte NC, but still respect their roots and vow to always have a small taproom where it all began....Rocky Mount Mills. Next to HopFly (literally 10 steps away) is Spaceway Brewing, which boasts the one of the few black/female head brewers! Rocky Mount Mills is quite a massive structure so, unfortunately, you need to take a long, one minute walk downstairs to Mythic Brewing. Do yourself a favor and try some of the BIG beers with BIG flavor offered here. Put your walking shoes on again for a 3 minute walk outside to Koi Pond Brewing, which was the first brewery on this property! Finally, end your day next door at TBC West Tacos and Taproom for some delicious food. TBC (Tarboro Brewing) is the perfect spot to end the night and stumble on over to your bed in the tiny house!
Not Alone
Rocky Mount Mills isn't the only brewery incubator where you can sit down and have a beer. Perhaps more well known is the brewery incubator in Portland, Maine where Allagash Brewing calls home. Aside from Allagash Brewing you have Definitive Brewing directly across the street and next to that you have THREE breweries in one massive warehouse. Here you will find Foundation Brewing, Austin Street Brewing, and Battery Steele Brewing. Being in the Northeast this is your DESTINATION for those juicy, hazy IPAs.
A long time favorite beer city for THEbreweryauthority is San Diego and what better city to have a brewery incubator? In the Miramar section of San Diego you have a number of breweries including the well known breweries Alesmith and Ballast Point. However, this area started as a brewery incubator (perhaps unintentionally started that way) and some great breweries have come out of this area. Pure Project Brewing started with a small taproom in a modest strip mall here and now they have beer all over town! Even if this isn't "officially" a brewery incubator, I still see it as a brewery destination that can only work in the favor of upstart breweries.
Co-Hops Brewery and Cannery serves as quite the unique brewery incubator in Eastern Pennsylvania. Here you will find a singular brewing system much like that of Rocky Mount Mills. However, everyone shares the same taproom which is run by Co-Hops Brewing and Cannery. This is similar to contract brewing where a brewer comes in to brew his beer, can it, and sell it wherever they see fit. But unlike most contract brewing operations, here you get to drink the beer AT the contract brewery since breweries like Jim Thorpe Brewing and Radiant Beer Project don't have a taproom of their own...yet. Quite the unique brewing set up they have at Co-Hops Brewery and Cannery!
Consequences
In a perfect world we could visit 5 breweries in a matter of hours without any downsides. Unfortunately, downing a beer or two at several breweries in a matter of only a few hours has its' consequences. Pacing yourself is key or you won't even make it to half the stops on your brewery incubator tour. Having a solid meal beforehand is even wiser. Brewery incubators offer the advantage of saving you time. No long walks or drives to the next brewery, so take it from a professional beer traveler. You will have no problem enjoying all the taprooms even if you take your time. If you're like us you have a whole list of breweries to visit the next day, so why be hungover?
Is There a Future?
With all brewery incubators being so unique, there's no yelling what the future holds for this business venture. Will there be enough savy business people willing to put the capital together to help upstart breweries? Or is the American market overly saturated with nearly 10,000 breweries? No one really knows, but as a beer consumers they are a magical enterprise. I mean, how can an amusement park for beer be bad???
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