Southport Magazine

Local brewery opens with a slam dunk

Story and Photos By Jeffrey Stites

Southport’s newest beer and wine destination is founded on a heartfelt belief in the excellence of North Carolina’s craft brewing industry. 

“I have a passion for beer. I’ve been home brewing for six or seven years now. Opening a brewery is way out of our price range, so this is the next best thing,” said Dewayne Hedrick, who owns the Southport Tap and Cellar with his wife Brittany. The Tap and Cellar is located at the corner of Howe and 9th Street across from Locals restaurant. 

While preparing to open their new business, the Hedricks traveled the state visiting breweries and wineries.

“I think the thing that struck me the most is that in North Carolina, the quality is really high. You go to a lot of states and they’ll have a ton of beer, a ton of breweries, but that doesn’t mean it’s good,” said Hedrick. “Where ever you go in this state, the consistency amazes me. Winston-Salem is a good example. There are two breweries, or three really. Wise Man and Incendiary and Foothills are all within walking distance of each other and they’re all putting out amazing products.

“Before we got into beer we were into wine. You can go to the Yadkin Valley and hit up three or four wineries in a day. Against all odds, not really being a wine state or anything like that, they’ve figured out how to make decent wine. Beer is the same way. Against all odds, without having local grains, not having local hops, you know, everybody just takes pride in their products. It’s in their blood I guess,” Hedrick said. “I feel like in this state we have so much pride in the state and the things we do.” 

The couple plans to bring that excellence and pride in craftsmanship to our area in the form of some products locals can’t easily find around here. 

“I’m going to be traveling the state picking up beer directly from the breweries, which is pretty neat, there’s only a few places that do that,” said Dewayne. “One thing in our state we’re lucky to have, the breweries can self-distribute. A limited amount, but they can do that.”

This means Hedrick can source beer and wine from outside the distributor network, bringing in packages that customers may have never seen before. He’ll be buying from local distributors as well. Many North Carolina breweries utilize distributors, but he isn’t limited to the local distributor network’s selections. 

Hedrick explained that his options are wide open. “I’m from Kenansville and Brittany’s from Eden. There’s a lot of good beer in that area that doesn’t make it out to the coast,” he said. “One of the top breweries in the state, Brown Truck Brewing, is out of High Point. We’re going to try to get their stuff.” He added that the Charlotte area is a hotbed of craft brewing right now, so he will likely source a lot of beer from that area.

The Southport Tap and Cellar will feature mostly rotating taps, offering patrons the greatest chance to enjoy something new. A few taps will be more constant. “There may be some consistent ones, like Red Oak, we’ll probably always have Red Oak on tap. It’s a great product, probably 90 percent of the people will drink it,” Hedrick said. 

There will also be some non-beer options. “We’ll have one or two taps dedicated to non-beer…alcoholic kombucha, cider, there’s a big thing with seltzers, maybe mead,” he said. 

But not everyone is a craft beer fan. Yet. Hedrick has some ideas on introducing someone who may have only experienced American mass-produced beers to the wider world of craft brews. 

“I would try to find them a good craft lager. Lagers are something….a lot of your beer nerds think lagers are lagers, that’s Budweiser you know, but actually a good lager that isn’t served ice cold but still tastes good and has a lot of flavor profile is a very, very difficult beer to brew, it has a lot of work that goes into it. If you tell somebody, Budweiser is a lager but this is a craft lager, you can lead them down the path to let’s try a blond ale, now there’s this New England IPA. It’s just a slippery slope once you go there,” he said. 

While he will be happy to pour small samples for patrons who want to try before they buy, Dewayne says he personally likes to jump in with both feet. “I’m not one of those guys…like, we’ll offer samples, if you want to try a beer we’ll pour you a small sample. But I’m not one for samples, they’ll ask me ‘You want to try it?’ I say no, just pour me a pint. I’ve had some bad beer, but style-wise, I’ll drink any style. Funky, whatever, I don’t care, I just like beer.”

The Southport Tap and Cellar will help customers choose and keep track the beers they’ve tried with menu boards from the Wilmington-based Untappd social media beer platform. 

The building housing the Southport Tap and Cellar features huge garage doors along the front wall (it was a car repair garage in the past) and the Hedricks plan to keep them open as much as possible, enlarging the space and giving the venue an open feel. There is a lit area out front for corn hole and a video game console center for kids, or kids at heart, inside. 

While there is no kitchen, Hedrick plans to have food trucks available as much as possible and hopes to feature some low-key live music as well. Future plans include a grassy area with picnic tables and a beer garden atmosphere. 

If you want to approach your beer with a sense of adventure, the Southport Tap and Cellar looks like a perfect place to start, and Dewayne Hedrick will make a terrific guide on your journey through the craft brewing world. He offers what I think is the perfect resume, “I’ve never had a beer I wouldn’t drink, so…..”