From home-brewers to a whole new business
By Brandon Davis
Published in News on November 13, 2016 1:06 AM
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News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Zak Fein, left, and Carson Clark stand outside their new downtown home-brewing supplies store and tap room, Goldsboro Brew Works, opening Friday.
Plenty of times Zak Fein and Carson Clark raised their plastic cups of home-brewed beer in their garage.
But thousands of toasts and spilled beer never amounted to their wish coming true.
Then one night -- as their straightened arms met for a toast without spilling a drop -- the two surprised airmen looked at each other and promised to finally build a brewery in Goldsboro.
Brewed from their minds almost two years ago, Goldsboro Brew Works, located at 207 N. John St. is set to open Friday, Nov. 25. The craft-beer dream is now a reality Fein and Clark only hoped for while serving at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
"When we were stationed here, there was no place like this for people like us," Fein said. Both he and Clark entered the Air Force in 2010.
"We would travel for places like this. We would go to Raleigh, to Wilmington or Asheville -- anywhere we could go to try to find this kind of environment."
Born in Ohio, Fein grew up in the small town of Marshall. He found employment on farms at age 23 and repaired tractors. He loved to "fix stuff," but he said the money did not pour in like expected.
He then heard the Air Force offered mechanical jobs.
Fein served as a crew chief on F-15E Strike Eagles for six years, until he was named senior airman earlier this year. In that time, Goldsboro Brew Works never left his thoughts. He completed his contract with the Air Force and was honorably discharged in April.
Raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Clark endured "turning wrenches" his whole life, but he was shocked to find he enjoyed repairing jets when he joined the Air Force. Clark eventually became a staff sergeant, and he completed his contract with the Air Force as well.
He was honorably discharged in May.
"We actually exited the military to do this," Fein said. "We wanted to be our own bosses. Our time in the military was great, and it was definitely very, very good for me.
"I grew up a lot in the military, and I'm very glad I did it."
Though Fein and Clark matured in the Air Force, the two started brewing beer in their garage for a good time. It was the only way to drink the craft beer they couldn't find at local bars. They drank their beer. They joked about brewing professionally one day. But the time came to be serious when they looked downtown.
Clark said Goldsboro was a "beer desert" because bars only served domestic beers. He and Fein hunkered down in their garage every weekend to brew the most unique craft beers they could only otherwise drink miles away.
"It was just something both us really loved. It was a great hobby," he said. "We're trying to really bring the good stuff here and show people in Wayne County there's a lot more out there than Miller, Natural and Bud Light."
Goldsboro Brew Works offers some of the best North Carolina craft beers from the coast to the mountains. Fein said two wine taps, two hard cider taps, a nitrogen tap and 25 standard craft beer taps will be served at different times to give patrons plenty of options before they venture to the other rooms in the building.
Air Force pilot Chris Mohr and his wife Bethany own the building through their company, Blue Yonder Properties. Once a former bicycle shop, the building provides three areas for military and civilians to drink beer, buy beer supplies and play beer games.
"We're not just a military bar," Fein said to encourage locals to try a new drinking experience.
The "tap room," as Fein refers to it, rests in the middle at 207 N. John St. Guests can pull up a barstool, prop their elbows up on a hand-crafted concrete bar top - constructed by Fein and Clark - and order the craft beer of their choice.
Fein and Carson then designed a second room on the right, at 209 N. John St., for people to shop home-brew supplies. Fein said the retail store offers craft beer lovers a variety of boil kettles, fermenters, grains, hops and yeast.
"For a downtown area, you never see home-brewing stores downtown," Fein said. "Home-brewing stores tend to be off the beaten path a little bit."
Fein said the third room, at 205 N. John St., will eventually hold a 3-barrel brewing system near the end of 2017.
The third room is pet-friendly, and he said people can attempt to pull one piece at a time -- carefully -- to keep a 3-foot, building-block tower from falling. And cornhole will also likely help draw repeat customers to Goldsboro Brew Works.
"This building here, now, is the place we wanted to go to when we were in the Air Force," Fein said. "(It's) what we thought we were missing the whole time."
"There are great opportunities to go and have a nice drink in Goldsboro. There's all sorts of places to get a beer, but what we're looking for is sort of that brewery atmosphere."