New Belgium picks NC for East Coast beer expansion

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) – New Belgium Brewing is building its East
Coast brewery in western North Carolina, potentially creating more
than 150 jobs.

Gov. Beverly Perdue’s office announced Thursday that the
nation’s third-largest craft brewer plans to invest $175 million
over seven years in Buncombe County.

The Fort Collins, Colo.-based maker of Fat Tire Ale would become
the second craft brewer in 2012 to choose the Asheville area for a
brewery. California-based Sierra Nevada announced in January that
it would build a brewery in nearby Mills River.

Lawmakers in North Carolina last year changed laws to allow
larger beer-makers such as Sierra Nevada, to sell their product on
site.

New Belgium CEO and co-founder Kim Jordan said Asheville had
everything the company was looking for in a location for its second
brewery.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)