New brewery and tap room coming to Downtown Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Do you like beer, and Venus flytraps? Well this new brewery may be just for you.

A new brewery called Flytrap Brewing is moving in to the Brooklyn Arts District of downtown Wilmington, with hopes of providing the Port City with a new choice in craft beers.

But that’s not all; the owner says he eventually would like to help conserve Wilmington’s native plant, the Venus flytrap.

“I wanted to create something that was community-oriented and had a neighborhood feel and I feel like the Venus Flytrap represented Wilmington in that way,” Owner Mike Barlas said.

The Venus Flytrap, which only grows native in Wilmington, has been in news a lot recently for all the wrong reasons.

Thousands of flytraps were stolen from Alderman Park last year, leaving the community to pick up the pieces. Barlas says he hopes his new brewery and tap room will help in the effort.

“The ultimate goal would be to financially support saving the habitat for the Venus Flytrap,” Barlas said.

But without any revenue coming in just yet, Barlas says that is hard to do. So for now, he says they are trying to raise awareness through their beers.

“I’ve got some hoppy Belgian and some malty beers, and a lot of different flavor profiles that I can achieve with those styles,” he explained.

He even named one beer in honor of the late “flytrap man.”

“Rehder’s Red is named after Stanley Rehder who was a local supporter of the Venus Flytrap and advocate for their habitat,” he said.

Barlas says he hopes to open his brewery by this summer, but he says it is way more than just a brewery.

“We’re sitting in the tap room which is going to be comprised of a pretty large bar with a lot of seats and some surrounding tables and some games and things. And then in the back there is going to be some brewing activity.”

Barlas says his goal, once the brewery is up and running is to distribute his beer throughout the community.

He says he is looking forward to changing the community in a positive way, while giving people of the Port City high quality, hand crafted ales.