Wilmington makes top 10 cities for beer drinkers according to new list

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) —  The Port City is tied for seventh place with Denver, Colorado according to a list put out by smartasset.com. The list features some pretty well know beer towns, including Asheville at number one.

“There’s so many opportunities now. It’s crazy,” said Wilmington beer drinker Craig Snow who was enjoying a drink at Wilmington Brewing Company with his wife. “When my wife first started coming here I believe with her friends I was like ‘What are you doing drinking that expensive beer? What a waste!’ You know, I was like ‘You like Bud Light, why go spend money and buy that kind of beer?'”

But Snow’s opinion has since changed dramatically.

“The I started coming and I figured it out. So I get it now,” Snow said.

Beer drinkers and brewers alike agree the atmosphere of Wilmington has a lot to do with it.

“Because everyone works together. If you’re out of a certain grain you can come by and borrow it. We swap ideas, we share stories and we help each other out,” said Michelle Savard, the owner of Wilmington Brewing Company.

The road to success wasn’t always easy.

“It was hard to kind of get that going because there weren’t that many breweries here,” Savard said.

But now brewers are saying that road was definitely worth it and not just for the breweries.

“Not just as the breweries together, which we all know that if all the breweries in Wilmington succeed people will come to Wilmington for the beer and for the experience and actually brewery tourism is going to take off in this town,” said Mark Anthony Mueller, partner at Waterline Brewing Company.

And for consumers like Snow, being able to buy local is a big plus as well.

“It’s nice to consuming something that you know was made behind that door back there,” Snow said.

The Smart Asset list cited the growing brewery community and Wilmington Beer Week as reasons craft brew enthusiasts should check out the Port City.