Similar to Raleigh’s LoneRider Brewing Company (see KYB #2), Charlotte’s Old Mecklenburg Brewery is a production brewery started by an intrepid team of three. John Marrino, Jon Hayward, and Carey Savoy purchased the old Southend Brewery equipment last year, moving it from its uptown Charlotte location to a nearby manufacturing district. They’re already brewing German-inspired beers and, within a few months, they expect to build out an on-site tap room.
KYB is kinda sorta of based in the Triangle right now (hey, anyone else interested in conducting interviews?), so we corresponded via email with OMB’s Jon Hayward. Hope you enjoy!
KYB: It looks like it’s three of you at the brewery. What do each of you do at the brewery?
Jon:I focus most of my time on sales and marketing. John is the Brewer. He also oversees the general direction of the brewery, brewery operations, marketing and finance. Carey is the Assistant Brewer and does a little bit of everything including all maintenance tasks. Both John and Carey are also currently building out our tap room.
KYB: How did you meet?
Jon: John and I grew up together. We met in elementary school in Massachusetts and thirty years later we both ended up in Charlotte. Cary worked with John at his previous employer.
