Need Emerald Isle NC (or nearby) intel

There’s a Lowe’s Foods close to the bridge on the mainland at the south end of the island. Nothing special but that’s your best bet. I recommend that you bring any special bottles and hit Lowe’s for your daily drinkers. I’ve heard that there’s a solid bottle shop in Swansboro and that’s about a 15 minute drive from Emerald Isle.

 

Excellent thread! I'll be heading to Emerald Isle this Summer for vacation (hopefully if COVID has eased) and was going to post for suggestions closer to the time we go but have started to do some digging as to what's around. I've not looked to much deeper into them other than scanning their social media for what they carry and pinning them on a map but here's what Ive found so far. if anyone is familiar with these places please do mention which ones are good spots.

Emerald Isle/Swansboro/Indian Beach area
- Bake Bottle & Brew
- Emerald Isle Wine Mart
- The Growler Bar - Emerald Isle (formerly Goose Creek Growler Company??)
- Mythic Brewing @ Cedar Point
- Anchor Drafthouse

Atlantic Beach / Beaufort area (20-30mins from EI)
- The Growler Bar - Atlantic Beach
- Crystal Coast Brewing
- AB Bottle Co.
- Lowes - Morehead City
- Tight Lines Pub & Brewing
- Fishtowne Brewhouse (Beaufort)
- Mill Whistle Brewing (Beaufort)

When doing a quick scan of some pages I saw stuff from New Anthem, Edmund's Oast, Westbrook, NoDa, Prairie, and Equilibrium among others available locally.

 

Have you already made the trip? Heading there next month and starting to look more into the list of places I came up with above.

 

Alright, heading down next week and starting to look more into spots. Who has the best can selection, Specifically looking for somewhere that sells singles and has a good variety of local (NC) beers. I typically relay on social media pages to give me a good gauge on if they are good or not and see Back, Bottle & Brew, Emerald Isle Wine Mark and both Growler Bars post mostly about live music, food and their draft offerings so guessing they don't have a wide (and fresh) selection of cans coming in regularly. it looks like AB Bottle Co. may be my best best for somewhere local. They seem to post quite a bit about their can deliveries. Thoughts??

 

I visit EI regularly, and my recommendation for a bottle shop is AB Bottle Co. It's a hike if you're on the Emerald Isle end since it's in Atlantic Beach, but they have the best stuff. They sometimes have Maine Beer Co, Bearded Iris, etc etc.
For the EI side, the Wine Shop (used to be part of a gas station?) is the best bet for good cans/bottles. Beware the dates though - I found a Maine IPA bottle (don't recall which one) that was about 9-12 months old.
The growler place (across from Publix) has some decent drafts.
Crystal Coast Brewing Co (Atl Beach side) has some good drafts as well.
We used to buy kegs on the other side of the bridge - make the first left at the light when you exit EI, but I'm not sure that place is still open.

 

Thanks for the info! It looked like AB would be my best bet. We're staying closer to the Indian Beach ares and that looks to be right in the middle of the island. 9ish miles to AB and 9ish miles to EI area. Hoping to stock up pretty good on the way in so to last most of the trip so I'll probably check out AB tomorrow when we get in.

Thanks again!

 

Thanks for all the direction everyone. Been on the island since Saturday and finally made my way out to explore last night. Actually, went to Loew's in Morehead City when we first arrived to stock up on groceries for the week. Pretty decent selection of cans/bottles. I grabbed a mix-six of NC beers from what they had available in the singles section and was not expecting too much as I assume many people probably pass right by them so might not be the freshest beers. I looked for ones with dates on the bottom and most were within 4-8 weeks canned. Unfortunately I didn't like a single one of them and that was not setting off a good impression. Ha! They all definitely tasted their age even though I tried to pick up one that should hold up (mostly Lagers). Did see they have 1/2 off all their draft pours in the Bear's Den on Thursday's so I'll probably swing back by tomorrow. Was pretty busy there for being a grocery store.

Crystal Coast - First actual brewery visit and really like the vibe of the place. Didn't look like much from the outside but inside was wide open with a lot of beers on draft (14) as well as a lot of cans to go (15 options). Game room in the back with several arcade games and pinball as well as a decent size outdoor area behind the building. Really enjoyed each beer in my flight especially the Strawnana Milkshake IPA

Fishtowne Brewhouse in Beaufort - Really small space and the inside smelled awful. Since the brew system was literally beside you when walking in I thought it was the smell of the malts and such from brewing but the more I sniffed it did really smell of fish. Ha. Anywho, small outdoor space so we sat there. Had a flight again and really enjoyed the Mango Habanero Kolsch.

AB Bottle Co - Needed to replenish the condo/beach beers since I had exhausted beers I brought from home as well as what I picked up from Loew's. This was a really nice shop. Every package beer they have is available for singles so grabbed another mix six of what I hope will be good. Tried to grab stuff I know was pretty new from their social media posts. The wife is just getting her feet wet in craft beer so I had her give an idea of what she likes (lighter stuff) to the woman working the bar and asked her to pick out a 6pk of what my wife may enjoy. We'll begin diving into those today.

Anchor Drafthouse & Pizzeria - Picked up pizza for dinner when we arrived on Sunday to bring back to the condo. Sat at the bar for a few beers. I was expecting this to have a big selection of beers it seemed more like a dive bar. They had a decent selection but a couple of the local beers I asked for was kicked. Enjoyed the Sandy White Peaches from Shortway and the pizza was solid.

Hoping to get by the other breweries later this week (Mill Whistle, Tight Lines and Mythic Brewing) and may try to get up to Shortway to check out as well.

 

Checked out Tight Lines tonight’s beer was ok. Nothing f stood out and sign as you first walk in notes the owners are trying to sell. Food was very good

Visited Growler Bar Atlantic Beach on the way back. Beers were nothing to get excited about but atmosphere was awesome. Wed night Trivia / Bingo had the place packed.seemed like a lot of guests from the hotel across the street.

 

Thanks for the intel!
I'll be there in 10 days!

 

Forgot mention we also checked out Mythic Brewing at Cedar Point and the other Growler Bar / Goose Creek Growlers in Emerald Isle yesterday too.

Mythic Brewing was a hole in the way but quite unique. Blink and you would drive right by it without notice. No brewing here so it was really a satellite location in which the beers are sent from their main spot in Rocky Mount. Guy behind the bar was really nice. They had around 14 of their beers on tap and then a good number of guest taps along with a small bottle/can shop of to go beers. Free tabletop old school pac-man game, pool table, pinball, and claw machine along with several TVs.

Growler Bar Emerald Isle was nicer than the one in Atlantic Beach but the customers all seemed to be locals (older crowd) that knew one another. Small draft list like the one in AB though. For the atmosphere I would almost prefer the one in AB more since that seems to get more tourists (hotel is right across the street) so it's easy to pickup a conversation with strangers but the taproom layout of the Emerald Isle location.

Ive heard great things about Mill Whistle in Beaufort so may try to check that out tonight or tomorrow then see if I can make my way up to Shortway in Newport.

 

Wish I knew about this when down there. I do love trying new BBQ spots! Definitely adding it on the list for next year.

We did spend quite a bit of time right in that area for food too. Ate at Plaza Mexico which was delicious. Snapperz one night which was a crazy long wait (hour probably) to get seated (very busy) and then made our rounds of ice cream spots of which Sweet Spot was our favorite and had them several times throughout the week.

 

Having just stumbled on this thread, I am late in responding. However, for anyone searching for can/bottle beer near Emerald Isle I highly recommend checking out the Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Swansboro.

They carry a good selection of craft beers, but they especially shine with their import offerings. I have located a number of beers there that I am unable to find anywhere else in the region.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/P...3f986ecbb88899!8m2!3d34.6933029!4d-77.1319234

 

Circling back around to this thread. Making the return vacation to Emerald Isle this summer. Any new breweries or must stop spots that have opened up in the past year or plan to open between now and when we visit in early July? Last year I hit just about all of the breweries in the immediate EI, Atlantic Beach, Beaufort area except for Shortway which will be visited this year along with a few stops en route if we time them right to be open when we drive by.

VISITED LAST YEAR
- Crystal Coast
- Fishtowne Brewhouse
- Mill Whistle
- Mythic Brewing @ Cedar Point
- Tight Lines (looks like maybe they have new ownership now??)

POSS STOPS EN ROUTE (if open when we pass them)
- Mother Earth
- Big Game Brewing
- Brutopia Havelock
- Shortway

TIA!

 

I was there in early April, and AB Bottle Co had CBS on draft. $5 on whichever day they have 1/2 off (Mon or Tue?). That was a steal! I also picked up a 4 pack of Tripping Animals (4 different ones), and those were great.
I went to Crystal Coast as well - ambiance is just ok, but they have good draft options.

 

Week before final prep. Coming down Saturday and will be town all next week. Unless any new breweries have opened up in the past year between Cedar Point, Emerald Isle, Indian Beach, Atlantic Beach, Newport and Beaufort I hit them all last year with the exception of Shortway so that will be planned sometime during the week. Brutopia Havelock is on my radar too but are about 50mins from where I'm staying and another 15 mins past Shortway so may skip going out that far. Any new breweries or can't miss beer spots in the area that we're around or still closed due to COVID last year that have re-opened? AB Bottle Co. was my go to shop last year so I'll supply up there shortly after we get into town.

We drove by Big Game Brewing in Kinston on our way in last year (didn't stop) but looks like that location is called The Beer Barn and doesn't seem like a brewery. Any intel on that?

If anyone has a food recommendation somewhere between Goldsboro and Kinston we'll probably be driving through those areas around lunchtime.