About

Fishtowne – It’s a name long associated with Beaufort, and while the history of the designation is vague, the description fits. A French traveler who sailed through in 1765 described Beaufort as “A small village not above 12 houses, the inhabitants seem miserable, they are very lazy and indolent, they live mostly on fish and oysters which they have in great plenty”.

We’re better than that now, we’ve been called North Carolinas coolest small town and what goes better with ‘fish and oysters’ thana great local craft beer? That’s what we are about here at Fishtowne Brew House. We hope you enjoy our beers as you experience the water, wildlife, history and charm of Beaufort or if you prefer, Fishtowne.

Co-founder, Joey McClure began homebrewing beer back in the late 1980’s after seeing a bottle of his soon to be business partner Fred McCune’s batch of “Old Sock” ale. Joey brewed off and on over the next 25 years. He had fun brewing different types of beers and sharing the results with friends. Joey had a desire to open a brewery. At one time he had a wish to do it at the back of Clawson’s Restaurant on Middle lane in early 2000 but that idea was not to be. It was to become instead, Aqua Restaurant.

Then in 2013 Joey and his wife Elana met up for drinks one evening with her high school friend Schuyler Munden to meet his new girlfriend Melissa Clark. Joey & Schuyler became fast friends. Joey had been interested in bow hunting for deer and he found out this was Schuyler’s passion. Schuyler discovered that Joey was a homebrewer which he was very interested in as well.

The friendship was cemented and the two began hunting and brewing together. Joey had only brewed using Extract malts making 5 gallon batches. After Schuyler’s encouragement the two decided to move up to all grain brewing after only a couple brewings together. They were soon making 10 and 15 gallon batches. Hunting trips to Ohio would include a keg of homebrew in the fridge awaiting their return from the woods.

After brewing together regularly for a couple years they decided to enter the homebrew contest at Mill Whistle Brewing in Beaufort in 2016. They were the clear winner and took first place with their Belgian Wit Ale named, “Love the One your Wit!” Mill Whistle Owner Tom Backman encouraged Joey to open a brewery in Beaufort to help promote Beer tourism in the town and the county. The idea went to sleep for a little while.

In the Spring of 2017 Fred McCune discovered that a former restaurant and building might be for sale in Beaufort. After a deal was cut the building was purchased and Fred suggested that maybe this could be a spot for a brewery.

The rest is history and the result of that was the creation of Fishtowne Brew House!