KINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA

Taking up a whole street corner in Kinston’s rustic downtown, MOTHER EARTH BREWING has taken the Inner Banks section of North Carolina by storm and helped revitalize the small community since starting production during 2009. Run by owners Trent Mooring and Stephen Hill and brewmaster Josh Brewer, Mother Earth’s expanded into a large operation with its own bottling line, beer garden, windowed brew tanks, boutique store and exquisite modern deco-styled taproom (with U-shaped 16-seat bar, side tables, couched lounge and snazzy blue and white hanging lights).

During my mid-morning stopover June ’16, I picked up five bottled and one canned brew running the gamut from ever-popular Weeping Willow Wit to stylishly wondrous Endless River Kolsch to sessionable Park Day Bohemian Pilsner to Sisters Of The Moon IPA to Dark Cloud Dunkel Lager and Old Neighborhood Oatmeal Porter (all reviewed in Beer Index). But the best way to discover Mother Earth is thru its sterling taproom, where limited edition, one-offs and seasonal specials prove just as worthy as the bottled-canned staples.

The environmentally responsible brewery also makes use of recycled material, organic compounds and spent grain. Anyone traveling thru the heartland of Carolina needs to discover this fine gem.

www.motherearthbrewing.com