Here's some big developments, posted as the press release we're sending out shortly. Super excited to expand into Rocky Mount. It'll help us return to small-batch brewing (while ensuring our core beers scale up at NoDa Brewing), and allow us plenty of opportunity for beverage innovation.
Read on for the more formal announcement...
Fullsteam to Manage Rocky Mount Brewmill, Expand R&D Footprint
Brewery to oversee site operations, diversify its beverage portfolio, and support the Brewmill’s decade-long incubator mission
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (July 8, 2025) — Two long-standing and mission-driven brewery concepts — Durham-based Fullsteam and the Rocky Mount Brewmill incubator — have entered into a long-term agreement to build upon their shared goals and complementary strengths.
Beginning this summer, Fullsteam will lease and manage the entire 12,000-square-foot Brewmill site, giving the "plow to pint" brewery a platform to return to small-batch brewing and expand into Southern-sourced wine, cider, and non-alcoholic beverages.
Fullsteam will continue to contract its year-round beers — including Paycheck Pilsner and Rocket Science IPA — through NoDa Brewing in Charlotte.
This move allows Fullsteam to return to its core mission: strengthening connections between Southern farmers and beverage makers.
“Once we could no longer afford to brew in Durham, we had a choice to make,” explains founder and Chief Executive Optimist Sean Lilly Wilson. “We could try to rebuild, or we could adapt to a changing marketplace and take advantage of existing capacity.”
“Not only does this ‘go big and go small’ model make good business sense for us, it allows us to double down on our passion: crafting small-batch, farm-driven beer, wine, and cider.”
As part of the transition, Fullsteam will retain Brewmill Manager Austin Meyrick, who will serve as Fullsteam’s Director of Brewery Operations – Rocky Mount, reporting to VP of Brewery Operations Jon Simpson. The company is also working closely with existing Brewmill tenants — including Spaceway Brewing, Larema Beverage Co., and NC Beer Factory — to ensure continuity of service and product.
The Brewmill campus will remain a hub for innovation and collaboration. Fullsteam plans to add its own taproom within the next one to two years, joining successful Brewmill spinouts like HopFly, Bright Penny, and Koi Pond Brewing in creating a vibrant craft beverage community in the Eastern North Carolina city.
“Partnering with Fullsteam feels like a full-circle moment for us,” says Evan Covington Chavez, Director of Real Estate/Rocky Mount for Capitol Broadcasting Company. “When we envisioned the Brewmill, our goal was to create a space where breweries could truly craft their story — and that’s exactly what Fullsteam is doing. We’re excited to welcome them to our campus and look forward to seeing both new and familiar faces at Rocky Mount Mills in the days ahead.”
The same week that NoDa will be brewing a large batch of Fullsteam’s Good Food Award-winning Southern Basil – brewed with locally malted wheat and barley and nearly 100 pounds of fresh local basil – Austin and Jon will brew Rabbit Eye, a blueberry rye IPA brewed with hundreds of pounds of blueberries from small farms in Ashe, Durham, and Sampson counties — and Seashore Black Rye malted by Epiphany Craft Malt, a landrace grain recently inducted into Slow Food’s Ark of Taste catalog.