Downtown Raleigh sees 2nd wave of craft beer bottle shops

Three years ago, downtown Raleigh saw the first wave of craft beer bottle shops open with two: Tasty Beverage Co. and The Bottle Shop at Tyler’s Taproom.

Today, there are eight bottle shops between Fayetteville Street and the Five Points neighborhood. Across the Triangle, the N.C. Beer Guys blog lists 55 bottle shops. But this second wave of stores appears to be more like bars with a retail selection than traditional bottle shops with a few draft beers for beer geeks to sip sample while shopping.

That doesn’t surprise Zack Medford, who along with Ben Yannessa and Brad Bowles own Paddy O’Beers, a bottle shop and bar on Fayetteville Street that focuses on American craft beer. “It’s the neighborhood watering hole; that’s what the craft beer store has become,” Medford said.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/living/food-drink/article12485969.html#storylink=cpy

Zack Medford