Chapel Hill Couple Taps into Asheville Craft Beer Scene

A husband and wife in Chapel Hill are tapping into the craft beer industry with their recent purchase of French Broad Brewery in Asheville, North Carolina.

Paul Casey spent over 20 years with QuintilesIMS before retiring as a vice president, but his entrepreneurial inclinations put him back to work shortly thereafter.

“I wanted to go out and pursue my own opportunities, and so, through the course of 2016, started looking at different businesses to buy into, and looked at a couple of different industries, and ended up on the craft brewery industry in late 2016,” he relayed.

After exploring the market for local businesses being sold, Paul and his spouse, Sarah, bought a rustic taproom situated over 200 miles west of Chapel Hill.

“With French Broad, my excitement, or our excitement, was around its history in the craft brew industry in Asheville — they are the third-oldest brewery [in town] — the connection to the French Broad River, which runs through the heart of Asheville; the fact that French Broad Brewery was, at one time, a first mover and pioneer,” he listed.

French Board Brewery has operated in Asheville since 2001 and offers six signature beers that are influenced by continental European production methods.

According to Paul, the quality of those beers is high enough to warrant the expansion of the brand, which currently faces stiff competition in Asheville.

“There are some fantastic breweries up there; there are some fantastic beers up there; there’s a lot of great talent up there,” he offered. “I think the French Broad brand, though, has something unique to offer with its history, and I feel like there is the opportunity to grow that brand stronger, locally in the market, but also downstate.”

The Caseys intend to develop the brewery without relocating to Asheville, but Paul explained that they are up to the challenge of managing a business remotely.

“We do plan on spending a fair amount of time up there, particularly in the first six to eight months, to make sure the business is going in the right direction, or the direction that we want it to go in,” he speculated. “So, that’ll be a number of road trips up [I-40], but certainly something that we’re excited about and certainly worth the sacrifice of not spending time in the Triangle and not spending time down at the coast.”

Distribution deals and taproom touch-ups are now being planned by Paul, whose connections in Chapel Hill may lead to a broadening of their customer base.

“I know a number of people in the Chapel Hill area that are in the restaurant and bar business, so I’m going to be knocking on their doors as soon as I am able […] to deliver product down here,” he predicted. “I would love to see people going into their favorite local establishment and being able to get a pint of Gateway Koelsch or the Wee Heavy-er Scottish Ale on tap.”

Other businesses owned by the Caseys include Purple Puddle, a specialty floral shop, and T1 Solutions, an information technology consulting outfit.

Photo by Brandon Wurtz/Brews Travelers 365