Southport Tap and Cellar will bring independent craft beers to the Southport region with a specific focus on North Carolina breweries.

SOUTHPORT — The storefront at 827 N. Howe Street in Southport has seen its fair share of businesses, originally serving as a garage and later a surf shop. But when Dewayne Hedrick saw it, he knew it would be the perfect location for a craft beer shop and come June, that will become a reality.

With 20 different beers on tap, bottles, and the occasional wines, Southport Tap and Cellar is bringing the region’s love for craft brews to Southport. While just across the river there are plenty of bottle shops, breweries, and taprooms, Southport and the Oak Island area are not as beer heavy as Wilmington.

That’s why Hedrick and his wife Brittany decided it was time to open up shop and help bring some new brews to the region with a focus on N.C. beers.

“It’s a bottle shop and taproom with 20 taps, independent-only craft beer with a specific focus on North Carolina. We will have other states and other breweries but probably 75% of our beer will be from the state of North Carolina,” Dewayne Hedrick said.

Though not originally from Southport, the Hedricks moved to the area after living in Charleston for a few years where they had a certain affinity for the craft beer scene. The couple decided they wanted to bring that to Southport.

It’s not the only place to buy beer in the area but it is one of the few beer-centric stores in Southport, Hedrick said.

“We have a lot of wine shops, about three or four really awesome wine shops one of them has a pretty good focus on beer but we’re the only one that’s going to be doing it to this scale,” he said.

But it’s not just a bar, there will be a retail section for those not wanting to stay and enjoy their drinks, Hedrick said. For those wanting to hang out, there’s more to do than just drink.

“We’ll have an outdoor area with cornhole games and stuff, we’ll have a video game area with vintage video game emulators. We’re trying to have some low-key musical acts, acoustic and jazz, that sort of thing,” Hedrick said.

Construction is starting to wrap up with only a few big pieces left to complete; once they are done, the Hedricks are hoping to open to the public sometime in early June, although an official date is not yet set.

Even though there’s no official date yet for the grand opening, the general reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and people are excited for the spot to open, he said.

When he can, Hedrick said he will be heading out to different breweries across the state bringing the beers to his shop and will, of course, be including Wilmington and other Cape Fear region brews in rotation.

Keep up with Southport Tap and Cellar on Facebook and all things craft beer in the region with Port City Daily’s Cape Fear Beer Tracker.

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