North South Brewing has taken up a lease at the former Bright Light Brewing Company brewhouse located at 304 Williams Street.

Owners James and Alicia Orlando have big plans to transform this 7,000 SF site into an entertainment hub complete with indoor cornhole, beer, programming and food.

“I've been a home brewer for about 15 years, and it's always kind of been a dream of mine to open up a brewery and right now is the perfect time for us to be honest. I'm still active duty military. I have a couple of years left, but we're starting this now because that building, that space on Williams Street opened up to us and we decided to take it,” explained James.

Owners James and Alicia grew up in New England, but family and military service brought them to Savannah, GA where they met. Ten years later, the military moved them to Fayetteville, NC where they finally felt at home. The name North South Brewing reflects the couples’ feeling that this location offers the perfect blend of the north and south, where everyone comes together.

“They, [Bright Light], had the second space that's on Williams street. That was just their production facility so they were brewing there, and then taking it to their tap room at Bright Light. We're good friends of the owner of Bright Light, so he offered up the space to us and the brewing system and everything in it. So basically, we're moving in with a full production brewery already installed, and we just have to upfit the taproom space for the public,” shared James.

Once the contractor gets everything on their end in order, the next move will be to begin the build out of the inside and landscaping work on the outside. James shared that right now they’re estimated to open around August or September. 

“Once the construction starts and I get my brewers permit we're actually going to start brewing immediately and we'll be able to start limited distribution out into the public while the construction happens at the taproom,” shared James.

The space will be the largest taproom in the area with an additional acre of land off to the side of it for hosting events. 

“We’re really focused on bringing something new—some fresh ideas to the city,” stated James.

James and Alicia are both animal lovers. James shared that one of things they plan to do with the brewery is to partner with FAPS in supporting animal rescue efforts. The taproom will be a dog friendly business and they even have plans in mind to enable customers to bring their dogs to earn a certification for completing a dog brewery etiquette course. 

In order to continue to operate the taproom with a dog friendly indoors, they are considering  building a space right outside of the brewery off to the side, easily accessible, for a restaurant. 

“We're talking with another restaurant/food truck owner in town who's pretty well known who actually approached us and they want to bring food to North South Brewing,” said James. 

That’s the goal right now, according to James. As well as having other food trucks come out to serve hungry customers.

As work begins and development progresses keep an eye on the company’s Facebook page for updates. 

The GFBJ team looks forward to providing more updates about this news to our diligent readers.