USA, NC: Compass Rose Brewery to enter the Raleigh market

When four guys got together and decided to open a brewery, they looked to a part of the city where the beer business isn’t exactly booming, News & Observer reported on May 20.

Compass Rose Brewery, which opened this month off Gresham Lake Road, is the first brewery in northeast Raleigh.

“North Raleigh is wide open,” co-owner John Coulter said. “We felt like we could do something good.”

Compass Rose Brewery - owned by Coulter, Thomas Vincent, Jose Luis Martinez and Gary Kohake – wants to tap into the North Raleigh crowd, which might feel a bit left out of the brewery scene.

Vincent, a former brewer at Natty Greene’s Brewing Company in downtown Raleigh, said he knew customers were driving from north of the Beltline to get a taste of specialty brews.

Martinez, a native of Mexico, has lived in Raleigh for 15 years. Coulter lived in Raleigh briefly about 15 years ago.

It made sense to open a brewery here. But customers shouldn’t expect a Mexican atmosphere at Compass Rose Brewery.

“I just want it to be a space everyone wants to be,” Coulter said.

While the design features hints of Germany, the first brews at Compass Rose are telling of its Latin American roots.

“That’s a flavour profile that will translate really nicely,” Coulter said.

22 May, 2015