Food: Second brewery in the works for Jackson County
Seán O’Connell, an Associate Professor of Microbial Ecology, has partnered with Chris Cooper, an Associate Professor in the school’s Department of Political Science and Public Affairs, and a third partner to develop the Tuckaseegee Brewing Cooperative near downtown Sylva.
“[We would be] more of a “nanobrewery” than a microbrewery, at least to start,” says O’Connell. “I’ve talked with the Small Business and Technology Development Center group on campus and have some initial legal counsel on opening a brewery. We’re moving slowly, but hope to call a meeting in June to see if people would be interested in investing. If all goes well, we might be able to sell beer next year.”
O’Connell is a brewer of fifteen years’ experience.
“My inspiration comes from many years of home brewing,” he says. “And then I turned the corner a couple of years ago and began making beer with all grain recipes.”
O’Connell’s many beers have been well-received, although he acknowledges that the leap to larger scale brewing has its own set of challenges.
And why Sylva?
“We figure if Asheville could have nearly 10 breweries, maybe Jackson County could support a couple,” O’Connell says. “Other inspiration comes from the hope that someday Cullowhee will be more of a college town and have more restaurants, bookstores, pubs, shops, etc., and that we could fit into that scene. Definitely long-range planning there.”
The reasoning probably isn’t far-fetched. Sylva is home to the only commercial brewery west of Asheville, Heinzelmannchen, which just celebrated its fifth anniversary. Another brewery is under construction in Bryson City. And Asheville, in a widely publicized poll, is neck-and-neck with Portland, OR, for the title of “Beer City USA”.
Tags: Beer, Bryson City, Cullowhee, Jackson County, microbrewery, Sylva, Western Carolina University
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O’Connell’s beer is excellent. In a market flooded with trendy IPAs, Sean’s stands out as one of the very best. While other small breweries use pre-mixed ingredients, O’Connell’s all grain recipes make for a much more flavorful brew.