A popular NC brewery has closed in Johnston County. Here’s what we know
A popular Johnston County brewery kicked the keg this week after a decade in business.
Double Barley Brewing closed after a month-long farewell tour on Sunday, July 30, complete with food trucks and live music and final toasts at the taproom and brewery in Wilsons Mills.
Owned by married couple Larry and Cheryl Lane, Double Barley opened on U.S. 70 in 2013 as only the second brewery in Johnston County at the time, and among the earliest generation of breweries in the Triangle.
Double Barley continued to brew with the trends in craft beer, but its most popular creation remained the Thrilla in Vanilla, a lightly sweet and roasty porter flavored with vanilla beans.
The Lanes announced in June they would close Double Barley on July 30.
In a Facebook post, Larry Lane
“It’s been a labor of love for Cheryl and I for almost 10 years and it will be hard to walk away but we’re excited to begin the next phase of our lives,” the post reads. “We’ll miss brewing great beers, being able to be creative with recipes, creating label artwork, all of the great events we’ve had, the musicians that have performed, the people that have been married there, the family and class reunions, the random pop-ins from friends we haven’t seen in years - it’s going to be hard. But what I think we’ll miss most is our customers, employees and the relationships we’ve developed and kept with everyone over the years.
“So many people helped us get this business started and so many more have helped us to keep it running,” Lane continued in the Facebook post. “We are eternally grateful and thankful for our founders and the amazing community of friends, family, business associates, and the craft brewing industry for helping us to keep it going for this long.”
Despite the enormous popularity of craft beer throughout the Triangle, with Double Barley’s closing, breweries continue to be scarce in the county, leaving only three, Deep River, Johnston County Brewing and Benson’s Fainting Goat Brewing Company.
This story was originally published August 1, 2023 at 3:10 PM with the headline "A popular NC brewery has closed in Johnston County. Here’s what we know."
