405 Hay Street
Fayetteville, NC 28301
910-437-9905
Website: http://www.huskehardware.com
Hours: Monday–Tuesday, 11 A.M.–10 P.M.; Wednesday–Thursday, 11 A.M.–midnight; Friday–Saturday, 11 A.M.–2 A.M.; Sunday, 11 A.M.–9 P.M.
Owner: Josh Collins
Brewmaster: Mark Fesche
Opened: 1996
Regular beer lineup: Level-Headed German Blonde Ale, Impale Ale, Kill-A-Man Irish Red, Farmhouse Ale, Sledgehammer Stout
Seasonals: Filthy Kilt Wee Heavy, Consecrator Grand Cru
In 1903, when Benjamin Huske constructed the building that would become his landmark department/hardware store–“the Home Depot of its day,” says current owner Josh Collins—out in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina’s coastal plain, people thought he was crazy. During the years that followed, it became a center of commerce and eventually the center of what is now downtown Fayetteville. After the store closed in the 1970s, the building hosted a variety of tenants ranging from a furniture store to a jewelry store. In 1996, part of the structure was renovated, and a brewery/restaurant was installed by Dr. William Baggett.
In 2006, Josh Collins and his wife, Tonia, the owners of Blue Moon Café in downtown Fayetteville, saw that the brewery/restaurant was in its waning days and decided to take a shot at it. Josh assembled some friends—his “Band of Brothers,” he calls them, all still active-duty Special Ops soldiers—who pooled their savings to buy Huske Hardware House around the end of 2007.
What followed was a long renovation. “It used to look more industrial, with this hard concrete and metal look to it,” Josh says. “Now, it’s all custom woodwork, all maples and red oaks. All the woodwork is handmade. The brewery was a mess. It had 13 years of low maintenance.”
Remnants of the hardware store linger in the building, especially in the brickwork. In some areas, the parapets that were the original exterior walls are still visible.
After a year of work, Josh and Tonia reopened Huske Hardware House. The brewpub is beautiful. It is an enormous open space with warm wooden accents throughout. The main room of the brewery is two stories tall. A mezzanine that seats well over 100 encircles the room. A sheltered brick patio with abundant outdoor seating stands to the left of the restaurant. In the rear of the seating area behind tall glass walls lies the brewhouse and fermentation space. All in all, this is one of the largest brewpubs in the state.
To get their brewing operation going, Josh and Tonia hired Julie Baggett, formerly of Abita Brewing Company and at that time the only female brewmaster in North Carolina. “Julie was awesome,” Josh says. “I had a huge stack of résumés, and I interviewed about a dozen brewers. They were all these Gold Medal winners, people with huge amounts of experience. But one of my key questions was, ‘Are you willing to compete side by side with guest beers?’ ” Unlike many brewpubs, Huske offers a wide variety of competitors’ beers alongside its own. “She was the only one that said yes,” Josh recalls. “She was just the right person to bring in to restore the brewery to its pristine state. She invented the flagship beers that we’ve stuck with to this day.”
Baggett has since moved on. In her place, Josh hired Mark Fesche, formerly of Deschutes Brewery in Oregon. Fesche helped open breweries for a time and was the original brewer at Twin Lakes Brewing Co. in Wilmington, Delaware, and Boylan Bridge Brewpub in Raleigh. He took the mantle of brewmaster from Baggett in 2010 and has been keeping the restaurant in beer since.
One of the noteworthy things about Huske Hardware House is its commitment to the military. Fayetteville has a large military community, being the major city nearest Fort Bragg and Pope Army Airfield. The commitment makes even more sense because of the involvement of Huske’s six active-duty partners. “These guys are guys that I’ve been in combat with,” Josh says with reverence. “They’re good friends that I trust with my life.”
Brewmaster Mark Fesche at work at Huske Hardware House
The bar at Railhouse Brewery
