105 East South Street, Unit C
Aberdeen, NC 28315
910-783-5280
Website: http://www.railhousebrewery.com
Hours: Tuesday–Wednesday, 1 P.M.–6 P.M.; Thursday, 1 P.M.–midnight; Friday, 1 P.M.–2 A.M.; Saturday, 10 A.M.–2 A.M.
Owners: Mike Ratkowski and Brian Evitts
Brewmaster: Brian Evitts
Opened: 2009
Regular beer lineup: Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Honey Wheat, Oatmeal Stout
Mike Ratkowski and Brian Evitts met while working at Ferrellgas, a propane company. They found they had similar backgrounds. They’re both ex-military guys—Ratkowski was in the army and Evitts in the navy—and they had complementary skills. ”We’ve always had a real good working relationship,” says Ratkowski. “Brian’s a real numbers guy—in fact, he just got his MBA from N.C. State—and I’m more of a people person, marketing person, operations person.”
Fermentation and bright tanks at Railhouse Brewery
They discussed going into business together. “We had talked about maybe getting into real estate,” Ratkowski says, “and of course the housing market crashed, and that became a poor option.”
The epiphany came when they were in Alexandria, Virginia, on a sales call. On their way back, they stopped at an Uno Pizzeria for lunch. “It was raining,” says Ratkowski, “so there were all these contractors at the bar drinking and eating lunch, and we noticed that they were all drinking all these craft beers. And I thought, That’s kinda weird, because they seem like blue-collar Bud Light, Miller Lite kinda guys. I just didn’t realize how widespread the craft beer phenomenon had gotten. I actually wrote it on a napkin: ‘We should start a brewery.’ ” They still have that napkin.
Following the sales trip, they started looking for equipment. They found a good deal on a system in Kentucky from the Bowling Green Brewing Company, which was going out of business. Soon, they were looking for a space to install that equipment. They decided on the name Railhouse Brewery several months before they located a space. Through a stroke of luck, they found a spot next to the train depot in Aberdeen, right on the tracks.
“It was a little overwhelming at first,” says Ratkowski of their first few months. “We got all the equipment put in here on Easter Sunday—just pallets of hoses and pumps and motors and everything. It took us about three months to get everything up and working.”
One of the highlights of their first year in business, says Ratkowski, was seeing the void they filled in the area. They had contemplated the North Raleigh/Zebulon area. What drew them south to Aberdeen were the golf and military communities, both of which, they felt, would provide a good customer base for a new brewery. Ratkowski says, “We didn’t realize it at the time, but there are a huge amount of homebrewers in the area. We actually have a homebrew club that we started even before we were open. We have 65 to 70 guys in the homebrew club that get together one Saturday a month, order pizzas, bring samples in, and try beers. The guys in the club are a great volunteer work force.” In fact, the partners called on that volunteer work force a few times in the first year to help get their brewery up and running.
The bar at Railhouse Brewery
According to Ratkowski, the future is bright for Railhouse Brewery. But it is also difficult to predict. He and Evitts saw about twice as much growth in their first year as they anticipated, and they’ve recently picked up a new distributor out of Fayetteville, which will help them grow even more. They’re planning to expand into other parts of Railhouse’s building when it becomes available. They also hope to see Railhouse beers statewide and maybe even in South Carolina or Virginia. “It’s just hard to say where the business will take us right now,” Ratkowski says, “but we’re having a lot of fun.”
