Brian Cendrowski

Mother Earth – Big Brewing in a Small Town

Trent Mooring, Josh Brewer & Stephen Hill

I first met Josh Brewer when I traveled down to Beaufort, South Carolina in the fall of 2007 to do a story on his new brewpub, appropriately named Brewer’s. He and his wife Alexia were very nice and extremely hospitable. The beer and food at the pub was excellent.

So it was with disappointment that I learned early last year that they had decided to close Brewer’s. It was understandable, as a husband and wife team trying to run a brewpub while raising a newborn girl is no small task.

I was excited to see that Josh quickly teamed up with a new brewery that was starting in Kinston, North Carolina called Mother Earth. My first reaction was, “Awesome!” My second thought was, “Where the hell is Kinston?”

Kinston is a small town of 25,000 people in the eastern part of North Carolina, about 80 miles southeast of Raleigh and 90 miles north of Wilmington. A two-time winner of the All-America City Award, Kinston is in the middle of the tobacco belt and is heavily tied into agriculture. Textiles were also a large part of the economy up until the 1960s, when the industry began migrating overseas.

As with many small towns, as the local economy went downhill, the downtown area went with it. However, in the past couple years, downtown Kinston has begun a revitalization. As breweries often are, Mother Earth has become one of the anchors of the restoration effort.

So Why Kinston?

Mother Earth was founded by Stephen Hill and his son-in-law Trent Mooring. They both grew up in Kinston and have strong ties there both personally and professionally. They are both big into organic farming. Stephen still raises cows.

After Stephen made Trent his first “Red Eye,” a mix of homemade tomato juice and beer, (I had one, it was good. Perfect for those morning afters.) a lightbulb went off. They wanted start a brewery that was focused on being environmentally friendly and that kept much of the process local. They wanted to stay in Kinston to support their home town.

They came up with the name for the brewery one afternoon when they sat down with a stack of Stephen’s old vinyl records, seeking inspiration. When the song Mother Earth by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band came on, they knew that was it.

Stephen had homebrewed back in the 80s, but neither he nor Trent were accomplished brewers, so the next step was finding someone to make the beer, yet also shared in their philosophies. They put an ad up on ProBrewer. Trent said they probably received over 100 resumes and interviewed about 25 prospects.

Looking to get back in the game, Josh saw the ad and sent his resume. When he met with Stephen and Trent, they quickly bonded. It became apparent that Josh was their man. After a second meeting to cement the relationship, Josh took the job and moved the family on up to Kinston.

In September 2009, Mother Earth produced its first batch of beer. By the end of October, they were ready to open their doors to the world and had their grand opening party.

The Brewery

When Nicole and I pulled up to the brewery, it was like a beacon of hope. There is nothing more beautiful than a brand spanking new brewery. Well, there are a lot of things more beautiful, like sunsets, canyons, snow-capped mountains and women, but I’ll put a new brewery in the top 10% of beautiful things.

We walked in to the brewery and it was pristine. Shiny tanks, clean floors, no clutter and everything organized in tidy stacks.

Mother Earth has a 20 bbl brewhouse, four 40 bbl fermenters and two 40 bbl brite tanks. However, the initial response to their beer has been so positive they are already looking to expand capacity, with a couple 60 bbl fermenters on the way, along with another brite tank or two.

What caught my eye, however, was a tiny little 1 bbl system off to the side. This is where Josh and the crew can really have some fun. They are constantly brewing test batches, tweaking their regular recipes and experimenting with new ones.

1 bbl test system

Mother Earth also has a barrel-aging room, stocked with bourbon and pinot noir barrels. I wanted to grab a stake, jab it in one of those barrels and lay down underneath like Homer Simpson at Moe’s. There is nothing better than a good barrel-aged beer.

However, Mother Earth is not just about the stainless steel and the fermented barley. There’s a certain aesthetic and attention to detail that they put into everything. Their bottle labels are designed by a local artist. The tap room is run totally by solar power. The “Door To Nowhere” that they left in when renovating the brewery. They even have a quaint cottage-like brewer’s suite where Nicole and I got to stay. There was thoughtful design put into everything.

The second story Door to Nowhere above the brite tanks

If they put as much thought into their beer as they do the experience that is Mother Earth, there is no doubt in my mind it will be a hit.

The Tap Room

We reaped the benefits of the test batches and barrel-aged brews once we got to the tap room. When we walked in, I felt like I entered the set of a Billy Idol video.

White curtains lined two of the walls and the decor was sparse and modern. Blue lights illuminated the bar from underneath a glass counter. The floor was made from whitewashed wooden planks, giving the room a slight rustic twist in homage to the building’s historic past.

Trent, Nicole and Josh in the Tap Room

In one corner were two red and white bubble chairs that looked like they were stolen from Dr. Evil’s compound. Black leather couches sat opposite the Dr. Evil chairs, giving patrons a comfy area to relax or pass out. There is also a large outdoor patio with plush red and white cruise ship chairs.

Nicole… or Dr. Evil?

Every other Thursday, Josh puts a cask on tap. Tonight was an IPA that was dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace. It was an amazing coincidence that I had posted an article about that hop that very morning.

In addition to the cask, there were a few other special edition beers on tap, including a peppered wit, their standard Weeping Willow Wit with ground peppercorns and coriander added, then fermented with trippel yeast. They had a trippel IPA, a blend of imperial IPA and barrel-aged trippel. Topping it off was an imperial stout with coffee, served on nitro.

The tap room has been a huge boon to Mother Earth. Not only does it give them a way to get immediate feedback on their test batches, but it provides a way for them to interact directly with the community. In a small town, that personal interaction is extremely important.

To illustrate that point, Nicole and I went to breakfast the next morning at Christopher’s Cafe, about a block from the brewery. After our meal, we went to the register to pay, and Christopher, the owner, was manning the register. “So how long you staying?” was his first question. Apparently I forgot to take the “I’m Not From Here” sticker off my forehead.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t creepy or rude. Everyone we met in town was friendly and warm. We even had an amazing dinner experience at Chef & the Farmer, a farm-to-table restaurant featuring local ingredients and a creative menu. They even had a good beer selection. I enjoyed a Three Philosophers and a Duvel. It was a restaurant I would have expected to find in Asheville or Charlotte.

In our brief time in town, we could see the seeds of growth sprouting in Kinston. It was very encouraging to see a brewery at the forefront, leading the economic charge.

With all the unfriendly beer regulations that make the beer business so tough, especially in the South, perhaps many of our legislators ought to talk to the people of Kinston and ask them what Mother Earth has meant to their community.

They would paint a beautiful picture.

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