About OMB
The History of The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
No great City should be without premium quality, fresh beer from its own local brewery. In June, 2007 while camping with his family in Montana OMB's founder decided Charlotte should not be deprived any longer. He returned home to Charlotte with a new purpose, and shortly thereafter The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery (OMB) was born. OMB’s mission is to produce the highest quality beer available locally and deliver it ultra-fresh to the Charlotte/Mecklenburg County region.
After about a year of developing the business plan, OMB was ready to get started. In August 2008 we leased a 15,000 square foot warehouse on Southside Drive in the heart of south Charlotte and began the process of converting it into a brewery.
Just five months later in early 2009, OMB began crafting its first batch of what would become OMB Copper (an authentic German-style Altbier) from the finest ingredients available worldwide. Two months after that, once the recipe was perfected, sales began in March 2009 with the opening of our tap room and the start of wholesale sales. Our tap room wasn't even finished at the time. Early customers will recall our plywood bar (with wood clamps still attached). Customers started to trickle in...and OMB slowly began adding bar and restaurant accounts thoughout Charlotte as people tried the beer and tasted the difference. By the end of 2009 we were delivering to approximately 80 accounts around Charlotte, and we produced just over 1,000 barrels (1,007 to be exact) of beer that year.
In 2010 we kept plugging along, adding approximately 100 more accounts, by year end delivering to more than 200 bars, restaurants and retailers in the Charlotte area, as well as about another 15 in the Fort Mill/Rock Hill areas of South Carolina.
Just after Christmas 2010 OMB leased the other side of our building, doubling the brewery's size to 30,000 square feet. This additional space will allow us to add a bottling line this summer and begin selling OMB at local grocery stores. It will also allow for the construction of a private party room just off of the main tap room.
And we'll continue to keep plugging away.
Seems people really do appreciate fresh, premium beer.