North State Brewing is open on Youngsville’s Main Street

North State Brewing Company is open at 133 East Main Street in downtown Youngsville, pouring small-batch beer and mead brewed on site. The brewery officially opened on September 12, 2026, with a ribbon cutting, according to the company’s website.

The taproom is on Main Street in Youngsville, which is in Franklin County. North State Brewing is a nano-brewery co-owned by Rob Smith and Ian Zech, and the company describes itself as veteran-owned.

Who owns North State Brewing

Smith is a U.S. Navy veteran with a background in culinary service and more than 10 years of home brewing, according to the company’s website. The site says he is working toward a commercial brewing certification.

Zech spent 25 years in accounting and finance before changing careers, according to the website. He has 10 years of home brewing behind him, specializes in mead and holds the commercial brewing certification from Wake Tech.

Triangle Around Town reported on August 20, 2026, that the partners were building the brewery without borrowing money. The outlet reported that they used salvaged equipment, brew in one-barrel batches of about 30 gallons, planned 16 tap lines and had secured their ABC permits. “We don’t want debt. We’re doing this smart,” Zech told the outlet. The article set the opening against a slump in craft beer and a run of brewery closures.

The Franklin County Flyer newsletter reported on July 27, 2026, that North State Brewing, which it called a veteran-owned brewery and meadery, planned to open at 133 East Main Street in late summer 2026.

The company’s website documents the buildout of the space, including reclaimed wood from barns that stood for more than 100 years, two dart boards and a refurbished pool table. The first beer kegged in the new brewery was a hazy IPA, according to the site.

Beer, mead and other drinks on tap

The website’s on-tap list on October 2, 2026, included these 11 beers:

• Crazy Hilla Hazy is a 5% hazy IPA described as citrusy and juicy.
• Submarine Screen Door is a 5% German pilsner.
• Prost State is a 6.9% Märzen described as malty and toasty.
• Thanks a Latta is a 5.5% cream ale with coffee notes.
• Wheat You Say? is a 4.5% wheat ale infused with raspberry.
• Identity Crisis is a 5.7% experimental beer with light banana esters.
• Speedy Gone Vienna is a 6.2% Vienna lager with biscuit and light caramel flavors.
• Y-Syde West Coast is a 7% West Coast IPA.
• Out of This Galaxy is a 6.6% hazy IPA with tropical fruit and citrus notes.
• Bunn Brown is a 6.4% brown ale with caramel and toasted malt.
• Liquid Encouragement is a 6.4% Belgian blonde.

The same list carried drinks beyond beer:

• Silk & Bloom is a 10.8% melomel, a mead made with fruit.
• Cape Boocha is a raspberry hard kombucha at 0.8%.
• Volio Sparkling White is a prosecco at 10.5%.
• Tin Roof is a root beer with vanilla and sarsaparilla and no alcohol.
• Two wines, a Coppola cabernet sauvignon and a Shannon Ridge red blend, come in 5-ounce pours.

Most beers come in 16-ounce, 8-ounce and 5-ounce pours, and a flight holds four 5-ounce pours, according to the website. The site describes a mead program built on five styles, from traditional honey mead to bochet, which is made with caramelized honey.

Hours, food trucks and taproom events

On Friday, October 2, 2026, the website listed taproom hours of 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. for the day. The site does not post a full weekly schedule or a phone number. It takes questions through a message form.

The brewery’s first food truck night was September 26, 2026, with Tacos Al Vaquero. The website’s events page lists these upcoming food trucks, each from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.:

• On Saturday, October 3, 2026, the truck is Tacos Los 2 Garcías.
• On Saturday, October 17, 2026, the truck is Cartel Tacos Food Truck.
• On Saturday, November 14, 2026, the truck is El Toro Alebrije Tacos & Tapas.
• On Saturday, November 21, 2026, the truck is Tacos Tigres.

A darts league plays Wednesdays from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., according to the events page. The page also lists trivia without a schedule and marks music bingo as coming soon.