HOLLY SPRINGS | 919
HOW ABOUT AN ALL-DAY PARTY? Bombshell Beer Co. Celebrates 6 Years In Holly Springs With Michelle Miniutti, Co-Owner and VP Sales Bombshell Beer Company
BOMBSHELL BEER COMPANY IN HOLLY SPRINGS RECENTLY RECEIVED A BRONZE MEDAL FOR ITS B O U R B O N B A R R E L -AGE D L A DY IN RE D AT T H E A NNUA L GR E AT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL IN OCTOBER IN DENVER.
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919 Magazine
Holly Springs’ Bombshell Beer Company is the only 919-area brewer that won a prize at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival in Denver – and is one of the few 100 percent women-owned microbreweries in the U.S. Co-Owner and Vice President of Sales Michelle Miniutti discusses the local brewery, it’s history and it’s future. HOW DID BOMBSHELL BEER COMPANY START? Bombshell was founded in September 2012 by Michelle Miniutti, Jackie Hudspeth and Ellen Joyner. Michelle and Ellen were business colleagues and played golf together. On days when weather was not conducive to golf, we often visited breweries or craft-centric beer bars.In Januara 2011, after a day visiting local breweries, I proposed to Ellen that we start their own micro-brewery. It seemed logical. Ellen actually had been a home brewer for more than 10 years; we both had strong business management backgrounds and entrepreneurial spirits. Additionally, there were very few women in the craft brewing industry and we wanted to change that. So, we formed a plan and then asked Jackie, who was also a friend, to join their venture. The word Bombshell has several meanings, including that which is shocking or amazing. That definition is what sold us on the name. In 2011, we decided to found the company; there were only three one-hundredpercent-women-owned microbreweries in the U.S. That was a shocking and disappointing statistic; we wanted to change that, and we also wanted to say “Hey, isn’t it amazing that three women are starting a microbrewery!”
www.919Magazine.com
January/February 2020