What would move someone to buy a brewery in today’s market?
Industry headwinds haven’t exactly been positive—the Brewers Association reports that sales of craft beer fell 4 percent and more breweries closed than opened in 2024. Tariffs are one reason, as are labor costs, inflation, and changing consumer alcohol habits. With the heyday of the 2010s craft beer craze in the rearview mirror, many breweries are opting to liquidate.
But for the new owners of Starpoint Brewing, the answer to that question is straightforward: Community.
“All of us are residents of Durham,” says Andy Morrison, the new head of sales and marketing at Starpoint, “[We’re drawn] to being able to be a part of the actual liquid itself in a spot in Durham, and have that kind of connection directly to the community that that creates. I think for all of us, part of the reason that we enjoy being in beer is the idea of beer as a vessel for community.”
Morrison is part of the new ownership team of Starpoint Brewing, alongside Daniel Kulenic, who works at Sennos (formerly Precision Fermentation) and will take on the mantle of CEO, and Whit Baker, a partner in Bond Brothers in Cary and Standard Beer & Food in Raleigh, who will work as director of operations.
Carrboro residents Harper and Beth Boylan founded Starpoint Brewing in 2012, after growing their small-batch IPA operation out of a garage. In 2017, Starpoint moved to Durham, where the brewery shares a space with easygoing Rockwood neighborhood bar Beer Study, with some operations still run out of Carrboro. With Harper retiring, the new owners say, operations will shift entirely to Durham. Head brewer Ken Hampton will stay on in his longtime role, and Ziggy Sprinkle will round out the five-person team as a sales representative.
Durham has an established brewery scene made up of stalwarts like Fullsteam and Durty Bull, which opened around the same time as Starpoint (2010 and 2016, respectively, although Fullsteam has recently shifted production to Rocky Mount).
Morrison, Kulenic, and Baker say the purchase followed years of joking that they should go in on a beer endeavor together. With this new era for Starpoint, the three friends, who have decades of industry experience between them, are dubbing it “Durham’s oldest new brewery.” They plan to launch a brand refresh in early spring and hint that locals can soon expect to find more Starpoint brews on tap at downtown bars.
Mostly, though, they say they just want to invest in keeping a good thing going.
“Here’s a brewery that’s been doing great things for close to a decade, the majority of that under Ken’s care,” Morrison says, “And for us to be able to come in and build from that point—and not build as in we have grand ambitions to be a regional powerhouse brewery or anything like that—we just want to build within Forest Hills and Hope Valley and the connective area that’s around here.”
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