Mike Karnowski is the cofounder and brewer of Zebulon Artisan Ales. The first thing he’ll tell you is that he’s a curmudgeon. He’s got opinions.
On a weekday morning, Karnowski is inside his 1,400-square-foot brewery that also houses the taproom. It’s a tan-brick building with two large garage-bay doors that open to a small parking lot in Weaverville, a small town about 10 miles north of Asheville. On this day, like most days, he’s thinking about doing something different.
He’s had a career in beer, but this is his first brewery. He wants to head into retirement from this job one day, but that’s a ways off, so in the intervening time, Karnowski wants to keep things interesting. He doesn’t want to fall into a rut, doesn’t want to become just another brewery.