Drinks in Raleigh, N.C.

In Raleigh, N.C., the craft beverage business is booming. Breweries, wineries, distilleries, coffee roasters and more—if you can drink it, you can bet there’s a smart entrepreneur in the Raleigh area who has figured out how to make a delicious, local version of it to put in bottles, cans and kegs to share with others. There’s a reason this type of craft easily thrives in N.C.’s capital city—a culture of innovation and collaboration is built into the fabric of the community. Meaning, for example, local breweries aren’t competitors, but partners, and local restaurants and bottle shops (not to mention residents and visitors) are eager to support.

That’s why the world’s largest beer garden is in Raleigh, why the state’s first fully woman-owned brewery and first urban winery are thriving here and why the number of craft beverage makers has tripled in the last decade with no signs of slowing down.