— A new brewery has opened in the Triangle area and it's a bombshell – specifically Bombshell Beer Company of Holly Springs. They will host their grand opening party this Saturday from noon until 11 p.m. with live music, food trucks, free giveaways on the half hour!

How did Bombshell Beer Company come to be? Michelle Miniutti and Ellen Joyner got the idea while touring breweries three years ago. They were avid golfers but they decided that on any rainy Saturday they'd make it a point to tour breweries. It was during those tours that Michelle thought, “Why not open a brewery?” Ellen had been brewing for over a decade and she showed Michelle how the brewing process worked. They decided they had the skills and took the leap of putting a business plan together. A couple years later they brought in Jackie Hudspeth as another partner.

Each partner brings her own particular expertise to the brewery. Jackie is the operations manager and handles the day-to-day operations. Ellen has the business expertise, having worked for a Top 500 company and Michelle comes from a sales background, so altogether they have the pieces to build the business.

So where did the name “Bombshell” come from? Ellen and Michelle aren’t quite sure who thought of it first. They thought of the modern day bombshell like Victoria's Secret girls and mixed it with the classic pin up girls of the past to create a logo that suited the idealism of the brewery.

Being a female-owned brewery, their approach is to fill the market for the female beer enthusiast. Each has their own particular beer preference so they can explore a wide variety of styles while also creating beer that can be a good crossover for those who are more familiar with drinking the national brands. Their mission is to create a consistent tasting beer that no matter when you try it, it’s always the same. That may not seem like a hard thing to do but with small craft breweries, it is a challenge they adamantly strive for.

The brewer that’s taking this challenge head on is Stephen O’Neill. He comes to Bombshell from the award-winning Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh, PA. With more than 10 years of experience, he brings the knowledge and experience to develop recipes and brewing methods that have already produced a gold, two bronze and a silver medal at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival.

The Bombshell flagship beers are the Polished Pilsener, Perception Pale Ale, Pickup Line Porter, Lost My Way IPA with a rotation of different types of stouts. The brewery is located in the heart of Holly Springs, just off of Old Highway 55. Head out there for a beer and meet these bombshells for yourself!

Dave Tollefsen and Glenn Cutler are regular guys living in central North Carolina with their families who share a love for craft beer and homebrewing. They work together as the NCBeerGuys. They can be found online promoting North Carolina craft beer, providing information about the folks who produce local beer and writing about beer adventures, activities and events across North Carolina.