×

That traveling trio in “American Pie” will need to scoot over and make some room for Raleigh's Blackjack Brewing Company : During Labor Day weekend, the Raleigh brewery announced it is soon moving to Wilmington, an apropos location for a pirate-themed place.Lynnwood Brewing is buying out Blackjack's Whitaker Mill Road location. Lynnwood has been looking for an opportunity to expand its operations for quite some time. Lynnwood Grill has been on the Raleigh scene since 2004, though they only added the brewery in 2013. Still, it already offers a wide range of craft brews, including the Hubris Imperial IPA and personal faves Once You Go Black IPA (a 2014 silver medalist at the World Beer Cup) and the Kiss My Irish stout (a 2014 silver medalist at the U.S. Open Beer Championship).If all goes smoothly, the purchase will allow Lynnwood Brewing to increase its output by 200 percent and also expand its experiments with barrel-aging by October. There are also plans for the new location to feature a tasting room and beer garden. Food trucks will be scheduled on a regular basis for dining options.Fans of Lynnwood Brewing's Grove Barton Road location shouldn't worry, as LBC owner Ted Dwyer says this is an expansion, not a move.“We will continue brewing operations at the restaurant and will make the same beers and more at the Whitaker Mill location,” Dwyer says. “The goal is to expand slowly and maintain our quality and standards throughout. We hope to be canning early next year and meet the demand that we haven't been able to.”Dwyer says head brewer Bill Gerds has already secured hops contracts well into the future to meet the needs of their increased production. Additional staffing will play a role in the expansion as well. Dwyer says Gerds and his two assistants will be joined by a third assistant who previously worked with Gerds in Michigan before he joined the Lynnwood team.