Fullsteam Brewery threw open the doors of its future home Thursday, offering Durham beer fans a sneak peek inside the historic brick power plant at American Tobacco Campus where the brewery plans to reopen its taproom. The 9,000-square-foot space includes seating spread across multiple rooms and an outdoor patio lit by the campus's signature string lights, sitting near the iconic smokestack and Lucky Strike tower that mark the district's skyline.
The preview comes nearly two years after Fullsteam's original Rigsbee Avenue taproom closed amid a dispute with its landlord, according to Axios. Founder Sean Lilly Wilson, who owns the brewery known for beers like Paycheck Pilsner and Rocket Science IPA, has been hesitant to commit to an exact reopening date, though a marquee outside the American Tobacco Campus location read on August 5, “How about September? September sounds nice.” Wilson regularly posts updates about the brewery's progress on Instagram.
Fullsteam calls itself Durham's original craft beer maker, having launched on Rigsbee Avenue in 2010. The brewery kept production running even after closing out its Rigsbee Avenue chapter, and it still operates another location in Research Triangle Park. One detail bridges old and new: Fullsteam's original door, crafted by Andrew Preiss, has been reassembled inside the new American Tobacco Campus space.
A Power Plant With Deep Roots
The building housing Fullsteam's next taproom is a former power plant that dates back further than the brewery itself. According to the American Tobacco Historic District's own history, the structure was built between 1929 and 1939 within the 14.6-acre district, and it once housed Duke University's 100-seat Full Frame Theater. Capitol Broadcasting Company began restoring the long-abandoned tobacco factory buildings starting in 2001, laying the groundwork for the mixed-use campus Fullsteam is now joining.
Thursday's event doubled as a celebration of a different anniversary: 21 years since North Carolina lifted its 6% ABV limit on beer. Organizers said the change transformed the state into a national craft beer powerhouse. Governor Mike Easley signed House Bill 392, the “Pop the Cap” law, on August 13, 2005, raising the legal alcohol limit on beer from 6% to 15%, a cap that had stood since the end of Prohibition in 1935, per Well Crafted NC.
Adjusting To A Changing Industry
Fullsteam's path back to a Durham taproom has involved reshuffling where its beer is actually brewed. In March 2025, the brewery shifted production of core year-round beers, including Paycheck Pilsner and Rocket Science IPA, to Charlotte-based NoDa Brewing Company, contracting batches of up to 240 barrels, the brewery said in a post cited by the dossier's entity background. That July, Fullsteam also took over management of the 12,000-square-foot Rocky Mount Brewmill campus, using it for small-batch beers, ciders, wines, and non-alcoholic drinks, according to Midtown Magazine. The Brewmill is owned by Capitol Broadcasting Company, which also owns American Tobacco Campus.
Those moves reflect pressure across the state's brewing industry. North Carolina counted more than 400 permitted brewing facilities in early 2026, generating an estimated $2.3 billion in annual economic impact and supporting over 18,000 jobs, per the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild. But statewide beer excise tax collections dropped 9.7% between 2021 and 2025, mirroring a national contraction in U.S. craft beer production of 5.1% in 2025, as reported by Axios.
A Neighborhood Fullsteam Helped Build
Fullsteam's original Rigsbee Avenue taproom operated for 14 years before closing on October 31, 2024, according to the 9th Street Journal. Wilson cited proposed rent increases and physical space constraints as key factors in the decision to leave Old North Durham, a neighborhood the brewery's arrival in 2010 helped transform into an entertainment hub. Hoodline previously reported on a developer's plan for 262 more apartments near GeerHouse tied to that same district's growth.
Since its founding in 2010, Fullsteam has spent nearly $1 million on local agricultural ingredients to support regional farmers, maltsters, and foragers under what it calls its “Plow to Pint” philosophy, according to background provided by American Tobacco Campus. Wilson coined the term “Southern Beer Economy” to build market opportunities for post-tobacco Southern agriculture, a mission that traces back to North Carolina's broader craft beer origins in 1985, when state law changes legalized brewpubs and allowed Weeping Radish Farm Brewery to open as the state's first microbrewery in 1986.
Fullsteam's arrival adds to a wave of recent activity at American Tobacco Campus. Startup hub American Underground moved its headquarters back to a 40,000-square-foot facility on the campus in June, joining newer tenants like Lutra Cafe & Bakery, according to prior Hoodline reporting on the campus's growing foot traffic. With Fullsteam's taproom now taking shape inside the old power plant, the historic district is adding another anchor as it works to reestablish itself as a downtown Durham social hub.
