Road Trip! Mad Mole Brewing

For a good part of the last year, we’ve been following Mad Mole Brewing on social media and thoroughly enjoying the inspired silliness of their self-produced reels. We’ve also crossed paths with their terrific sales team and sampled their beers at several craft beer festivals. So, when we finally organized our Wilmington brewery adventure, we were fully stoked to meet the “MM” media stars and settle in for some in-depth beer tasting.

The Basics

Location: 6309 Boathouse Rd, Wilmington, NC 28403

Parking: dedicated on-site

Website: madmolebrewing.com

Social media: facebook.com/madmolebrewing, instagram.com/cloudsbrewing

Vibe/Atmosphere: relaxed, neighborhood-centric, inspired silliness

Beers We Tried: Raspberry Molay, Citra Mole Down, Pentinent, Armolegeddon, Subterranean Orchard, Dune Dweller

Important NC Beer Explorer Tip: When consuming alcohol, always have a designated driver. Be safe out there, friends! Follow these simple tips for safer consumption.

For a good time, follow Mad Mole on Instagram (instagram.com/madmolebrewing).

Fermentation-Fueled Fever Dreams

On a sparkling Thursday afternoon in May, we arrived in Wilmington for a long weekend of beer exploration mixed with a little recreational travel. We headed to Mad Mole at 11:30 a.m., only to realize we had completely crossed up our schedule for meeting co-founders Ole Pederson and Martin de Jongh. Fortunately, Sarah Woosley, the Bar Manager/PR Coordinator, came to the rescue and opened up the taproom for us. Just as we were getting ready to start tasting, Ole and Martin appeared. Despite our calendar mix-up, they graciously made themselves available for an impromptu video interview on the spot. Yay!

How to Build a Hometown Pub

Longtime friends Ole and Martin opened Mad Mole Brewing eight years ago after years of homebrewing together. Growing up in South Africa, Martin had long dreamed of opening a family-friendly pub like the ones he fondly remembered. By 2017, Ole and Martin were ready to bring their brewing passion to full fruition — they just needed a name.

After tossing around plenty of discarded ideas, Martin’s daughter landed on the perfect moniker by combining parts of their first names and adding a playful nod to their slightly mad-scientist approach to homebrewing. Just like that, Mad Mole Brewing was born.

We were especially intrigued by the array of 12 horizontal stainless steel tanks behind the taproom bar. The tanks even looked suspiciously like moles! Naturally, there’s a story behind them. Ole and Martin explained that they faced significant space limitations while trying to fit both a brewery and taproom into their 185-square-meter building. They had seen Mueller® Serving Tanks at a brewer’s conference and reached out to develop a customized solution — and it worked beautifully. The setup saved space, improved shelf life, and created a striking taproom centerpiece all at once.

We Can Dig It!

As mentioned above, we were lucky enough to visit during Mad Mole Brewing’s eighth anniversary celebration, and we made a return visit on Saturday to join the festivities. For the occasion, Mad Mole opened their roll-up doors to a roomy patio, creating the perfect setting for guests to enjoy great beer and terrific live music by Janko Winehart.

What could be better? Beautiful afternoon, excellent beer, good music, and friendly people. You might even say everyone was “down to earth” and really “digging” the experience.

Can you spot the mole in the Mueller tank?

NCBE's Beer Notes - Mad Mole Brewing

• Citra Mole Down

  • Style: NEIPA

  • ABV: 6.7%

  • Color: Pale straw, cloudy

  • Aroma: Grapefruit, a little stone fruit

  • Taste: Grapefruit, a little stone fruit, lime, hint of pine

  • Mouthfeel: Moderately creamy, dry, lightly astringent

  • Aftertaste: Lingering bitter, grapefruit

• Raspberry Molay

  • Style: Raspberry Kolsch

  • ABV: 5.7%

  • Color: Light amber-pink, light white head

  • Aroma: Raspberry

  • Taste: Full-on raspberry sour/sweet

  • Mouthfeel: Light, crisp

  • Aftertaste: Tangy, sour

• Subterranean Orchard*

  • Style: NEIPA made with 100% Peacharine (New Zealand)hops

  • ABV: 6.5%

  • Color: Pale yellow, cloudy with a mousse-like foam

  • Aroma: Stone fruit – especially peach, touch of citrus

  • Taste: Peach/nectarine/apricot collides with citrus turning earthy and resinous.

  • Mouthfeel: Creamy

  • Aftertaste: Lingering citrus, spicy, touch of warm alcohol

  • Overall: This was our favorite beer of the ones we tasted. It was a flavor-note journey and stumped us enough that we had to ask for a second pour!

• Pentinent

  • Style: Belgian Tripel

  • ABV: 9.8%

  • Color: Pale yellow/amber

  • Aroma: Bread crust, caramel, baking spice

  • Taste: Fruit mix, caramel malt, baking spice. Sweet -> sour.

  • Mouthfeel: Medium body, light carbonation

  • Aftertaste: Tart, spicy, bitter

  • Overall: Well-made Tripel!

• Armoldegeddon

  • Style: Double Imperial Stout – w/coffee and vanilla

  • ABV: 9%

  • Color: Dark Brown/Coffee, beige foam

  • Aroma: Coffee, tobacco, vanilla, wood smoke

  • Taste: Coffee/espresso, vanilla, cherry, caramel, charred wood

  • Mouthfeel: Medium body

  • Aftertaste: Coffee, molasses, black cherry, dark chocolate

• Dune Dweller

  • Style: Coastal IPA

  • ABV: 5.2%

  • Color: Light amber

  • Aroma: Fresh linen on the clothes line

  • Taste: Malty, hoppy

  • Mouthfeel: Bright and bubbly

  • Aftertaste: Light hoppy

*NCBE Two mugs up!

What do you think about Mad Mole Brewing?