TRU Colors Brewing secures location, production start date

Star-News - 8/15/2018

Aug. 15--A Wilmington brewery hoping to reduce gang violence by employing former gang members has officially found a facility.

TRU Colors Brewing hopes to begin brewing, canning and distributing beer by the end of 2018, said marketing director Cory Wrisborne. Locating to a 44,000-square-foot facility on Old Dairy Road, Wrisborne said there are currently no plans for the brewery to be the site of a brewpub or restaurant. For now, he said, the team plans to distribute beer across the state, spread a message of non-violence and unify rival gang members.

He said brewers will likely focus their initial efforts on one brew and beer type before expanding to produce multiple. The initial brew, in the experimental phase now, will be a brew that appeals to a large audience -- somewhere between craft beer and more mainstream beer.

TRU Colors, inspired by the deadly Castle Street shooting of a 16-year-old in 2015, currently employs 35 team members split throughout the company's four divisions. The company has a division for external job placement in the community called TRU Impact; a media platform called TRU News; an events and motivational arm to spread TRU's message and the brewery. Once the brewery is up and running in December, the company has plans to hire more than 90 active Wilmington gang members.

For more information, visit www.trucolors.co.

Reporter Ashley Morris can be reached at 910-343-2096 or Ashley.Morris@StarNewsOnline.com.

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