The first step in Phillip McLamb’s business plan was convincing his dad to move out. Freshly freed from a finance job, Phillip and his wife, Amanda McLamb, wanted to open Resident Culture Brewing Company in a building Ed McLamb had owned since 1982.
The chance to keep the property in the family while building something new was appealing; Ed McLamb agreed not only to move his printing company out but to invest in the brewery as well. Located in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina’s booming Plaza Midwood neighborhood, the McLambs had the perfect building for a brewery. Now, they just needed a brewer.
They found one in Chris Tropeano, who was brewing at Russian River Brewing Co. but longing to return to North Carolina (Tropeano, or Tropes as many call him, went to school at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem).