- When combat veterans, Kyle Lingafelt and Stefan Perrine,
decided to open a brewery, they knew they wanted
to serve more than just beer.
Today, we're at Old Armor Beer Company,
where you can grab a pint, and pay it forward,
to the heroes serving our community.
Let's check it out.
- [Kyle] Kyle Lingafelt, former Marine,
founder of Old Armor Beer Company.
- [Stefan] Stefan Perrine, I was a Platoon Sergeant,
and I'm the head brewer here at Old Armor Beer Company.
- I graduated college in 2008, was on a waiting list
going into the Marine Corps.
Did three deployments to Afghanistan.
I went through some tough stuff,
still, to this day, I'll never regret that choice.
- And my family always said,
"You gotta give back something to your country."
We went over to Afghanistan, did two tours over there.
My military service did lead to most of the good things
that happened in my life.
It taught me a lot about myself,
what my body and my, you know, willpower is capable of too.
- It's the first business on revitalized West Avenue,
here in Kannapolis.
And then from there, now it's just exploded
with all kinds of different businesses.
- [Stefan] There's a lot of hurry up and wait in brewing,
but it is very therapeutic.
This is American-made craft beer,
made by veterans in a small town.
You put the ingredients in, you do the right thing,
you don't try to skimp on 'em,
then you're gonna get the best quality.
- [Kyle] We try to brew a little bit of everything,
and they all have some type of military, honoring...
like Belleau Wood is honoring the Marine Corps.
We got stuff Oh Dark 30, 10 Minutes Out,
the One Man Out, and the 30 Seconds Out.
Those are literally the hand gestures you do
when you're jumping out an airplane.
Part of North Carolina law, that we were told is,
you have to name your tanks.
Most people just do tank 1, 2, 3, 4,
there you go, it's got a name.
But we're like, "We have an opportunity right now
to really pay homage to the military leaders
and people who've done amazing things."
Tank one is Chris Kyle, the two cooking tanks
is Shughart and Gordon.
You got General Patton up there, [indistinct].
They're all somebody who did something amazing
in the military.
- When you come back from deployment, you're on a high.
Then everybody goes through a time
where it kind of dips down again.
Some never come out, some of 'em don't experience that.
There is a burden that is on all of us when you serve,
especially police and fire,
they're on like a 30-year deployment.
That wears on you as a human being, I mean,
it's just impossible not to.
One of the things that we wanted to do
was give discounts to veterans and first responders.
Again, we wanted to take care of our own.
We know what they've been through,
and there's some days they just want to come in,
like, "I just need a drink."
What we established was a pay-it-forward board.
You could come in,
pay-it-forward for that veteran or first responder.
And now when they come in, it's already taken care of,
and that little bit could make their day.
It was a small little one-by-two-foot, maybe, chalkboard.
You know, there's a few hundred dollars
worth of beers on there.
It just started getting bigger and bigger.
Now it's like a five-by-three chalkboard.
Oh, there's probably somewhere between $15-$20,000
worth of beer on the board.
- The City Council decided in 2014 to take a bold step
in buying the entire downtown from the previous owner.
Old Armor has been critical to our revitalization project.
They took the first chance, and that was a big chance,
because Kannapolis has never had a brewery.
This side of the city was a dry city until 2002.
- The Social District is a new thing
that North Carolina promoted.
It's a six square-blocks area that is dedicated,
by the city, for you to have open container,
from ABC Permit and Buildings.
- Man, it's awesome to see that the city is behind all this,
but that these businesses are supporting each other.
And that y'all are all like,
building each other up, is incredible.
- It's just one more thing to do in downtown Kannapolis.
We really wanted to make this a central point
of enjoyment for everyone.
Space next to us, nothing was happening in it,
and we said, "Well, why don't we add a cider room
and expand that way."
But at the same time, downstairs, we say,
"Hey, we could fit four lanes down there."
Dove into the whole duckpin bowling, which we call Kingpin.
[upbeat rock music]
Welcome to the underground.
- [Katy] Yes, thank you.
This is very cool, and very unexpected.
- Little hidden gem.
Here's the bowling balls, they're smaller.
- Okay, all right, yeah, a little bit smaller.
- [Kyle] We do focus on hiring vets and first responders.
It's obviously not all we employ,
but we do focus on that.
'Cause when you're transitioning,
you're coming from a very abrasive lifestyle
into a civilian sector.
This gives 'em a good middle ground of,
"Hey, you're still working with vets,
you still get that camaraderie,
and everything comes with it."
But in the meantime,
it's gonna help you find your next step,
whether it's staying here or not,
it at least helps you transition.
We've had several veterans come in here,
and now they've moved on to either school,
or, "I'm gonna go be police," or,
"I wanna go work in banking."
It gives them like, a stepping block, really,
to that next step of what they're gonna do in their career.
- [Stefan] Bringing everybody together with civilians,
I think was way more important than just doing something
that's dedicated just to the military,
just to first responders.
Because veterans and first responders,
they're peoples are our community, they're just people.
All we want this place to be is a place
where people can come, drink good local craft beer,
have a good time, and not have to worry about the problems
that they maybe face on a regular basis.
Whether you're a veteran, a first responder,
still in the military, or just somebody who
just loves America, and doesn't want to deal with the,
you know, the rigamarole that is out there right now.
Come here, have a good time,
and make some friends along the way.
- [Deborah] Old Armor Beer Company
is at 211 West Avenue in Kannapolis,
and they're open daily.
For more information, give them a call, at 704-933-9203.
Or check them out online at oldarmorbeer.com.