SURF CITY, N.C. — International Beer Day is a celebration taking place in pubs, breweries and backyards all over the world. It’s a day for beer lovers everywhere to raise a toast to brewers and bartenders.

Maggie Songer is the assistant brewer at Salty Turtle Brewing Co. in Surf City. The company was started in a garage by two former Marines and is Pender County’s first new brewery since 2017. 

“Assisting with the grain in process, assisting with grain out process, lots of cleaning of tanks, packaging beer, sometimes cleaning kegs," Songer said. "We're a very small operation. Here is only three of us full time. So we all kind of take on a little bit of every role here."

Songer originally worked in the entertainment industry with lighting, but when the pandemic hit, she decided to take her interest in craft beer to a professional level and made the career change. 

“One of the bigger businesses in the state," she said. "And there's a lot of people that are employed by breweries all across the state in North Carolina. And that's our livelihood.”  

North Carolina ranks 10th in the nation for number of craft brewers, according to Business North Carolina, which reports the industry has an annual economic impact of $2.8 billion for the state.  

On International Beer Day, Songer is helping to brew the Betio Blonde. 

“Which also happens to be my favorite Salty Turtle beer. It's a coffee-style American blond ale with coffee,” she said. 

While the first Friday of August is marked as International Beer Day, Songer says that for her, it’s every day. 

“We get to work with with beer every single day and make a beverage that people really enjoy and can come together and enjoy each other's company around,” Songer said. 

The day was started in 2008, and August was chosen for its summer weather.