North Carolina's biggest craft breweries largely rebounded in 2021 — a year after the pandemic crushed the industry.

• But challenges related to inflation and grain and carbon dioxide shortages still remain.

State of beer: Asheville's Highland Brewing was the state's largest craft brewery, producing nearly 55,000 barrels of beer in 2021.

• The largest brewers in the Triangle by volume were: Fuquay-Varina's Aviator Brewing and Raleigh’s Lonerider Brewing — though their growth was either down or flat from the previous year.

Between the lines: The annual data — published for its members in The New Brewer journal — is the most comprehensive breakdown of the state's craft beer industry, Axios' John Frank reports.

• Overall, craft brewers reported 8% annual growth in 2021.

Yes, but: Not all craft brewers are represented in the rankings; some don't submit sales and production data to the Colorado-based Brewers Association, the industry's trade group.

• Excluded are local breweries that don't meet the definition of independent — less than 25% of the brewery is owned or controlled by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.

What they're saying: Les Stewart, co-owner of Raleigh-based Trophy Brewing, said business was still a struggle for small brewers in the state last year.

• "It really depended on what your business model was," Stewart said of last year. "Those with taproom-only or brewpub-exclusive arrangements saw some challenges."
• Stewart said that Trophy's taproom remained slow in 2021, but the company's restaurants, which serve Trophy beer, have recovered strongly.

With inflation rising and labor shortages, though, Sean Lilly Wilson, of Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, said many brewers are being careful about how they grow.

• "Breweries are realizing that chasing barrel metrics isn't always the best indicator of overall success in a challenging market with COVID and rising costs," Wilson said.

But still, Trophy and Fullsteam are eyeing growth.

• Trophy is expanding its Maywood Avenue location and increasing its self-distribution to restaurants and bottle shops.
• Fullsteam opened a second location at Boxyard RTP in the past year, and Wilson said he continues to look for new opportunities across the Triangle.

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The Raleigh City Council is holding another round of debate today on two contentious rezoning cases: one at Seaboard Station, which would build towers on the site of Logan's Garden Shop, and another at North Hills, where Kane Realty is hoping to win permission to build up to 40 stories.

Why it matters: The two cases have attracted attention from residents for differing reasons, but both highlight growing pushback to growth in Raleigh.

At Seaboard Station, the debate is over the future of the historic train station on the property.

• Turnbridge Equities, the property's developer, has indicated it wants to keep the station, but the council has asked the developer to guarantee its preservation before it will approve the rezoning.

In North Hills, Kane Realty has offered land for a new transit center and fire department in exchange for the rezoning. But the case — centered around 11 acres along Six Forks Road — has attracted concerns from neighbors, council members and even former Mayor Nancy McFarlane.

• At the council meeting earlier this month, the City Council was not satisfied with how Kane had addressed traffic concerns and affordability issues in North Hills.
• The Council asked Kane to offer additional conditions before it made a decision on the case.

What's next: It’s unclear whether the City Council will make a decision on the rezoning cases tonight — but the council indicated at its last meeting that it was closer to a decision on the Seaboard Station development than the North Hills case.

👀 The dean of UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School abruptly retired on Friday. (Daily Tar Heel🔒)

• "I have run as hard as I could for as long as I could," Doug Shackelford wrote in a resignation letter.

❌ Soca, a restaurant in Raleigh's Village District, closed after five years. Its owners say they plan to focus on their restaurant, kō än, in Cary. (WRAL)

A homicide investigation is underway after two high schoolers were found dead on a trail in Orange County. (ABC11)

North Carolinians are 2.9 times more likely to name their baby Raleigh than parents in any other state in the county.

Driving the news: Axios visual journalist Erin Davis found that across more than 1,300 U.S. place names, 900 (67%) were more common in their home states than the rest of the country, based on Social Security records.

• A standout case in point: Tex. Nearly every baby named Tex born from 2000-2019 was born in Texas.
• Yes, but: In New Jersey, parents avoid Trenton, the name of its capital city. The name is 85 times less common in New Jersey than the rest of the U.S.

Go deeper: Search popular baby names by state

🎾 The ball is in your court. Check out these opportunities.

1. Communications, marketing & events manager at North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association.
2. Regional director, affordable housing at Gilbane.
3. Sales operation manager at Pendo.

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📚 The first Axios book, "Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less" is out today, showing you step by step how to communicate more crisply and efficiently so you can be heard.

Why it matters to you: There are chapters on Zooms, emails, speeches and social media — all helping you punch through the noise.

We'd love for you to order or pick up a copy at one of the Triangle's independent bookstores, like Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, The Regulator in Durham, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill or McIntyre's Books in Pittsboro.

• Thank you!