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DECEMBER 2021
The History of the
GROWING LOCAL CRAFT INDUSTRY BREWERY VISIT
TAKE YOUR CRAFT BEER DRINKING TO A NEW LEVEL Charleston’s craft brew Realtor
BLAKE SAMMONS Andy Brack
A Charleston City Paper publication
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HOPS 12.01.2021
Vol. 1, Issue 1
Dec. 1, 2021
CONTENTS Meet the Editors How Charleston Brewery List met the Barefoot Beertender................................. 4 Brewery Visit Take your craft beer drinking to a new level...................................................... 5 The Hops Brewery and Brewpub Master List Where to find the breweries in the Charleston area..................................... 7 Craft Brew Profile Blake Sammons, Charleston’s craft brew Realtor............................................ 11 Beer In the Rearview History of the growing local craft industry.................................................... 12 Viewpoint What is “local” craft beer? Palmetto Brewing changes hands for a third time in a decade............. 15
Hops is a joint venture publication by Brew Hop CHS and the Charleston City Paper to connect the Lowcountry to all of the area’s breweries. To learn more about advertising opportunities offered through Hops, contact our advertising team at (843) 577-5304 or send an email to: sales@charlestoncitypaper.com. Founding editors: Tarah Gee and Kyle Wallace Publisher: Andy Brack
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MEET THE EDITORS Welcome to HOPS by BrewHop CHS! This is your quarterly update published with the Charleston City Paper about everything that is happening in the craft brewing industry in and around Charleston, South Carolina. With more than 30 breweries in the Charleston metro area, we aim to keep you up-to-date with craft beer businesses coming to town and, unfortunately, those that depart. We hope you enjoy this new addition to the City Paper. Cheers! Bienvenidos! Slainté! Salute! (You get the picture…)
How Charleston Brewery List met The Barefoot Beertender Kyle Wallace
Tarah Gee
HOPS 12.01.2021
aka Charleston Brewery List
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aka Barefoot Beertender
By Tarah Gee
By Kyle Wallace
If you are a local craft beer fan and follow any “beerstagrams,” chances are you already know Kyle Wallace, aka @charlestonbrewerylist. Kyle has been making his rounds in Charleston for almost seven years befriending every brewery owner, beertender and beerfluencer in the region. His online brewery list continues to grow and if there is anything cool happening in the beer community, you can bet Kyle will be there. Kyle and I sit down about every week to catch up on things happening in and around the Charleston brewing community. He is a wealth of knowledge and is a walking, talking, drinking, brew encyclopedia. Over the past six months, I’ve been listening and learning so much from him — just like you will. Kyle’s introduction to a craft brewery was in 2013 at West Sixth Brewing in Lexington, Kentucky. It was the first brewery to the area, and quickly became a favorite watering hole. It is where he first found his love of stouts and sours. After decades of vacationing in Charleston, Kyle and his wife Kristi moved here in January 2015. One visit to Holy City Brewing and their passion for the people of the craft beer industry led to the creation of the Charleston Brewery List. You can follow Kyle on instagram and his blog, both under this name. @Charlestonbrewerylist and www.charlestonbrewerylist.com
If you follow Palmetto Brewing’s social media sites, visited spots in the Brewery District or ridden on the Brewery District Trolley, you’ve already heard about Tarah. She is the brain behind numerous craft beer events, productions and entities in Charleston. Her exuberance for the local craft beer scene is only overshadowed by her dedication to a thriving industry. Tarah joined the Charleston craft beer scene in March 2019 after relocating from New York City in late 2018. An avid traveler, she has enjoyed beers from Vietnam to Belgium. Joining the Palmetto Brewing Company family felt like a natural fit into her new lifestyle in Charleston. Soon into the COVID-19 pandemic, Tarah felt there had to be a better, safer way to keep locals visiting all brewery locations in the district, not just their favorite spots. Thus, the Holiday Brew Pass was created. Her passion for filling a marketing gap led to more ideas, which are still being executed. She even adopted a puppy at the first annual Rescue Brew contest from the Charleston Animal Society. It is her love of engagement in a community that enjoys giving back that keeps her active.
Where are you from? Lexington, Kentucky How old were you when you drank your first beer? 16. I snuck a Coors from my dad’s fridge. What is your favorite style of beer and why? Honestly, it changes. It used to be IPAs because that’s what the cool kids were drinking, then imperial stouts for the thick richness, then lagers, and now it’s sours. Who knows what tomorrow brings? If you started your own brewery, what would you name it and what would be the first beer you would brew? Copper Clad Brewing, and an Amber. You have one day to visit any brewery location in the world. Where are you going and why? Sam Adams. It’s one of the breweries that started the craft beer movement. Stone is next.
Where are you from? I was born in Texas and grew up mostly in Oklahoma City, though I do have roots in Lubbock, Texas, as well. But … BOOMER SOONER!
Which beer introduced you to the craft beer scene? I guess you could say my first “craft” beer was Blue Moon or Boulevard Wheat. I have always generally enjoyed beer, even as a teenager. What are some of the challenges you face working in the craft beer industry? Hmmm.... where to begin. I have found that while most people you meet in the industry are incredibly lovely and welcoming, there is also a level of exclusivity. Also, the industry is growing and changing rapidly. I sometimes feel overwhelmed trying to keep up and in-the-know. There is so much to learn and understand all of the time. Keeping up-to-date with trends and releases is a full-time job. Who would you most like to have a beer with? I would love to have one more beer with my grandmother. We used to sit on her deck and drink red beers (tomato juice and any domestic). What’s your favorite meal to have a brew with? Every meal, but probably lunch is best. Nothing better than a cold beer in the middle of a hot Charleston day.
BREWERY VISIT
By Tarah Gee and Kyle Wallace Memberships, loyalty programs, mug clubs. There are a lot of ways to try to entice people to visit a brewery. Just The TAP is a digital revolution encouraging craft beer drinkers to try a new brewery, and get a discount for doing so. BrewHop CHS recently sat down with Just the TAP’s Justin Henning and Michael Milburn to discuss how Just the TAP works. “We wanted a way for people to find breweries and beer.” said Milburn, who received a wide-ranging craft beer education while in the U.S. Coast Guard. “How do we get people in the door? That’s the hard part.” While stationed in places like San Diego and Charleston, Milburn was able to explore local breweries and develop a desire to be a part of the industry. In Charleston, he met fellow brew lover Justin Henning. As neighbors, they spent time watching football, and enjoying craft beer. One afternoon, they were discussing the difficulties of finding new beer and new breweries. As anyone who has walked into a local liquor or grocery store knows, the aisles now overflow with more options to fill every need. “Sometimes you just want a kolsch, or a black IPA. How do you find that?” Henning asked. An app, Just The TAP, was born. Henning and Milburn approached Scott Koon, owner/brewer of SNAFU Brewing in North Charleston, and bounced their idea off him. Their approach was to develop an app to find exactly the beer you want, include a discount on your first beer, and let the breweries decide which beer that is. “Hell yeah, I loved the idea,” Koon said. “If it gets someone in the door, we can take care of them. All we need is for them to stop by.” While working with an outside app developer, Henning and Milburn got busy emailing breweries. “Getting the momentum going is the hard part. We lost some traction with the pandemic, but things are really picking up,” Milburn said. Today, they have over a dozen Charleston breweries, and locations in 8+ states participating in their program. Breweries that participate have complete control over their profiles. They can include as many, or as few beers as they choose to share with craft
brew customers. They can also adjust the length of time the discount is offered, and even which days it is available. “The discount is great but we really want to highlight the real reason we started this. To support breweries. The discount is just the vehicle that hopefully gets the ball rolling by getting people in to try a new beer, maybe an altogether new-tothem brewery, and keep coming back and spreading the word,” Henning said. Charleston boasts an impressive number of craft breweries. More are opening every month, from the recently opened Chucktown Brewery downtown to the soon to open Bevi Bene Brewing in the Brewery District. The Just The TAP app will allow customers to find the beer they have a longing for, find new breweries to visit and get a discount to do so. If you are interested in this program, download the Just The TAP app on your phone, or email beermail@justthetap.co for further information.
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Just The TAP: How to take craft beer drinking to a new level
Lists Eat Drink Things To Do Fun
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94 Stuart St., Downtown 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
Bevi Beni Brewing 1859 Summerville Ave., Downtown Opening soon.
Brewlab Charleston 2200 Heriot St., Downtown 4 p.m-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday 3 p.m-10 p.m. Friday 12 p.m -10 p.m Saturday 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Charles Towne Fermentory 809 Savannah Hwy., West Ashley 2 p.m.- 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday 2 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 12 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday
Chucktown Brewery 337 King St., Downtown Closed Monday 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday 11 a.m.-12 a.m. Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday
Coast Brewing Co. 1250 2nd Street North, North Charleston 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Thursday and Friday
Amenities Key Patio Occasional live music Occasional food trucks or pop-ups
Commonhouse Aleworks 4831 O’Hear Ave., North Charleston Closed Monday 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Thursday 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday
Cooper River Brewing Co. 2201 Mechanic Street B, Downtown Closed Monday-Wednesday 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday 2 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday 2 p.m.-7 p.m. Sunday
Edisto River Brewing Co. 209 Main Road Suite B, Johns Island Closed Monday-Wednesday 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Edmund’s Oast Brewpub 1081 Morrison Drive, Downtown 11 a.m.-10:00 p.m. Monday-Sunday
Edmund’s Oast Brewery 1505 King St., Downtown 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Sunday
Estuary Beans and Barley 3538 Meeks Farm Road, Johns Island 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
In-house kitchen CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
charlestoncitypaper.com
Baker and Brewer
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Baker and Brewer
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Brewlab Charleston
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Charles Towne Fermentory
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Chucktown Brewery
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Coast Brewing Co.
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Commonhouse Aleworks
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Cooper River Brewing Co.
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Edisto River Brewing Co.
Summerville
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Goose Creek Ladson
Hanahan
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10 Edmund’s Oast Brewpub
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11 Edmund’s Oast Brewery 12 Estuary Beans and Barley 13 Fam’s Brewing Co. 14 Fatty’s Beer Works
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15 Freehouse Brewery 16 Frothy Beard Brewing Co.
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17 Frothy Beard Off World
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18 Ghost Monkey Brewery 19 Hobcaw Brewing Co.
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20 Holy City Brewing
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21 Indigo Reef Brewing Co. 22 LO-Fi Brewing 23 Low Tide Brewing
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24 Munkle Brewing
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25 New Realm Brewing Co., CHS
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26 Oak Road Brewery 27 Palmetto Brewing Co. SC 28 Revelry Brewing 29 Rusty Bull Brewing
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30 SNAFU Brewing Co.
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31 The Hold by Revelry Brewing
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32 Tidelands Brewing
Johns Island
33 Tradesman Brewing Co.
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34 Two Blokes Brewing 35 Westbrook Brewing Co. 36 Wide Awake Brewing Co.
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Breweries CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
Fam’s Brewing Co. 1291 Folly Road, James Island 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Sunday
Fatty’s Beer Works 1436 Meeting St., Downtown 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday 12 p.m.-10 p.m. Saturday 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Freehouse Brewery 2895 Pringle St., North Charleston Closed Monday 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Frothy Beard Brewing Co. 1401 Sam Rittenberg Blvd. Suite 1, West Ashley 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday
Frothy Beard Off World 117 South Main St., Summerville Closed Monday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
HOPS 12.01.2021
Ghost Monkey Brewery
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522 Wando Lane, Mount Pleasant 1 p.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday 1 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday 12 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
Hobcaw Brewing Co. 496 Long Point Road, Mount Pleasant Closed Monday and Tuesday 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday 3 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday 1 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday 12 p.m.-7 p.m. Sunday
Holy City Brewing
1021 Aragon Ave., North Charleston 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Sunday
Amenities Key Patio
2079 Wambaw Creek Unit 1, Daniel Island Closed Monday 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday 3 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday 12 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
LO-Fi Brewing
2038 Meeting St., Downtown Closed Monday 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Low Tide Brewing 2863 Maybank Hwy., Johns Island 3 p.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Thursday 12 p.m.-12 a.m. Friday and Saturday 12 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday
Munkle Brewing
1513 Meeting Street Road, Downtown Closed Monday 2 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday 1 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday 1 p.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
New Realm Brewing Co., CHS 880 Island Park Drive, Daniel Island 11:30 AM-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday 11:30 AM-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
36 Romney St., Downtown 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Sunday
Occasional live music Occasional food trucks or pop-ups In-house kitchen
Oak Road Brewery Indigo Reef Brewing Co.
The Hold by Revelry Brewing
108 East 3rd North St. Suite C, Summerville Closed Monday and Tuesday 3 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Friday 12 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Palmetto Brewing Co. SC 289 Huger St., Downtown 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday 12 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 12 p.m.-7 p.m. Sunday
Revelry Brewing
10 Conroy St., Downtown 12 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday 12 p.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Rusty Bull Brewing
3005 West Montague Ave. Suite 110, North Charleston 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Monday 12 p.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday 12 p.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday 12 p.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
SNAFU Brewing Co. 3280 Industry Drive, North Charleston 3 p.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Wednesday 3 p.m.-9 p.m. Thursday and Friday 2 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Tidelands Brewing
4155 Dorchester Road, North Charleston Closed Monday and Tuesday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday
Tradesman Brewing Co. 1647 King Street Extension, Downtown 12 p.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday 12 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Two Blokes Brewing 547 Long Point Road Suite 101, Mount Pleasant 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday 3 p.m.-9 p.m. Thursday 2 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday 12 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday 12 p.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
Westbrook Brewing Co. 510 Ridge Road, Mount Pleasant Closed Monday 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Wide Awake Brewing Co. 101 Button Hall Ave., Goose Creek (opening soon)
Opening a new brewery? Let us know! Email us at kyle@charlestonbrewerylist.com
CRAFT BREW PROFILE
Blake Sammons, Charleston’s craft brew Realtor
B
Provided
lake Sammons is no stranger to publicity. Now, don’t take that the wrong way! In fact, you may have recently heard of Blake as he was featured in various news sources for LITERALLY delivering his son and fourth child with wife, Mandie Sammons, a professor of Occupational Therapy at MUSC. That’s right: Mandie went into labor and before the couple could check into the hospital, Jackson aka “Shotgun” was born at the entrance of East Cooper Hospital — they couldn’t make it to MUSC. Blake is the ultimate family man. He has given up drinking for each of Mandie’s pregnancies in solidarity. So by the time the new little one comes, they can both crack open a cold brew and enjoy it together. Relocating from San Antonio to Charleston in 2019 when Mandie was pregnant with their third child, they received a Charleston welcome package from neighbors that included multiple cases of beer from various breweries in Charleston. And that is how Blake found Idle Speed, Palmetto Brewery’s salted lime lager.
Being new to the area and building a new business, Blake decided to reach out to the breweries and began to build a rapport. His stress-free approach to real estate — “Live like you’re on vacation” — has earned him the title of the first “Hops Craft Brew Drinker of the Quarter.” In fact, Blake’s Aloha Charleston’s company logo was born out of the love for good-old fashioned Charleston hospitality. “ ‘A loha’ is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace or compassion and it is commonly used as a simple greeting and farewell,” Blake said. “We apply the Aloha vibe and mindset to real estate to provide our clients a fun, stress-free experience. As your trusted real estate professional, you will find comfort in our friendly approach, local area knowledge, educational experience and sense of humor.” While Blake still enjoys an Idle Speed from time to time, it’s only natural that he would move on to the Downtown Doorknocker Pineapple Hazy IPA as his favorite Palmetto brand. In addition to these, he also enjoys Westbrook White Thai and Holy City Washout Wheat.
charlestoncitypaper.com
By Tarah Gee and Kyle Wallace
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BEER IN THE REARVIEW Coast Brewing Company
Brewery openings 1993
1994
1995
1996
Palmetto Brewing Company Opened by Ed Falkenstein and Lewis Bruce
1997
2009
2010
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Southend Brewery and Smokehouse (closed 2015)
Edmund’s Oast Brewery LO-Fi Brewing Munkle Brewing Pawley’s Island Brewing (now closed) Rusty Bull Brewing SNAFU Brewing Twisted Cypress Brewing (closed 2019) Two Blokes Brewing Edmund’s Oast Brewpub Freehouse Brewery Frothy Beard Brewing Oak Road Brewing Tradesman Brewing
Holy City Brewing Company 2008
1998
2011
2012
Westbrook Brewing
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Charles Towne Fermentory Cooper River Brewing Fatty’s Beerworks Ghost Monkey Brewing Lagunitas CHS (closed 2017) Low Tide Brewing Revelry Brewing
Frothy Beard Offworld New Realm Brewing CHS Tidelands Brewing Bevi Beni Brewing (coming soon) Edisto River Brewing Estuary Beans and Barley Hobcaw Brewing Baker and Brewer Indigo Reef Brewing 2018
2019
2020
2021
Commonhouse Aleworks Dockery’s (closed 2021) Fam’s Brewing Fat Pig Brewing (closing soon) The Hold by Revelry Wide Awake Brewing (opening 2021 in Goose Creek)
Driving towards the future of craft beer A brief history of modern craft brewing around Charleston
HOPS 12.01.2021
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ump and cruise with us as we journey through the history of craft brewing in Charleston. Pull out your favorite 8-tracks, mix tapes and burned CDs. This journey spans decades and requires the vibes of the soundtrack of your past. The story begins in 1993 with Ed Falkenstien, Louis Bruce and Amber Ale. Palmetto Brewing Company, located at 289 Huger St. in Charleston, still holds the space it originally occupied. Perhaps with Sheryl Crow in the background, “all they wanted to do was have a little fun before they died” but they created a brewing company icon which is still produced and distributed today. Press fast-forward. Almost 15 years later in March 2007, Charleston welcomed its third brewery. Coast Brewing, after years of construction, permits and headaches, opened its doors to the public. Honorable mention to Charleston’s second, but now-closed, Southend Brewery and Smokehouse, which opened in 1996.
By Tarah Gee and Kyle Wallace Coast became the area’s first brewery outside of downtown. Opening its doors to the North Charleston community, it is located on the old Naval Base. It quickly was a welcome addition to the future of the growing craft beer scene and has been “Irreplaceable” since. “Tik Tok” into 2010. Westbrook Brewing in Mount Pleasant began churning out favorites like its Mexican Cake Imperial Stout and White Thai Belgian Style Wheat Beer, both still incredibly popular today. Next up: Holy City Brewing (2011). Originally located on Dorchester Road, this brewery is still “Rolling in the Deep” all over Chucktown with its Pilsner and Overly Friendly IPA. You can now find Holy City in two locations — near Park Circle and at a satellite location in Baker and Brewer, the company’s collaboration with EVO Pizzeria. The area then saw a small decline in brewery growth as the economy continued to bounce back. But in the
remaining years of the 2010s, growth has yet to slow. Frothy Beard Brewing, Freehouse Brewing, Tradesman Brewing and Edmund’s Oast Brewing (2014) have been “happy” to see nothing but good days on the horizon and made way for what we now call the Craft Beer Boom in Charleston. Every year since, there have been multiple breweries join the Charleston family. Cooper River Brewing, Charlestowne Fermentory plus five others in 2016 “couldn’t stop the feeling.” A click on your favorite music app takes you to the 2020s. We’ve seen Pawley’s Island Brewing close and Chucktown Brewery open. Wide Awake Brewing is set to open soon in its new location, and Beni Bevi Brewing just set its brewhouse in place. Once again, the landscape is changing with more than 30 breweries now in the area — a far cry from the first almost three decades ago. It’s a good time to be a craft beer fan in Charleston!
OYSTERS ON THE POINT WITH HARRY CHRONIC JR. SAT, DEC 11 FROM 2PM - 6PM AT CHARLESTON HARBOR RESORT AND MARINA
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MIDNIGHT AT THE RICE MILL FRI, DEC 31 AT 8:30PM AT HISTORIC RICE MILL
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VIEWPOINT
What is ‘local’ craft beer? Palmetto Brewing changes hands for a third time in a decade By Tarah Gee Palmetto Brewing Company introduced me to the craft brew industry. And I admit, I was a bit naive to the world. You see, I am a selfproclaimed opportunist. I have always seen myself as a hummingbird, a fluttering creature, who enjoys all the nectars that life has to offer. My career hasn’t been one of the woodpecker, a bird who narrows in on his subject and pecks away regardless of the outcome. I have moved from flower to flower throughout my career the past 20 years and have developed a variety of interests, experiences and knowledge.
HOPS 12.01.2021
Craft brewing came into my life at a time when I needed a job badly. Quick. I did not intend to sink my beak so deeply into the flower that I would get sucked in. But I did. And it has been an incredibly sweet, delicious couple of years. My initial intent
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was to make quick cash while I searched for my next position amongst the lucrative world of finance. The finance world offered me a life of comfort, travel and some finer things I didn’t have growing up. The world wasn’t perfect, but under the right organization, it would be manageable and sustainable. When I began at Palmetto, Catawba Brewing Company had semi-recently acquired the Charleston taproom. The team was warm and welcoming, making my first few months in a new city and home feel comfortable. The summer of 2019 breezed by as I began journeying into my newfound love of IPAs, sours and rich stouts. Soon I found myself with the opportunity to become a full-time team member and I snagged it. Coming out of the New York finance world, craft brewing was a new, exciting way to explore my creativity and independence. None of us expected what happened next with the arrival of COVID-19. Lives changed — mine and yours. The divide would grow deep. But the brewing community banded together. We gained several new locations and, fortunately, lost very few. By last January in the wake of the new year, many people made decisions to leave the industry
If there is only one thing I’ve learned in this industry, it’s that locality matters. “Shop locally” isn’t just a buzz phrase of a fad.
altogether, finding opportunities not as volatile as food and beverage. Now there is a nationwide shortage of staff. The food and beverage industry continues struggling to find adequate staffing. Management is tired. Ownership is exhausted. Cash flow is limited and the prospect of selling out looks increasingly appealing. The story here is no different than many you’ve heard before. The Pyatt family purchased Palmetto Brewing Company in late 2017. The purchase was the third ownership of the original South Carolina brewery in two decades. Like many, the changes in the future years were not something anyone could have predicted. Liquidation of assets, people and streamlining functionalities were all necessities in the coming years creating an attractive opportunity for the next possible ownership of the brands. The Pyatts built their brand, Catawba Brewing Company, into a top craft beer company nationally. Acquiring Palmetto Brewing Company added to the attractiveness of the organization as a whole. And opportunity did come knocking in the form of private equity in early 2021. Palmetto Brewing Company has now changed
4831 o'hear ave | north charleston | www.commonhousealeworks.com
@commonhousealeworks
Have a comment? Email us at kyle@charlestonbrewerylist.com
ownership for a fourth time in a decade. Both Catawba and Palmetto Brewing Companies are owned by a private equity firm based in Mobile, Alabama. Unfortunately, the firm has little knowledge of the industry or the people who have poured their lives, friends, family and heart into building it. And now, the firm has eliminated people like me who have spent years creating the community that buys and believes in the brand. If there is only one thing I’ve learned in this industry, it’s that locality matters. “Shop locally” isn’t just a buzz phrase of a fad. Supporting local businesses isn’t a trend. The lives of the people in this industry and many other locally owned businesses depend on people who genuinely care for their community and well-being of the people who invest their time and energy to building a better Charleston. While Palmetto’s recent cuts hurt, my heart is still with the people in my Palmetto and Catawba family. For me, this commentary really is a love letter to my brewing
community in Charleston. Your unwavering support in light of recent events has further proven something that I have always known: Company culture matters. Loyalty to those who have been loyal to you is what “support local” truly means. Is Palmetto still a local brand? Many would argue it’s not. Many would argue it still is. Before long, it will produce and package a Florida-based brand in addition to the Catawba line and the contract brewing that is already in place. The brand is already produced and packaged in North Carolina and will soon make its way to Florida and Alabama production lines. Palmetto is not the first nor the last to produce or be produced out of state lines. I offer these observations not to deter anyone from buying the brand. Rather, I say this to provoke you to dissect the brands you love and support and determine whether they are in line with your beliefs and your values? Are they invested in the community you live in? Are they building a better Charleston? Let’s hope so.
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