South Carolina’s beer scene has been slow to develop compared to its northern sister, but the tide has started to turn, thanks to a series of legislative changes making the state friendlier to the beer business.
As Edmund Oast’s head brewer and beer buyer, Cameron Read scouts out the best beers in the world, while also concocting recipes that can stand alongside them.
Pabst to open pilot brewery in Milwaukee; Norwegian brewers recreate Viking beer recipe; Ontario’s Liquor Control Board introduces Craft Beer Zones; and breweries aid South Carolina flood victims.
Brewers guilds must educate, protect and promote. It’s taken the craft brewing industry some 35 years to be able to produce 12 percent of the beer bought in America. No one accomplished that feat alone. There is strength in numbers.
Palmetto Brewing, South Carolina’s first modern brewery, started in Charleston in 1993, but seven other production breweries have opened since 2007. Beyond that, a bevy of retail shops, bars, and tour companies have filled most corners of the city with at least one solid craft option.
South Carolina is poised to pass legislation overhauling its brewpub laws; rare beers stolen from Cantillon; The Alchemist to open a new production brewery; and A&E greelights a pilot episode of The Big Brew Theory.
Beyond alcohol limits, many Southern states struggle with taxes, breweries operating off-site brewpubs, various antiquated distribution woes, prohibitive homebrewing regulations and much more. But thanks to the region’s proactive beer makers and consumers, many of those laws are beginning to change.
Stepping into Closed for Business, you find yourself transported. The young beer bar and restaurant in Charleston feels more like a renovated rec room than the area’s premiere craft-beer destination.
Good beer has flourished since South Carolina lifted its cap on beer alcohol content, and Edward Westbrook’s Mt. Pleasant brewery has been at the heart of it.
Why we’re reading The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance and Charleston Beer: A High-Gravity History of Lowcountry Beer.
COAST Brewing is a tiny brewery run out of an old navy yard in North Charleston, S.C. Its founders, David Merritt and his wife, Jaime Tenney, can only crank out big, hugely creative beers because they first led the campaign to liberalize South Carolina’s brewing regulations.
Until a few years ago, South Carolina’s beer culture was hamstrung by arcane and capricious caps on beermaking, alcohol content and distribution. In a few years, the city has become a true world-class beer destination.
Beer Wars reaches the Big Screen; South Carolina microbrewers fight for their right to sell; Penn Brewery staying home; Possible Texas plan to allow buying beer direct from brewers; A tale of two Budweisers; and homebrewing legalized in Utah.
In Texas, brewpubs can serve beer, but they can’t package and sell it; so you can forget about picking up a growler to take home from your favorite Texan alehouse.
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