South Carolina Breweries in Planning

After my first post this month, I emailed Westbrook Brewery to find out more information about their White Thai beer. One of the owners responded and she told me how they came up with the recipe. Here is the story she told me;

“It's funny that you asked about the White Thai! The White Thai is a whit bier, but with a fun twist. We used lemon grass, Sorachi Ace hops, and ginger instead of the traditional orange peel and coriander. The reason I say it's funny you asked about it, is because this is one of our home brewing recipes! This is probably more info than you want to know, but here is it's story:

Edward and I were making (Thai) curry one night and he was talking about what beer we would pair with our dinner. At the time, I loathed IPAs (What was I thinking?! Don't worry, I grew out of it!). He kept insisting IPA was the best beer to pair with dinner. I was begging Edward, "There has to be something else that would be good and not hoppy!". I was peeling the ginger and he and I glanced out the kitchen window and saw the large lemon grass bush growing there. We cut it down, saved the ginger for brewing, and there you have it! A beer that is completely versatile and great for the Charleston summer heat!”

So, they changed the general whit beer formula and used lemon grass and ginger instead. I’ve yet to have the White Thai, but she assured me that it was “bad ass.” So, their creativity paid off in this case. 

But coming up with a great recipe and then brewing it is not always that easy. They were homebrewing for six years before they started their brewery. Over that time I’m sure they came up with a bunch of different recipes for other beers that they didn’t quite like as much. But they kept experimenting, learned from some of the other breweries in Charleston and since they were doing what was exciting to them and what they were passionate about they cared enough to make sure it succeeded. One of them even went to grad school to get the business side of things down. They work a lot, but they have fun doing it, and that’s something I think everyone has the desire to do. Check out Westbrook if you are ever in South Carolina. They have been really interesting to talk to.

I think it’s great to find people with such passion about something that they are willing to give it a try, even though others might be saying “why don’t you just get a job at x,” or “that sounds like it’s pretty risky.” Yesterday at the Manayunk Arts Festival right here where I live we happened to stop in the booth of a guy who made bow-ties. Within two minutes I could tell that he truly loved making bow ties. He was saying stuff like “we need to figure out how you are feeling and what statement you want to make with these bow-ties.” And he was asking specific questions about people in an honest effort to find them the right bow tie. He couldn’t have cared less about the money that he would make if the person bought a bow tie. He just really wanted to find a bow tie to fit each person's personality. The guy was awesome. I’m thinking about emailing him and asking him to be my life coach or something. 


But it's not just that guy or Westbrook Brewing that are passionate. There are thousands of breweries in the U.S. trying to make true quality beer. One of the newest is Holy City Brewing, which is located in North Charleston and is the only brewery that I could find in South Carolina that is currently in the planning stages. They were established this year and for now they will have two year rounds, with one rotating seasonal. The year rounds are Holy City Pilsner and Pluff Mud Porter. Pluff Mud is a local term for the mud in the marshes. Holy City is planning on becoming a self-sustainable brewery, so I asked them what that meant. What they said was that they are starting out by using a bio-diesel fueled burner, recapturing as much water as possible, using a hot water tank, and recycling their spent grains by donating them to local farmers. That's a good start and they said that they will do what they can to get closer to full self-sustainability.

There may be more, but I was able to find eleven brew pubs in South Carolina, most lacking a full website, so we'll pass this month. Later this week, I'll post the brewery map for South Carolina, I'll hand out some Trailies, and I may have some loose ends to tie up.