My Visit to Holy City Brewing! ~ Charleston Craft Beer

Well, I finally got out to Holy City Brewing!!! It definitely did not disappoint! HCB is a local brewery, located on Dorchester Road in North Charleston. There are four guys who comprise HCB: Joel, Sean, Chris, and Mac. According to their website: "Holy City Brewing started in the bike shop of Pedi Cab and Rickshaw, owned by Joel Carl and Sean Nemitz. Joel, Chris, Sean, and Mac started brewing, on the 15 gallon system that Joel built using used bike parts, in 2009. As our ideas (and beers) grew, a building was leased and the micro-brewery started to take form." And here it is!

Love the look!

The original 15 gallon brewing system!

Here's how the Tasting Room/Tour works: You pay $5 and you get a tour, four 4 oz. samples in a HCB pint glass, and then you get to go home with the pint glass. I love how that works. The pint glasses are excellent quality and have their kick @$$ logo on it. On this day, they had the HCB Pilsner, Pluff Mud Porter, Bowen's Island Oyster Stout, and Category 3 IPA. Past beers they have had are: Pecan Dream, Shiftee (had it at Closed 4 Business and it's awesome), Lowcountry Dark Ale, Fish Bowl Ale 1 (had it at their opening at the Oak Barrel Tavern, yum yum), and Fish Bowl Ale II (had it at EVO, it's a delish hoppy red). So far my favorite of their beers are: HCB Pilsner, Category 3 IPA, Fish Bowl II, and Shiftee.

The tasting room bar

The Holy City Pilsner in the pint glass you get to take home (they give you a clean one)

The Pluff Mud Porter

HCB's beers are currently only offered on draft, although in the future they mentioned that they may be looking at canning their beers. If you're wondering where you can find HCB's beers, click here for a list of bars/restaurants where you can find them. If you're looking to go to the brewery, be mindful of the tasting room hours. They are open Monday and Tuesday from 4pm-6pm, and Wednesday through Friday from 4pm-7pm. They will only fill growlers during tasting hours, so please don't stop by at other times wanting a growler fill.

Overall, I thought the brewery was pretty damn awesome!!! I love the atmosphere of chillin' at a tasting room bar in a brewery/warehouse. They have a pool table if you want to play some pool. The tour was a good opportunity to check out the equipment they are working with, and it seems like pretty top notch stuff. The owners/brewers are super friendly and are willing to talk to you as much about the beer, the brewing process, and the brewing equipment as you you'd like. My father in law (also my Assistant Brewmaster) had many questions for Chris and he talked with us and happily answered them all. If you haven't checked the place out yet, be sure to head out there soon. Place is cool, beer is tasty, and the people are awesome!

Other pics from the visit: