How sweet is Palmetto Brewery's new tasting room? If you haven't been yet, you definitely have to get down there and check it out. I was thoroughly impressed when I visited around the Christmas holiday. Hold on... Let me back up a bit.
Palmetto Brewery, the oldest brewery in South Carolina, opened in 1993. The owners came up with the idea while on a windsurfing trip to the Columbia River Gorge. On their website, it says "while sipping beer from a local brewery during a windsurfing break, we decided Charleston deserved more than yellow fizzy beer - they deserved a brewery to call their own." I would say the guys were spot on. The brewery is currently located in downtown Charleston, at 289 Huger Street (sandwiched between King and Meeting Streets). I say currently, because they already have it in the works to re-locate to the Park Circle area of North Charleston in 2018. The new brewery will be bigger, and enable them to grow and expand distribution. The last that I heard, the current site of the brewery will be converted into apartments. This is sad to hear, but I guess it would be kind of cool to live in a former brewery. Conflicted.
Alright, let's get back to my visit to the tasting room. By the way, this tasting room is gorgous. They did a great job when they added this a few years back. I love all the wood. Gives the place so much character. In addition, the tap handles are dope as hell. Anyway, back to the beer at hand. I decided to check out a few Palmetto beers that I've never had. It turns out that Palmetto stocks a few beers on tap that are exclusive to the tasting room. I chose to go with the A.M. Wood (get it... Morning Wood?) for my 1st brewsky. It was an American Pale Ale aged on Cedar Spirals. It was really tasty! I then went with the Quarter Past Bourbon, which was a Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter. This beer, though only 6.1% abv, had a great deal of complexity. The bourbon, toffee, coffee, and chocolate flavors are still dancing around in my mouth. My father allowed me a few tastes of his beer, the Ghost Rider. The Ghost Rider is an American Pale Ale with Ghost Peppers and Cherries. I was expecting the heat to be turned up on this one, but it was fairly subtle. I thought it was awesome.
Now let's talk about the Loading Dock Beer Garden. This is definitely one of my favorite things about Palmetto Brewery. This is an outdoor area for some good ol' outdoor drinking. In addition, on weekends, bands perform on the actual loading dock (which acts as the stage). The best part is there is no charge to go and listen to the music. It's always free!!! Click here to view their calendar of events to see who is performing in the next few weeks.
So do yourself a favor, and get downtown to check out Charleston's oldest brewery. I would also suggest trying one of the beers that are unique to the tasting room. Palmetto's flagships are pretty widely available at bars, restaurants, and grocery stores, but you can get the Morning Wood (oops I mean A.M. Wood) at the tasting room.
Tasting Room hours are:
Monday - Thursday 3pm-9pm
Friday and Saturday 1pm-10pm
Sunday- Closed
Tours are given starting at 5pm, Monday through Friday (as long as Brewery operations allow).
Cheers!
0 comments:
Post a Comment