Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Tradesmen Brewing Sneak Peak!

7:31:00 PM  Charleston Craft Beer  No comments



Tradesman Brewing is Coming!

The craft beer craze is slowly creeping its way onto James Island! In the past year, we’ve seen a craft beer bar open (Bohemian Bull) and another one on the way (The Barrel). This has left some wondering, when will JI get an equally badass brewery taboot?


Scott & Sara McConnell were so kind to have the charlestoncraftbeer.com folks out for a little Saturday visit, a couple weeks ago. We were told that Sarah was “the talker” of the bunch (by Scott, so I’ll take his word for it). We spent some time hanging out, sipping some beers, and getting a lay of the land that is Tradesman Brewing.

The brewery itself is in a separate building. It is behind the tasting room in a very sharp and clean multipurpose room. The brewery itself is a 2 barrel nano brewery. The brewery was very clean and this was clearly a family affair for the Gayles as two young ones were helping in various ways. The son was carefully placing keg labels on for Scott.




The tasting room was sweet! It is the bottom portion of a house, with the front 2 rooms devoted to the tasting area. You’ve got all sorts of different approaches when it comes to tasting rooms (See Wesbtrook vs. Holy City), but this one was somewhere in the middle. It was very small, with room for maybe 15 people, but SCREAMED JI laid-back vibe. A beautiful bar stuck out into the room and a small table with chairs and some Tradesman swag, adorned the other half of the room.






We tried the Circuit Brewaker IPA and the Brick Layers Red Ale. I would say the IPA was extremely fresh, with floral notes and hint of grapefruit. I’m not sure what types of hops were used, but tasted like Chinook. The second beer we tried was the Brick Layers Red Ale.  Scott stated that so far, the Red Ale has been his biggest crowd pleaser (*when he has done some events thus far). I can’t say I was blown away, but it was a very clean and crisp take on the style. He did not have the remaining 4 or so beers tapped up and said he was attempting to build up inventory for opening day.  The other beers listed on the draft board were: Pipewrench Porter, Mechanic's Ale (Blonde), Welder's Agave Wheat, and Journey Man's Pale Ale.  Pints were listed as $5 each and growlers fills $10.

Brick Layers Ale

Circuit Breaker IPA

Love the chalkboard paint on these paddles!  That way you don't forget which beer you're sampling!
We asked Scott a few questions. First, we asked him about himself. He is from Mount Pleasant and is driven to “figuring things out." Somewhere in the past few years he became bored, while his passion for home brewing kept growing. Finally, he decided to open the brewery. He stated that Palmetto and COAST were breweries he admired in the Charleston area, but admitted they all have their pros/cons.



We loved the tap handles!
The beers we tried all had names that related to a very “blue-collar” lifestyle, which fits pretty nicely being on James Island, the most “blue-collar” area of Charleston. He talked about things like being food truck friendly, music outside, and various events on the weekends to bring in the crowds. However, with the space, he could surely create all sorts of island vibes. We are extremely excited to welcome the 7th (hardly the last) brewery to town. We wish him best of luck and can’t wait for opening!!! The only thing holding them up, at this point, is SCE&G switching over their electric. Scott stated he hoped for an early April opening date.  We will keep you updated!  Be sure to like Tradesman Brewing on Facebook to stay up to date.

Post by Brandon Bobart

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