Charleston

 

 

Catherine and I recently celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and wanted to do something nice with just the grown-ups….if you can truly call us “grown-ups.” Actually when it comes to craft beer we are very kid in a candy store-esque. What better way to do that than to go to Brewvival in North Charleston. Since Brewvival sells out every year we had planned this trip months in advance. I suggest the same if anyone would like to attend in the future. We headed down early and met a friend that lives in the area. She suggested Charleston Beer Works for a late lunch. We all enjoyed the food –the wings were great & sandwiches were tasty, too!  We had several beers we enjoyed but especially liked a beer called Imperial Pirate Coffee Black IPA from a brand new Charleston brewery called Fat Pig Brewing. It was super tasty!

During lunch we were chatting about how much we wished our friend could go with us to the festival…but it was sold out. As I scrolled through my twitter feed what do I find but a spare ticket hanging out at Holy City Brewing. We finished lunch and headed that way. Holy City Brewing is a really great spot. It was a little crowded because of a pre-Brewvival fish fry but the place had a great vibe. We ordered a flight and enjoyed the offerings. After finishing up we headed to the hotel and met my family (that just happens to love beer as much as we do) who had decided to drive up from Florida. Luckily,they had brought up some craft beer from their neck of the woods for us to try & we had brought some from our area, as well. All of us loved Foothills Brewing Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout and of course Jade IPA that we had brought. Catherine and I love Jade but this was the first time for my step father. We even brought an extra so he could take one back home to enjoy later. The other favorites were Southbound Brewing Company Secret Shared IPA and Big Storm Brewing Arcus IPA that he had brought up for us.

We were all feeling the need to eat after all the beers & comradery so we decided to take a locals advice and go to Bonefish Grill. We normally like to eat at local restaurants when we travel but this was walking distance for us and convenient and came highly recommended – And are we glad we did. The food and service from start to finish was impeccable! We enjoyed a Stone Brewing Self Righteous Black IPA while we waited. I know Stone Brewing isn’t a Southern brewery but they will soon have one in Richmond so they make it in. After a superb dining experience we headed back to the hotel and called it a night. We had a big day coming up. It was difficult to sleep due to the anticipation of our first Brewvival!

Saturday was finally here, so we awoke and started the day early. After breakfast we made sure the shuttle the hotel offered would have plenty of time to drop us off. While en route to Brewvival I was wishing that I had brought a warmer coat. It was cold but at least it wasn’t raining. We had plans to warm up from the inside with all the beers we were going to taste. We stood in line waiting for noon to strike. The lines moved quickly as we entered the event. It was in a field across from COAST Brewing. The grounds weren’t in to bad a shape from the rain. It was a little muddy but nothing to stop a good time. We had made our plan and tried as many beers as we could. It was just impossible to try them all. I think in total the count offered at the festival was near 190 different beers. The standouts for us were as follows: Foothills Brewing February IPA of the Month(Charlie the Corgi), Foothills Brewing Imperial Smoked Cherry Porter, Highland Brewing Coco-Oh-No Stout, New South Brewing Bliss Black IPA, COAST Brewing BA Blackbeard Stout, COAST Brewing Smoked Rye Pale Ale, Revelry Brewing Funkmaster Brett & The Furious Hops IPA, River Dog Brewing Raspberry Tart-er Sauce Fruit Beer, Westbrook Brewing Batch 1000 IPA, RJ Rockers Brewing BA Whiskey Black Perle Black IPA, RJ Rockers Brewing Cask Rockhopper IPA, Tradesman Brewing Circuit Breaker IPA, Sweetwater Brewing Second Helping IPA, Fonta Flora Brewing Coffee IPA, and Frothy Beard Brewing Bearded Workman Scotch Ale. There were a few non southern beers that were so tasty we wanted to mention them as well: Crooked Stave Beer Table Table Beer Wild Ale, Jolly Pumpkin Persimmon Ship Wild Ale and Jester King Das Wunderkind! Sour Ale.

We decided that we had enough and called for the shuttle to come and pick us up. I must admit we were an entertaining group for the lucky two guys that came to get us from the hotel.  When we got back to the hotel it was nearing time to get our grub on – we had drank up an appetite. We found another place that was walking distance called Big Billy’s Burger Joint. We couldn’t have chosen better. The food was great as was the service & the company! There were several local beer options but by this time my palate was done for the day.

Sunday was the day we had to head back home. My family and I headed to downtown Charleston to the market to do a little shopping. After they bought a few items we decided to go check out The Charleston Beer Exchange to see what we could bring back. This was a nice little bottle shop with a growler station. The staff was helpful and polite. After our purchase we headed back home. It is always nice to get away but it is always great to return home. We had a wonderful time in Charleston and hope to have the good fortune of returning next year.

Cheers!

Jason