It has been a year since we first started Beer-South and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to head where it all started……. Brewvival. This year I met Guy in North Charleston for our second annual retreat where we get to try some of the South’s best beers. I drove in Friday and met Guy at the hotel. We forged a plan and decided to try a new brewery to Charleston. Cooper River Brewing has been open since November. It is tucked away just off Interstate 26. We got there as soon as it opened and there were already people there. Always a good sign. We sat at the bar and ordered a couple of flights. It was our waitresses first day and she did a good job. As with any of the beer we drink, we like all beer but we like to point out what stood out for us. Guy really enjoyed their Inaugural IPA and Porter. I too enjoyed their Porter and Irish Stout. It was a nice new brewery worth checking out.
We left and headed to get something to eat. We wanted to try somewhere we hadn’t been before so we went to Sesame Burgers & Beer. It was around 5:30 and this place was packed! We liked that sign as well. We both ordered a local Holy City Boom! Rye Beer and ordered burgers. Guy had the Southern Style burger with onion rings and I had the black bean burger with sweet potato fries. We can see why it was packed. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals.
After supper we headed back to hotel and enjoyed a couple of beers we both brought for the trip. I brought Fullsteam Coffee is for Closers Porter and Guy brought several beers (some I haven’t tried yet) but I did get to enjoy Funky Buddha Nib Smuggler Porter. Both were outstanding. We decided to call it a night because we had a big day in front of us. You don’t want to be hung over going into Brewvival.
After eating breakfast we made sure the hotel shuttle bus could take us to the festival. I normally like to have a plan when it comes to festivals like what I’m going to try. This year they did something different. They did not publish what brewery was going to be there. That does kind of bother me because like I said I like having a plan. I must admit though the anticipation was mounting to see what we were going to encounter. We arrived about 15 minutes before the festival started. The weather was splendid. A stark difference from last year’s event. After the gates opened we entered and received our glass and beer list. A very nice surprise indeed! We saw some of the same breweries as we did last year and some breweries that we didn’t expect to see. We went from table to table and enjoyed everything. It seemed this year’s festival focused on stouts and sours. No worries because I enjoy all beer types. (I’ll get to the winners for us in a minute.) Half way through the festival we decided to get something to eat. There was no lack of food trucks to choose from. We decided to go with Home Team BBQ. We both had a pulled pork sandwich that was out of this world. A super nice treat to go along with the great beer we were drinking. So, now onto the winners for us in no particular order. They were Cycle Crank Arm IPA and Rickshaw Rye Beer , Creature Comforts Tropicalia IPA and The King’s Ransom Baltic Porter, Angry Chair Tiramisu Imperial Stout and Honey Bell Orange IPA, COAST Boy King on Cask Double IPA, Fonta Flora Borscht Wild Ale, Revelry Rambling Rubus Sour Ale, Foothills Bourbon Barrel Aged Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout, Jester King Funk Metal Sour Ale, Oskar Blues Bourbon Barrel Aged Decimal Point Imperial Stout, Crooked Stave Nightmare on Brett Sour Ale, Burial Skillet Donut Stout, and Terrapin Cinnamon Roll’d Wake-n-Bake Imperial Stout. It was another great Brewvivval.
We called for our hotel to come pick us up and we decided to go eat where we did last year. Since it was so close to the hotel and it being so good neither one of us complained. We walked down to Big Billy’s Burger Joint. I ordered a Holy City Bowens Island Oyster Stout which was so good. Yes I ordered another black bean burger (because I love them) and had corn on the cob. Lovely! Guy enjoyed the same thing. We walked back to the hotel and called it a day. We enjoyed ourselves and were pleased again at what North Charleston had to offer. We look forward to next year.
Cheers!
Jason
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