SC Brewer’s Guild

May 8, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 9:25 am

After some internet chatter and confusion regarding the SCBA, I thought I’d update. Or more realistically, not update. We founded Pop the Cap SC in 2005, our sole goal was to lift the alcohol cap on beer ( it was 6.2%). We accomplished that and renamed ourselves the SC Brewer’s Guild. Unlike many other other guilds, our primary mission is to address and better rules and regulations for in state breweries. Since it is pretty much only myself and RJ Rockers running the SCBA at this time that is all we have time to do. We do not yet have a real board with positions. We are unable to devote much time to promotion (aka the “fun stuff”) as many other guilds do. Honestly, after 7 years I’m tired of working in the arena of politics, it certainly isn’t a job I would choose for myself. It doesn’t come naturally to me but at the same time has been quite humbling and a good learning experience- when I’m not frustrated to the point of no return. I do what I can with NO budget (everything has been on COAST’s dime since day one) but since my full-time job is COAST I can’t give everything needed to SCBA but what time I do give is entirely devoted to changing our laws. I tried for a pint law bill but couldn’t garner the support needed (not on the consumer/citizen side mind you, that part is easy) to even get the bill introduced. At some point when SC gets it’s act together and we no longer have to fight for basic free enterprise rights, I’ll have more time to update websites and pimp our breweries. Until then, you’ll hear from us when we need your calls, emails and letters and hopefully you’ll still be listening.

Brewvival 2012 Wrap Up.

February 29, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 10:13 am

So if you thought Brewvival was a little bit overcrowded, you were right.  We sold several hundred more designated driver tickets than we had anticipated and much more than last year. We really felt it was important to have unlimited DD tickets to encourage safe driving but in reality it didn’t work that way. We won’t get into details but that privilege was abused in different ways and caused some overcrowding. In addition, the tent layout didn’t flow in the way we had planned.  As always, a festival like this is a huge undertaking and things happen that weren’t anticipated. We always take any issues into account and will use them as needed if Brewvival is to continue in the future.

While it may take a village to raise a child, it takes a whole damn city to put on a beer festival. Here are just a few thank yous. These folks work hard to make Brewwvival the best so be sure to thank them and call them up the next time you need that service.

Most of all, I’d like to thank David- yup owner, brewer, husband who quite literally runs this show. There is so much behind the scenes work since our brewery is the host. All this in addition to keeping up with COAST’s demands. Brewvival could not exist without him.

Fisher Recycling

Robert Donovan Photography and John Sease photographer

Charleston Coffee Roasters

Stage Presence

Big Hair Productions

Merritt Brokerage

Anderson Insurance

PostNet

Access Toilets

Chrys Rynerson Web and Timmons Pettigrew Charleston Beer

TGI SIgns

Lowcountry Valet

Charleston Cotton Exchange

Bands: 54 Bicycles, Flatt City, the Local Honeys

Food Trucks: Roti Rolls, Diggity Douhgnuts, Ted’s, Coleman Public House, D’Allesandro’s

Of Course, Scott, Rich and Tracey at the Charleston Beer Exchange!

And last but not least, all the brewers who take the time and energy to attend. You are what makes Brewvival awesome and unique.

It’s 2012!

January 12, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 7:30 am

January Happenings:

14th- Charleston Marathon runs past the brewery so tours are pushed back: 1-4 pm, SATURDAY, THE 14TH ONLY!!

21- Blackbeerd Cask event at House of Brews in Mount Pleasant. 5pm, with music and Roti Rolls.

27- Culinary Institute and Trident Tech Annual Fundraiser. Bid on a private beer dinner from us and the Culinary Institute. Supports scholarships and academic programs. Support the future chefs of Charleston.

28- World Beer Fest Columbia.

Busy month. And then of course…….BREWVIVAL. Whew.

Blackbeerd 2012

December 21, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 6:19 pm

This years Blackbeerd Russian Imperial Stout will be available starting Thursday 12/22. Same details as last year: 22 ounce bottles, $10 each. Limit 6 per person. We did things a little different this time around and did 2 separate batches and are barrel aging half of each batch. So that means this is the first half of the non-barrel aged Blackbeerd.  Now for the really exciting part. We’ve had a hard time in the past getting barrels from  David’s favorite bourbon. No more, we got some! We are so excited to say that this years Blackbeerd is aging away in Blanton’s bourbon barrels. Waiting is oh so hard since it will be several months.

December Tasting Hours.

December 9, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 10:15 am

We will be having normal tasting hours Thursdays and Saturdays through 12/22.

No Tastings Saturday 12/24.

Tastings 4-7 Thursday 12/29. Closed 12/31.

Movember. And Good Food Awards

November 16, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 7:37 am

Hard to believe it’s November already. One of our favorite months at the brewery since it’s actually pleasant temps for work. HHmm, November happenings……

We will be closed THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24th for Thanksgiving but will be open the day before (Wednesday) with same hours 4-7.

SO, we have never entered any competition or awards before so my next news is really exciting. There is a really cool one called The Good Food Awards. The Good Food Awards celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsibly produced.Because we love all kinds of tasty beer but we also love when it’s produced locally, organically and with a nod to the environment and sustainability. So we entered the 2012 awards…..and we are a finalist! Some of the judges in the beer category: Matt Brynildson, Sean Paxton Homebrew Chef and none other than MICHAEL POLLAN ( I am a huge follower of his work)!

Needless to say this is a huge honor and we feel really blessed to be involved with both craft beer and organizations that recognize the bigger picture. Here’s a list of all finalists.

Brewvival tickets went on sale 11.11.11. February 25th 2012, again at the fields by COAST. In our 3rd year, we’re keeping our same idea of rare, interesting, one-off and just darn good beers. The next 3 months of my life are spent prepping for this so please come :)

WE get a lot of questions and inquiries here at COAST. An awful lot. I am working on a faq page to try to help answer them. Stay tuned.

Thanks for your continued support.

It’s possible and should be done but it ain’t easy.

October 27, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 10:18 am

Received a few messages about the below post. 2 were on the opposite sides: “Is it really that easy?” and “It looks so hard that it’s not even worth it” No and No. I’ll make a few notes below (and remember these points can apply to so many things not just brewing)

Even more inquiries from folks on how to open their own small business and not just breweries, all kinds of concepts. Besides beery questions the other major one is “How do you run a small business, make the right decisions (morally/ethically/environmentally, etc…) and STAY in business.

Well, It’s possible and should be done but it ain’t easy.

If you know us your aware  that we are pretty straight forward and adamant about our business practices. Some of which include not buying stuff made in china, organic malts, environmental accountability, support of local causes, the list is long.         To me, the reasons for these choices are self explanatory yet I realize that’s not the case for everybody. Which brings me to the fundamental thread in all of these. We aim to treat people (insert earth, business, etc…) right and just (and that means understanding we are all not on the same path). Pretty simple really. It’s easy to make business decisions without *too* much contemplating because we’ve already a “code of ethics” if you will. Essentially a checklist of criteria, if it meets it great if not it’s a no go.And make no mistake about it, we are not compromising on these things regardless of the fact they don’t make sense to some people (we’ve heard it all).

That may mean less of a profit (organic grain and eco-friendly supplies sure cost more) and less time (it takes longer to plan efficiency and “pre-cycle”) amongst others. And it can be very stressful and frustrating  knowing there are cheaper, less time consuming short cuts that can be had. We could send our beer out blindly and not take the time to educate consumers on what’s in their pint. But in the end what matters? I know what does for me (and I am speaking for me Jaime as a person and COAST as a company). The question is does it matter to everyone else? For the most part, I think it does. And that is so reassuring and inspiring. So if your thinking of making the jump to your own small business:

It’s possible and should be done but it ain’t easy.    But it is worth it. To do this though you have to make some sacrifices and understand that there are consequences for all of those actions. I can’t say I am totally happy about sacrificing the last 4 years of running COAST for all the growing up our kids have done in that time. David especially has missed out on more than he should have and those 4 years were really important ages of our boys. Financially, multiple home mortgages and loans does not feel good. Period. The kids better damn well get some scholarships because the brewery is the only thing we have and I don’t think USC takes breweries as college payment. Oh yeah and we finally were able to take our honeymoon this year……..14 years later!! I also don’t think hospitals take beer as payment for the heart attack/back surgery it’s inevitable David have BUT still……we get to teach our kids about hard work and following your dream (and David was seriously meant to do this with his life). We get to walk away from a business transaction realizing it helped BOTH parties. We get to know we did the best we could. And for that it’s worth it.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way….on to the beer. Event Horizon (Cascadian Dark Ale/Black IPA etc…) is out this week. A bit more roasty and tad bigger body this time around. We are having fun exploring that style, lots of interpretation. Bottles of it should be out next week. We got a “blank” seasonal label so you should start seeing more seasonal stuff in 22’s. Rye Knot Brown is the next seasonal up, another week or so. Perfect timing for what looks to be cool weather coming.

Our trusty intern Shane has been with us for almost 2 years and graduated from the American Brewers Guild this year. He’s ready to leave the nest and got the competitive brewing gig at Stone Brewing in Sunny San Diego. We wish him all the luck in the world! Please note we are not accepting any other interns (at least for a long while). We put a LOT of energy into that and need lots of time to recover. Plus it will be hard to fill his shoes, we haven’t seen someone with that much beer enthusiasm in a long time (hey, he reminds me of 15 years ago David).

Planning for Brewvival 2012 is on it’s way. We look forward to another wonderful festival with good beer and good people.

Let me publish this before I keep going……..Cheers!

Food Truck Rodeo at COAST October 15th, 3-9p

October 11, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 12:43 pm

Charleston Brewvival presents the October edition of the Food Truck Rodeo (aka Foodvival) hosted by COAST and held in the Brewivval field across from the brewery. 9 local food trucks, 3 local bands and plenty of good weather.  We’ll be serving up pints of 32/50 Kolsch, HopArt IPA, All Chinook Pale Ale and ALTerior Motive altbier. We’re also serving other South Carolina made brews: Aftershock (Palmetto), Son of a Peach (RJ Rockers), Pluffmud Porter (Holy City) and Vanilla Dubbel (Westbrook).

Things to keep in mind:

Dogs on leash are welcome,

Bring a lawn chair and cash money.

No outside food or alcoholic beverages allowed.

Bug spray wouldn’t hurt.

PLease note, this is a separate event from our tastings and tours. We will not be filling growlers, having tours or any other sales. We will be keeping tasting hours of 11-2 that Saturday.

October Happenings

September 20, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 3:02 pm

October marks a busy month for here at COAST. We are celebrating 4 years and what a long way we’ve come. From David’s first days at Southend fresh out of the American Brewer’s Guild 1998 (not to mention a beer cap of 6% abv and NO brewery tastings or sales) to 4 years of a dream come true brewery. It’s been an exciting and exhausting time for our entire family (shoot, those cute kids that used to play bb guns in the brewery yard and hide on the grain pallets…..the oldest is in HIGH SCHOOL). Where did the time go???

Here are some of our upcoming events, reserve your seats soon!:

October 2nd- Charleston Breweries Vegetarian Beer Dinner at Hominy

October 3rd- 4 year Anniversary dinner at Evo Pizzeria

October 15- Food Truck Rodeo at COAST 3-9p

We feel a change may be underfoot for us so stay tuned to see what’s up! OH! And most importantly, thanks to all of you for your overwhelming support both in Pop the Cap/SC Brewer’s Association and COAST over these years, we would not be here without it. Eternally grateful and blessed!

August….almost the end!

August 22, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — ptcsc @ 2:14 pm

Cooler weather is finally around the corner. It’s been a tough summer here at the brewery, just so dern hot. I am surprised every Thursday and Saturday that people still come in for tastings. So thanks.

A few things on the horizon. the Boy King will be making one final 2011 appearance in both bottle and kegs, hopefully by the end of the week. We will also have a Belgian Strong Pale Ale soon as well. Brewed with boat loads of local Wadmalaw honey!! We are really excited about this one. Another pale ale in our Single Hop Pale Ale series due in September….you’ll have to wait and see what one hop was used. We’ll be at the Brewgrass Festival in Asheville in September, so holler at us when COAST hits the mountains. Details about our 4 year Anniversary beer dinner at Evo pizzeria will be forthcoming. October 3! Has it really been 4 years?!?!

Older Posts »