Heading to Charleston SC for a little RnR with out the kidos (rest and relaxation not rock and roll)
quite the beer city, looking for some recommendations
Westbrook Brewing was already on the list to try their gose
But all these other options too
http://revelrybrewingco.com
http://freehousebeer.com
www.coastbrewing.com/
http://frothybeard.com
http://www.holycitybrewing.com
http://tradesmanbrewing.com
http://www.palmettobrewery.com
these two places seem pretty spectacular http://www.closed4business.com &http://edmundsoast.com
this site is a great listing http://beerofsc.com of what's available in the state, but don't plan on going further than a cab ride from Charleston
Also any other non-beer must dos would be appreciated
Well, I am happy to say I drank nothing but local beer on my recent visit to 'the Holy City'
Everything I had from Freehouse and Revelry were great. I wish I'd ordered more when I had the chance. Didn't realize which ones would be hard to get at first and I would have waited on the Holy City, Palmetto and Westbrook until later in my trip?as those three were fairly common and I had to do a few repeats in my drunken saga of a long weekend. It was really great to go in every establishment in and out of the city to find they had local brews on tap or in cans/bottles (One exception was a great Italian place called Monza?went with a Chianti as to stay true to my cause?but man that pork belly made it worth it!)
Sadly didn't make it to any brewery or distillery (was a block from High Wire Distilling) On the two trips to Sullivan's island, I was able to find some of the best beers on Tap. Food was top notch everywhere, one of my favorites wasn't even a meat dish, but a Beet Salad with house made ricotta at The Obstinate Daughter.
Bar's definitely worth going to: Closed for Business, Prohibition (although not for beer) the back porch at Barsa (also quite literally the back of our apartment), Rooftop drinks at Henry's House, deck drinks at Salt @ station 22.
My top picks were
Freehouse's Ashley Farmhouse Ale - Lots of flavor in that glass with a touch of sour with that citrusy syrupy saison feel
Westbrook's Gose - very good and very drinkable. Has some tart with salt and citrus that would turn some off, but I could see having a 3 or 4 of these on the back porch watching the sun set. Never thought of sour beers as refreshing summer beers, but this one definitely is. Obviously... I need to try more Gose
Holy City's Pluff Mud Porter (on tap) this was delicious. Got a 6 pack of the can's and it's just not the same.
White Thai, 32°/50°, Palmetto's Pale Ale and Washout Wheat were some of the best beers to drink on the deck with the sun up. Charleston really has a lot of delicious light beers available.
The Setlist(but not in order):
Holy City's Pluff Mud - American porter
Holy City's Washout Wheat - Hefeweizen
Holy City's Chucktown Follicle Brown - American Brown Ale
Coast's 32°/50° - Kölsch
Coast's HopArt - IPA
Palmetto's Amber - amber lager
Palmetto's Pale Ale - American Pale Ale
Palmetto's ?Hootie?s Homegrown? Ale - Blonde Ale: the third installment in the Rock Brothers Brewing line of artist inspired craft beers. We teamed up with Hootie & the Blowfish, Cigar City and Palmetto Brewing to bring you a refreshing, light, but complex craft beer.
Westbrook's Gose - German-style sour wheat beer brewed with coriander and salt
Westbrook's White Thai - is a twist on the classic Belgian witbier style w/lemongrass, ginger root and a dash of Sorachi Ace hops
Westbrook's IPA - IPA
Freehouse's Ashley Farmhouse Ale - A dry Belgian-style saison.
Revelry's Gullah - Cream Ale: Revelry took the classic ?lawnmower? beer and turned it into something quintessentially Southern by using South Carolina grits (15% of the total grist)
Revelry's Welcome, This Is A Farmhouse - American Farmhouse
Might put a rose at The Emanuel A.M.E. Church in a show of unity
I picked an odd weekend to be there. I started drinking a little early on Friday and ended up in Closed for Business about 30 minutes before the President delivered the eulogy for Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney. I knew he was in town, but hadn't really planed on watching it.
Being in Charleston, less than 5 blocks from where the massacre happened 10 days before and sharing that moment with Charlestonians was a memorable experience. I'm not going to lie, I shed a tear while watching that with the locals. The bar was pretty hopping for a mid day, but for 30 minutes you could hear a pin drop. He really did knock it out of the park... at least from where I was watching it.