[Brewery] Coast Brewing - Charleston, SC

Not far from Westbrook, you’ll find another solace of high quality brews in Coastal South Carolina. I’m speaking of Coast Brewing, the co-hosts of the epic annual beer fest Brewvival, and makers of several stellar brews. Some personal favorites from the folks at Coast include Blackbeerd Imperial Stout (and the barrel aged version, of course), Boy King Double IPA, and one of my top wants, Old Nuptial Barrel Aged Barleywine. Recently, I took a trip up to grab a couple of other seasonals, so check out some of the sights from that trip below.

I’ve been to Coast a handful of times, but I’ve never taken a tour or talked much with anyone who works there. Jaime showed us around the brewhouse while we sipped on the four beers that were on tap that day. South Carolina beer drinkers should be especially thankful for her efforts, as she helped lead the Pop the Cap SC movement in order for craft breweries to take off. She’s also the President of the SC Brewer’s Association. At any rate, she gave us a quick rundown of the brewing process for them and the equipment that they use to brew their beers. 

I’m always excited to see barrels in breweries. Probably because I’ll drink anything that’s been barrel aged — and due to the fact that I think the barrel aging process is fascinating and brings such great flavors to all types of beers. At Coast, they’ve still got four barrels of Old Nuptial Barleywine in barrels, which was released earlier this year. The bottled version was aged for 18 months, so what’s left is definitely getting a VIP treatment. Personally, I’m hoping some of the extra barrel aged version makes an appearance at Brewvival. 

One of the beers I was after was the Rye Knot Brown Ale. I had heard a lot about this particular brew, but I had never tried it. Upon sampling, I’d compare it to Cigar City’s Cubano Espresso. A good bit of coffee and chocolate flavors are present, and more than welcomed in a Brown Ale as far as I’m concerned. I was a little bummed that bottles weren’t available yet — as I’ve been excited to see all the new label designs from the fine folks at Fuzzco.

The other brew that I sought out was Coast’s Event Horizon, a Cascadian Dark / Black Ale. I thought this one was pretty good as well, though for some reason I was expecting something more like a Black IPA. The brew showcases a really nice roasty character that is sure to please even those who aren’t a fan of the style but like Brown Ales or Porters. 

Coast runs a relatively modest operation and still distributes themselves. Most of their kegs / bottles don’t venture too far outside of Charleston and Hilton Head areas. The seasonals usually don’t stick around, but you should be able to find bottles of the Hop Art IPA and 32/50 KoIsch throughout the year. Sometimes you might get lucky though, as Coast brewed a second helping of Boy King this year. And I doubt you’ll have to try too hard convince yourself to take a trip to the SC coast. 

If you’re in Charleston for the weekend, you could definitely hit Coast and Westbrook in a day. Although, Coast is only open from 11-2 on Saturdays, so plan accordingly. 

[Bottle Share] Barrel Aged Hunahpu’s from Cigar City Brewing

(left to right: Flor de Caña Rum, Stranahan’s Whiskey, Four Roses Bourbon, and Virgin Oak)

Well folks. My wife and I (and a couple friends of ours) had to endure the most chaotic, hectic mess of a beer release to get these bad boys. But, between the four of us, we managed to snag all four variants of the coveted Barrel Aged Hunahpu’s from Cigar City. I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I’ll hit the regular Hunahpu’s release in March — which I hear is much less chaotic thanks to wristbands — but for me, the rum variant alone was worth my trouble. In case you’re wondering Hunahpu’s is an Imperial Stout with Madagascar vanilla, Peruvian cacao nibs, cinnamon and both ancho and pasilla chilies. All of that combines for a pretty unique stout that is released once a year. 

Hope you get to try at least one of these. If you can only pick one, go for the rum. Spiced rum brings out a lot of the flavor from the chilies with a good amount of sweetness too. You’ll thank me later. Cheers!