A BA in craft beer would be a pretty awesome thing to have on your college diploma. But while South Carolina isn’t quite there yet, one Lowcountry technical college is looking to give students an education in the brewing and distilling fields. Continue reading
Put this one in the SC beer history books: Today – Wednesday, December 11 – Greenville’s Brewery 85 held its first brew day on its full-scale system.
After months of preparation and construction, the Upstate brewery today fired up its brewhouse and began production on its large system. Brewer Will McCameron has been brewing out of his garage but will now move operations into the brewery itself. Up first: Southern Style Pale Ale
A tentative grand opening day has been scheduled for January 18, 2014, and the brewery will likely be on hand at Brewvival in Charleston February 22.
Thomas Creek‘s ongoing expansion got a bit bigger recently as the brewery finally received a wealth of new brewing equipment, including four 120 BBL fermenters.
Located in the brewery’s new brewing facility, the massive new equipment will greatly expand Thomas Creek’s brewing capacity by nearly 3,800 gallons. And that’s not the end of it: The new brewing facility has room for a total of 16 fermenters of the same size. Additionally, the new kettle and exhaust system is now in place as well.
When all is up and running, the expanded brewery will be able to produce 25,000 BBL a year, with a maximum capacity of 65,000 BBL annually in the next five years, up from the original 60,000 BBL estimate. The expansion was scheduled to be completed December 1 but should now be finished in January.
Having just crossed the 2-year mark, Charleston’s Holy City shows no signs of slowing down. During the weekend, they announced the upcoming arrival of their 50th beer named 50 Shades of Green.
A 9% imperial IPA, the scandalously titled brew is made with Warrior, Falconer’s Flight, Nugget and Citra hops in the boil and then dry-hopped with a ball-gaggingly high 50 pounds of Citra, Amarillo and Sorachi Ace.
(Ed. note: As someone who hasn’t read the book, I assume there are ball gags in 50 Shades of Grey?)
Also, there’s this:
He approached the kettle. “I’m gonna put so much malt in you today.” The kettle was very excited.
Next thing it knew, a mash made with enough Pale and Munich Malts to choke an elephant was in a rolling boil.
But the kettle had it easy, even after the hop additions. It was the fermenter that really had it coming.
A 50-pound dry-hop was almost too much to bear, but somehow, it felt right. Citra, Amarillo, and Sorachi Ace imparted an irresistible aroma to the finished beer.
Don’t be afraid to show a pint of this who’s boss. That’s what it wants.
Is it hot in here, or is it just me?
A cursory search through my archives – back when I did reviews regularly – will show you that I love everything pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice, pumpkin candles, you name it. It’s my favorite smell (must be a late October baby thing) and, when put into a beer, one of my favorite flavors. (Or at least the flavors associated with pumpkin-related foods.)
So of course I’m excited about the news that Greenville’s Thomas Creek will be introducing its own pumpkin beer this year aptly named Pumpkin Ale. The 7.3% ale is being brewed for the first time this week along with TC’s Octoberfest Lager and will be released in six packs later this year.
Side note: Kudos to TC for releasing pumpkin beers closer to the time it’s actually OK to drink pumpkin beers. I love Pumking and whatnot, but if I roll my eyes anymore at the fact it’s already on shelves, they’ll fall out of their sockets.
After some delays in getting the can designs approved, Westbrook will finally begin canning their One Claw Rye Pale Ale and Gose this week.
Photos tweeted by Westbrook’s Mike Levin show rows of the new cans ready to be filled. The Westbrooks themselves told me last week both beers should be hitting shelves across the state by the end of the month, so expect to pick these up soon.
Maybe now this will finally put all those “rumors” about canned Gose to rest.
At the conclusion of their regular #HuntforB85 scavenger hunt on Wednesday, which invites fans to track down the location of the brewery, Greenville’s Brewery 85 announced some big news: They’ve received their federal brewing license.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau – TTB, for short – is the division of the U.S. Treasury Department that oversees the payment of excise taxes, alcohol sales and more. Getting the TTB’s OK is just one stamp of approval the brewery must get before beginning operations.
Brewery 85 is still on schedule to open this fall. Here’s the string of tweets where the news was announced (and a little victory lap for founder Will McCameron).
