chuckography

Oops. Some local brewery visits I overlooked...

 Lo-Fi was among the three North Charleston breweries that I visited during my fourth mini-tour that, for several reasons, never made it into my blog.

Until Now.

One excuse: May The 4th Be With You was the day I picked to go taste some brewed product.

You know, May 4 and the big Star Wars hoopla, was going on.

My brewery tour "report" was sort of lost in the shuffle.

(This was a vastly different calendar event than the famed April 20th celebration.
That one involved "munchies" by avid celebrants. Unless they forgot about it until the next day.)

So finding the low-key LO-FI Brewing Company was the first challenge that Thursday afternoon/evening.

They were pretty vague about where it was located so it was somewhat of a challenge for my phone's GPS.

Came out Spruill Avenue and finally spotted a banner hanging on a fence about where it turned into Meeting Street Road.

The brewery was among a cluster of well-worn industrial buildings and I parked near the wide open doors and walked into the spacious setting.

The first thing I noticed was the bartender wearing a Star Wars t-shirt. OK, so the party had begun!

This site was a bit different from the others as I was used to ordering a flight so I could sample several different brews.

Not here at the Lo-Fi Brewing Company.

It was explained they did not have the small 4 oz. glasses nor the cute wooden tray that holds them.

Well, time to adapt. I asked what the most often requested, the most popular beer that they offered?

Then, I settled on a stool and sipped a pint of Glitter Pony, an 8.4 ABV Belgian Trippel, named, I suppose, for their symbol, the colorful unicorn.

My North Charleston brewery number two was just a short drive to Fatty's Beer Works, at 1436 Meeting Street Road.

The Star Wars effect was also obvious here and the celebration had started quite a while before we got there.

Relatively new (Fatty's opened in March), Davis McLain, the owner is personable and very welcoming.

You are not a stranger to him, just a friend he had not met yet. David proudly handed out stickers of the three labeled cans they produce - so far.

It was very obvious that dogs were welcomed here and many were lounging around, lapping at filled water bowls.

Several parked bikes showed the riders had found a handy pedal break spot along Meeting Street Road to take a break.

After finding this hospitable open space, I was pleased to hear the owner espouse that these new additions in a close proximity would be good promotable features of North Charleston.

David added his thought that Fatty's was a nice and tasty alternative to driving all the way downtown.

Perhaps this was a way to help alleviate some of the trafic.

Both of these breweries are promoting and expanding distribution of their cold and frosty products.

I recently sipped a Glitter Pony at YoBo Cantina in Park Circle so the word - and the product - is out there now in circulation.

The third brewery in North Charleston to be explored on this mini-crawl also offers a GPS challenge.

For example, the name itself might have you heading in the wrong direction! This is NOT east of the Cooper.

Cooper River Brewing Company opened as a 15 barrel brewhouse and taproom in the Upper Peninsula at 2201 Mechanic Street, Suite B.

The map on my phone's GPS showed more twists and turns than a  winding mountain road.

But, the lady's calm voice kept encouraging me that I WAS heading in the right direction.

And we did find it, pulled up, parked and went inside to the place that features a symbol an oft-sighted familiar bird, but here it is called the Brew Heron.

Caught the Managing Director and Co-Founder, Dustin Pait, behind the bar and he gave us a hearty welcome and poured us a delicious 4-sample flight of their beers.

Dustin said CRBC opened two years ago when three friends realized their dream. It even includes an outdoor courtyard to add a back porch feeling they all loved so much.

Jamie Martin had enjoyed touring breweries, Michael Gates and his wife had been home brewing for years and Dustin was known for having a nose for an excellent IPA.

Not surprising, the choices include a Summer IPA, an Inaugural IPA and a West Coast IPA.

There also is a Stout, Porter (Nitro), Golden Ale, Orange Infused Blonde Ale, ESB and a Watermelon Wheat.

Sorry about the delay in presenting one of our 3-breweries mini-tour facts, figures, and photos.

(Click on the pictures and links for more details).

I also went back to the Rusty Bull on Montague Avenue to check out its Grand Opening.

Quite a crowd and a fun time was had by all!

Thanks for tagging along.

We'll keep this up as newcomers open.

Enjoy a cool one!

Labels: Brew Heron, CRBC Cooper River Brewing Co., Davis McLain, Dustin Pait, Fatty's Beer Works, Glitter Pont at Lo-Fi Brewing, Jamie Martin, May the 4th be with you, Michael Gates, Watermelon Wheat

posted by chuckography @ 4:52 PM