Alright guys, here's a question for all of you.
What do you think of the breweries around here? I've had Conquest, River Rat, Hunter Gatherer, and Old Mill Brew Pub. I haven't had Swamp Cabbage, Twisted Spur, or Bierkeller. Who's doing the best stuff and why? Who's making the worst beer? Is anyone doing anything actually good or is at all mediocre at best? Discuss.
Oh man, stand by for a lengthy diatribe here...
Conquest:
When CQ first opened years ago, I had high hopes for them. They got a big chunk of seed money from some of the higher ups at the AB distro facility around the corner. And I got excited when they started getting creative and pushing the envelope with some beers. They had some unique one-offs and such, but nothing of substance. Then one of the two head brewers left to go somewhere in NC. So now it's just Matt Ellisor and I think maybe he's recruited another brewer by now. They're basically stagnant. All of their flagships are contract brewed by either Thomas Creek or RJ Rockers (can't remember which one). Which makes sense as they only have about a 10 bbl capacity at the brewery, not even close to big enough for distro. I have had
one beer by them that I would classify as damn good. And that was their barrel aged blackberry and plum sour they had a few kegs of months ago. But this is a prime example of their laziness, for lack of a better term. Their "sour series" has been "coming soon" for the last 30 months or so. In talking with some of the staff and the brewer there, they just put the beer in barrels, and just tossed in fruit. Zero quality control. No repeatability. I've also gotten some super strange brewing advice from Matt before that made me think he doesn't really stick to established brewing knowledge, which can be an advantage but also a huge disadvantage.
River Rat:
As far as atmosphere and ambiance goes, River Rat is probably the best in Columbia. But their beers, IMO, are
super meh. Straight Standardtown. I haven't had a single beer from them that I thought was great. But, River Rat is a prime example of how being business savvy can help exponentially. They opened about a year or two after Conquest, but they have faaaaaarrr surpassed Conquest in terms of production and brand recognition. Which is probably due to the owner of River Rat already being a very successful business person prior to opening River Rat. The closest thing I've had from them that was close to great was their peanut butter porter. Just the first batch. Then they changed the recipe or something and it hasn't been the same since. Most of their beers are just boring to me.
Old Mill:
I admittedly have not been to Old Mill a ton of times. But I know Matt (Rodgers) well and have had lots of his beers. I think Matt is a tremendously talented brewer. And I was very excited about his new endeavor, Cottontown Brewlab, but he's no longer a part of that venture. Allegedly, Matt's problem or disconnect with the owner(s) of Cottontown was that he wanted to basically do nothing but one-offs with no flagships to pay the bills. And that don't work. But I digress...Old Mill does great beers, the only problem is most of them are, you guessed it, one-offs. Matt's a great guy and his family has a beautiful hop farm on the Congaree out in Camden. Matt also does some random brewing classes at Swamp Cabbage and other places. But it's mostly beginner stuff, maybe some BIAB classes. I've told him if he started doing some more advanced classes, I would be all about it.
Swamp Cabbage:
Very underwhelming. I feel bad for them because honestly, unless they move locations or make drastic improvements, their biggest downfall is their tap room. It's borderline depressing. It has the feel and ambiance of the break room at factory job. I haven't had a beer from them that was great. I respect them and the hours they put in. The owner is still a x-ray tech (or something like that), works all day, then works at the brewery with his wife and kids after work. He's busting his ass, but I don't see how they can sustain much longer. But who knows?
Hunter Gatherer:
Haven't been here in well over a decade, well before I was into good beer. But I didn't like what they had then. Lot of malt bombs and not a lot of variety.
Twisted Spur:
Went there early on. The beers were solid, but nothing great. They had an IPA, a pale, maybe a wit, and something else. Very standard. I have high hopes for them too. The owner, a Cola native, spent years brewing on the west coast before coming home to open TS. Allegedly has plans for a full fledge sour program. But that remains to be seen.
Bottom line: I think Cola is ripe for some new breweries, but they've got to have a different selling point. Everyone is doing IPAs. Everyone has a stout. Nobody in Cola is doing mixed fermentations, extensive barrel aging, etc. If I had the money, and didn't have crippling student loan debt, I would finally open BrewBQ, a barbecue joint that brews their own beer. My barbecue could keep it afloat to get the beer brand established. Come for the barbecue, stay for the beer.
/steps off soapbox
