May 21, 2024  | Lillia Callum-Penso, The Post and Courier Greenville

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If you missed the news, Upstate breweries cleaned up in the SC Brewers Cup this year, with six gold medals split evenly between Greenville and Spartanburg.

In Greenville, we sat down with the brewers behind the magic and talked about how they got interested in beer, what they love about brewing and what beer they drink with food.

Read on for more.

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Liability Brewing Co.: Jared Tuttle; 35; brewing professionally for 8 years

Gold Medal Winner: Syrian Wolf and Idaho 7 and Twelve No. 010: Sword and Thistles

Q: What drew you to brewing?

At first, going from my college years I enjoyed beer. But as I got older, I’d hang out with my buddies or be watching sports together. Beer always seemed to bring people together.

You could sit there and really get to know people through having a drink. It’s a communal thing.

Q: What’s your favorite beer to make?

I love making lagers. Nice, clean, easy-drinking beers. There are so many types of lagers out there. Most gravitate to their light lagers or pilsner, but there is doppelbock or a Schwartzbier or a black lager. They get really nuanced.

Q: How long does it take for you to develop a beer recipe?

One thing I love about Liability is we do very classic stuff. You probably won’t see me do a pumpkin ale or a milkshake IPA. I like some of those classic beers, and when it comes to developing a recipe, it goes to what are we missing in our taproom. What is everybody leaning toward now versus a year ago.

If we are doing something brand new it might take a week or two. I like to take a week or two and learn about history and learn how things were done in the traditional ways. It’s one of the fun things we get to do in the brewing world.

About 80 to 90 percent of brewing is moving stuff around and cleaning, so whenever we get to create, it’s a zen moment.

Q: How long did it take you before you brewed your first good beer?

In my old homebrewing days, it took me time to get down the understanding of things. A lot of brewing is chemistry, and I failed chemistry in college because it was not very enticing to me. But in the beer world you learn “that makes that because of oxygen” and different salts do different things.

My first beer? Right down the drain. It was awful.

About 6-8 months I finally started getting some beers I felt comfortable taking to other brewers.

Something like an award-winning beer, that took much longer.

My first award was in homebrewing for beer I aged on whiskey chips.

Professionally, my first beer that did well was a barrel-aged beer. It was a Belgian tripel aged in bourbon barrels.

My favorite ones I have a medal for is a barrel-aged Belgian Quad in red wine barrels. That one I made for my wife. When we got married she taught me all about wine, and I like beer.

Q: What’s your favorite local brewery aside from Liability?

I would have to say Swamp Rabbit is a top one for me. Ben Pierson there has been in the industry 40-50 years now, and they make some really good beers.

Eric Boyce at Iron Hill has probably won most awards locally, and I love their beers.

Any of my old Thomas Creek buddies.

Q: Where else can you find Liability beer?

We distribute statewide, so across the state. We want people in the state to see Liability, think Liability and drink Liability.

Q: What do you like to eat with beer?

It depends on the beer. A cheeseburger or pizza, I really enjoy those with lagers. But then again, there are some times a high ABV beer goes well with bougie food. We have a Belgian Quad that is 9.4 %. The other night I made hamburgers at home, and it paired very well.

Most of the time if I am drinking something with food, I am picking the beer to match the food.

Q: What about with lasagna?

Maybe a Belgian Blonde.

Q: And a steak?

A big ole juicy steak I might want a dark lager or something to change up the palate.

Q: If you could only drink one beer the rest of your life what would it be?

This is a beer that changes a lot for me. Pilsner Urquell. I’m in a passion with pilsners right now. It’s one of the oldest beers in the world, made since the 1800s.

Pretty much any beer I would choose to drink the rest of my life will be one that’s been around a long time.

Q: If you were a beer, what kind of beer would you be?

I might be described as a fruity IPA. Something that’s bitter, it’s fun, it’s filling, but bright and light too. Not what I drink all the time but …

That, or a barrel-aged something. Something you wanna party with. That’s what I would be.

Q: What historical figure, living or dead, would you want to have a beer with?

My Dad is probably my biggest supporter. I remember calling him when I called and said I am leaving a Fortune 500 company to go work at a brewery, and he was like “do you think you’ll be happy?”

I said, “I’m pretty sure.”

And growing up with my Dad he taught me Boston, meatloaf and sci-fi stuff, so Patrick Stewart is at the top of my list. I would love to pick his brain for a good hour and a half. Though I’m pretty sure we’d be drinking wine, not beer.

Q: What beer made you love beer?

In the beginning it was Miller Lite. Love it, easy drinking.

The first time I realized there was flavor in beer was drinking Mexican dark lagers.

In the craft world, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. That beer will always have a special place in my heart. That and Thomas Creek dopplebock. That was one I drank regular when I worked there.

 

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Find the full article at The Post and Courier Greenville.