This SC city is one of the 10 best for beer in the US, according to Tasting Table. Here’s why
August 3, 2024 | Lyn Riddle
Tasting Table has issued its list of top beer cities and one in the top 10 is Greenville.
Coming in at No. 5, Greenville was described as having a “fantastic beer scene that isn’t any less delicious for standing just outside the spotlight.”
Tasting Table says “nearly two dozen contenders each pack a punch, giving Greenville a rightful place on our radar.”
The list comes amid something of a shake out for craft beer establishments in Greenville with the closing of three in the past few months. Wandering Bard Meadery announced earlier this year it would close in November, a day before its 7th anniversary after its lease expired.
HabiTap at 5 years old has closed in protest of South Carolina’s liquor liability law, which requires owners to have a $1 million insurance policy, and Tetrad Brewing Company on Stone Avenue closed and is looking for a new location.
Tasting Table singled out The Southern Growl Beer Company as a clear local favorite. The craft beer taproom is actually located in Greer at 155 N Buncombe Road. It was started in 2014 by Matt and Anna Bowes in 2014.
It started small and over the years added a craft kitchen and moved to a new building to brew beer in house.
They have 70 taps and the menu includes food designed to pair with beer. They make their bread using spent grain flour from the brewery.
Tasting Table also praised Fireforge Crafted Beer, located in downtown Greenville on Washington Street.
Brian Cendrowski and Nicole Zokan started the brewery in a former tire warehouse in 2018. Cendrowski was a long time coming to actually liking beer, but he credits the opening of The Flying Saucer in 2003 with making him a beer drinker. He’s even part of their UFO Club and after sampling 200 different beers, was inducted into the Wall of Honor, plate #40.
He started homebrewing, and then interned with Coast Brewing Co. in Charleston and Thomas Creek Brewery in Greenville. After a series of corporate jobs, he decided to open the brewery.
The third taproom mentioned by Tasting Table was Liability Brewing Company, a Certified B Corp brewery, which means “they’re engaged in sustainable social and environmental practices.”
Located on Stone Avenue just outside downtown Greenville, Liability was founded by neighbors Dustin Harward and Terry Horner after some untold rounds of craft beer and the back porch.
“A friendship forged in hops, malt, and more barrel aged brews than we care to count,” Harward says on the brewery website.
“There’s a more than 99% chance that if you see Dustin and Terry deep in conversation, that the conversation is about beer. Or movies. Sometimes comics. Or Star Wars. But probably, most likely, eventually, about beer,” he said.
Tasting Table ranked cities based on the number of breweries per capita, bars per capita, beer-tasting tours offered, and the average cost of a beer.
No. 1 was Asheville, North Carolina, which has more breweries per capita than any city in the country, Tasting Table said.
The other cities in the top 10 were Pensacola, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Portland, Maine; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Cincinnati, Ohio; New Orleans, Louisiana and Portland, Oregon.
Find the full article at Yahoo Life.