Something Is Brewing

Charleston’s beer scene has been booming over the last couple of years. With nearly 30 breweries either currently in production or in the works, it was long overdue for West Ashley to land one … or two … or three. There are at least three breweries in the process of converting a dry cleaner, a church, and a social club lodge into breweries that are slated to open in the next month or two.
Frothy Beard Brewery, which opened in 2013, is relocating from their tiny North Charleston home, just off of Ashley Phosphate Road, to the 10,000-square-foot space that once was home to Legacy Church in the Ashley Landing Shopping Center, which real estate developer Faison is in the process of renovating. Legacy now meets at the International Church of God at 1560 Ashley River Road.
The new Frothy Beard Brewery will be the largest indoor taproom in Charleston, with dozens of taps featuring several varieties of their beers, a couple wines, and craft sodas. The space will be shared with Zombie Bob’s Pizza, a popular food truck in town that will now have their own brick and mortar kitchen within Frothy Beard’s taproom.
“We’re trying to keep it simple — pizza and beer, says Frothy Beard founding partner and co-owner Michael Biondi. But he’s being modest because there’s nothing simple about Frothy Beard’s creative beers, which push the envelope on classic styles, like their cucumber thyme wheat ale or lemongrass saison or peppermint porter. There’s also nothing simple about the massive project Biondi and his partners are undertaking in turning a church space into a serious production brewery with a large taproom and pizza restaurant.
In an arrangement as unconventional as their beers, Frothy Beard will also be sharing the space with Push Digital, a marketing and advocacy group, which recently made a significant investment in the brewery, allowing for the expansion into the new space. Push is one of the premier political digital agencies in the Southeast, helping with the legislative and marketing efforts to pass the South Carolina Pint Law and Stone Law, two new laws credited for the explosion of South Carolina’s craft beer scene.
Less than two miles down Sam Rittenberg Boulevard from where Frothy Beard is moving will be Twisted Cypress Bewing, which will be opening in the former Moose Lodge at 1897 Sam Rittenberg Blvd.
Twisted Cypress co-owner Tyler Eisenhart says he and his partners began the search for a home in early 2015. At the time they were living in West Ashley and noted that there were no breweries in the area. “We thought it would be a great location for one due to how passionate and prideful fellow residents are about the community,” says Eisenhart. “After beginning talks with the City of Charleston, we learned of all of the efforts geared toward improving the area and wanted greatly to play a role in this exciting endeavor and contribute to the ‘renaissance’ of our community.”
The Twisted Cypress partners set their sights on a local eyesore and former home of the Royal Order of the Moose Lodge, which Eisenhart says the owner of the building wanted to teardown and build a parking lot in it’s place.  “We saw potential in the building and knew we could create a unique destination out of the storied cinderblock structure,” he says. “Having little startup capital and a big dream, we knew we would have to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into wherever Twisted Cypress ended up, and this seemed like the perfect place to do just that.”
Biondi says he and his partners at Frothy Beard also looked at several spaces around Charleston, including downtown and Rivers Avenue in North Charleston, before deciding that West Ashley was the right spot. “It is a great space, lots of parking and lots of visibility,” says Biondi, pointing to the line of cars gridlocked in front of the building at 5 p.m. rush hour on a Friday. He also says he’s happy to be able to stretch out and have his own office.
This also means there’s room to grow. According to Biondi, Frothy Beard is going from a small three-barrel system at the current location to a 10-barrel system at the Ashley Landing space, with room to add more fermenters and grow over time. He says they also plan to start canning their beers in the near future, something that local craft beer pioneers Coast, Westbrook, and Holy City are doing with great success.
Not far away from Frothy Beard or Twisted Cypress in the Avondale neighborhood will be Charles Towne Fermentory, which is renovating the former Lyerly’s Dry Cleaning building at 809 Savannah Hwy., which more recently was home to Charleston Shoe Company, which relocated downtown. Founder and head brewer Adam Goodwin says finding the perfect location to set up shop was not easy. However, after over a year of searching, he signed a lease in November of last year and is nearing completion of the 15-barrel brew system and adjoining taproom and kitchen.
“The focus will be on fermentation. From the beers to the food, we want to really connect people with what they consume right down to the microscopic level,” says Goodwin who is the former brewer at renowned craft brewery Trillium Brewing Co (Boston), as well as working at Tired Hands Brewing Co (Philadelphia) and Cisco Brewers (Nantucket, Mass.). He plans to eventually source local yeast via open fermentation and utilize local ingredients. The end result will be uniquely-Charleston beers and traditionally-prepared fermented products such as kombucha, bread, meats, sauerkraut, vinegars, and kimchi.
With projects like this, putting a hard date on an opening can be difficult, says Goodwin, who was hoping for an early fall opening but just opened a week before Christmas, an early present for beer drinkers.
Twisted Cypress applied for its federal license six months ago and hopes to have it any day. “We hope to be hosting some private events and soft openings in December, and open to the public in January,” says Eisenhart. Frothy Beard says its should be open sometime in January if not sooner.
What all three of these breweries have in common is a passion for beer and a love of West Ashley and a desire to not only be good neighbors, but to be an active partner in the growth and revitalization of the community. “Giving back to our community is something we believe strongly in, as when our community thrives, we thrive, and vice versa. We plan on having rotating charitable taps where portions of the proceeds are to be donated to causes that effect our community, such as homelessness, education, and lending a hand to our furry friends.” says Eisenhart. “We hope to provide the community with a great space and products that folks will enjoy and be proud to say were made in their neighborhood!”
“We believe that a brewery holds an important role in a neighborhood. Traditionally, breweries were where people went after work to socialize with friends, have a couple of beers, then fill up their growlers to take home beer right from the source. As fresh as possible. This is what we want to be,” says Goodwin.