COAST Brewing opens its doors for tours, tastings, and sales (Update from the tasting)

Image by Charleston's TheDigitel

Update June 20: The Post and Courier went along to one of the inaugural tastings at Coast and has a nice little report about what, why, and how; check it out here.

First reporting: Well folks, it's official. On Monday, June 7th, Governor Sanford signed H 4572 into law, legalizing limited tastings and direct sales as part of tours in South Carolina breweries. Starting this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., you can start reaping the benefits as North Charleston's COAST Brewing will be opening up for all of the above.

The plan is for tours to begin each half-hour during the 3-hour timeslot.  Per the new law, the tasting portion will include no more than four samples per person, each of a different brew.  If you're interested in taking some beer home, you can buy up to 288 oz. -- that's 4 growlers (64 oz.), 12 bombers (22 oz.), or 24 pounders (12 oz.).  That said, COAST bottles only a couple of brews, and those are only in bombers for now as far as I know.  Growlers are a sure bet, and you can bring your own or buy them there for $5 a pop.

A few friendly reminders from the COAST blog:

  • We are a working brewery (=messy!). We currently don’t have any employees so are  stretched a bit thin.
  • Please stick to scheduled times (as changing as they may be). We are usually unable to stop what we are doing to give a tour.
  • It’s H.O.T. in the brewery. There’s no way around it, so be prepared for that. If this works out we’ll look at adding an air-conditioned/ or otherwise cooled area but for now, expect heat. Beer is always cold though.
  • CASH only, we are unable to accept credit cards at this time.
  • It is law that we price our beer approximate to prices at retail stores.
  • Valid ID required.
  • Did I mention it’s hot in the brewery?

After both supporting and covering H 4572 all the way through this year's legislative session, I can hardly believe I'm finally writing this piece.  Congratulations to the South Carolina Brewers' Assocation, retail spots who can now also host beer tastings, and craft beer lovers statewide.  Cheers!

COAST Brewing is located at 1250 N 2nd Street in the Navy Yard at Noisette in NoChas.  Follow @COASTBrewing on Twitter for updates, tap selections, and hopefully future tour times (Saturday is it for right now).