Eat

This past weekend over 50,000 people attended the 31st Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colo. While over 500 breweries (with more than 2,700 beers) are at the festival, last year I noted the only thing missing was the presence of breweries from Charleston. That changed in 2012, with both Palmetto Brewing and Holy City Brewing venturing out west to showcase their beers.

Within the first 20 minutes of the festival I ran into two Charlestonians supporting Charleston craft beer.

Later on I stumbled across Christopher Winn from Palmetto Brewing. Luckily, I got a pour of Ginger Slap early, as it was pretty popular and they ran out halfway through the day session on Saturday.

I had a lot of fun during my three-day stay in Denver, but the moment of glory was seeing Chris Brown, brewmaster of Holy City Brewing, walking around with a permanent grin on his face. I ran into him right after the awards ceremony on Saturday and he was wearing a gold medal.

Holy City Brewing put their Pluff Mud Porter up against 44 other Brown Porters from across the country and came out on top, beating out SweetWater's Exodus Porter, which came in second place.

In celebration, there will be two events held this week.

Closed For Business will host a Holy City Gold Medal Tap Night this Thursday from 6-11 p.m. They'll be pouring Pluff Mud Porter, Category 2 IPA, Pecan Dream, and Highcountry Pale Ale. Discounted pints of Pluff Mud Porter will be available to help savor the victory.

On Friday from 4-8 p.m., Carnival Night returns to the brewery. Without any shadow of a doubt, this one has Pluff Mud Porter celebration written all over it: Pluff Mud Porter-braised barbecue pork sandwiches from Hello My Name is BBQ, Pluff Mud Porter Chocolates from Sweeteeth Chocolates, Pluff Mud Porter Bread from EVO Craft Bakery, and Pluff Mud Porter Pops from King of Pops. Music will be provided by The Bluestone Ramblers with special guest Philip Barker.

Congratulations to Holy City Brewing for a well-deserved win. This is great news for Charleston and our growing craft beer community.

This Saturday at Holy City Brewery more than 60 home-brewer teams will compete in the area’s first Iron Brew Competition presented by Mellow Mushroom Charleston and Holy City Brewery. The event is open to the public from 3-7 p.m.

Each team will present a beer made using the official ingredient, honey, to a panel of judges. The judges will score based on the beers aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, and overall impression.

The public is also invited to vote for the “People’s Choice.” A recommended $10 donation to the Gavalas-Kolanko Foundation, a public charity established to help students with disabilities reach their secondary educational goals at the College of Charleston, will allow guests to sample the home brews, and vote for their favorite brewer to advance to the finals.

At Iron Brew, trucks will be on site selling $2 slices of Mellow Mushroom pizza and $3 Holy City beers (cash only). There will also be live music by South Street and Champagne with Friends.

The teams will be narrowed down to the top ten home brews, and the winner of the Iron Brew will be revealed at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 9 at Mellow Mushroom Avondale.

The winning team gets a prize pack that includes having their beer produced by Holy City and sold exclusively by Mellow Mushroom Avondale and Mellow Mushroom King Street. Second place — a.k.a. “The Best of the Rest” — and the most original beer name will also win prizes.

It’s hard to believe that our favorite one story, craft beer infested, two bedroom house has been open a whole year. That means it’s time to celebrate.

At 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 30th, the good folks at House of Brews will be pouring a bunch of tasty suds from their new eight-tap system, with an additional three beers, including some Lips of Faith, being poured by New Belgium Beer Ranger Grant Smith out back.

Rumor has it that we’ll be seeing some special brews from Bell’s, Avery, Westbrook, Ommegang, Stone, Allagash, Cisco, Evil Twin, and more. The massive bottle selection will also be available for purchase.

In addition, a very special HOB One-Year Anniversary homebrew will be available for tasting. Back in May, I got a chance to brew with owner Rob Davis and HOB regular Josh Denney. Our collaboration resulted in a blood orange saison. Here's to hoping it's delicious.

Live bluegrass music will be provided by 17 South and Farm on Fire will be satisfying cravings with some barbecue. The King of Pops will be there too. We’re hoping he brings some beersicles.

Parking will be limited, so car pooling is strongly recommended. For maximum enjoyment, book a DD now. Let’s do this!

In order to bring a greater awareness to the craft beer movement and its growth along Coleman Boulevard, local restaurants and bars along Coleman are teaming up with Charleston Brews Cruise to create the Coleman Craft Cruise. On May 23, the Brews Cruise bus will circle Coleman Boulevard from 7-10 p.m., escorting the thirsty and hungry to restaurants supporting great craft beer. The idea is to offer patrons a chance to tour the restaurants along Coleman without driving and visiting places they may or may not be familiar with. The Cruise will feature beers from Avery Brewing Company out of Boulder, Colo., with each bar offering different brews. Beers we might see along the way are the following:

Ellie's Brown (5.5% ABV, 88, 90)
Hog Heaven (9.2% ABV, 89, 99)
Samael's Oak-aged Ale (15.3% ABV, ?, 96)
Salvation (9% ABV, 86, 95)
Joe's Pilsner (4.7% ABV, 85, 85)
Karma (5.2% ABV, 78, 48)
19th Anniversary -Tripel (8.23% ABV, ?, 74)
White Rascal (5.6% ABV, 84, 74)
IPA (6.5% ABV, 88, 96)
Mephistopheles (16.8% ABV, 90, 100) (We're hearing that we'll see the 2008 and 2011)

The bus will pick-up and drop-off at these five locations every 15 minutes:

House of Brews
Red Drum
Triangle
Coleman Public House
Finz

The event is free and you can jump on the bus at any time. If all goes well, we hope to see more Cruises featuring different breweries in the coming months.

For more information on the Coleman Craft Cruise, check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coleman-Craft-Cruise/215031838606942

Back in February, one of California's popular breweries, Green Flash, hit the shelves in South Carolina. Next week we'll get to see another popular west coast brewery make its way to the Lowcountry. Anderson Valley Brewing Company, out of Booneville, Calif., will have two launch parties on Thursday, May 17.

Advintage Distributing will be on hand at Bottles from 5-6:30 p.m. and then at Closed for Business starting at 7 p.m.

Both Bottles and CFB will have the following beers on tap:

Hop Ottin' IPA(7% ABV,90,97)
Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout(5.7% ABV,91,97)
Boont Amber Ale(5.8% ABV, 87,90)
Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema(5.6% ABV,84,56)

In addition, each location will have one exclusive beer on tap.

Bottles will be pouring Horse Tongue(5% ABV,?,?). - With only a few reviews, this one is rare, but from what we can tell, it will be fruity, funky, and a little sour.

CFB will have Deep Enders Dark Porter(5.5% ABV,85,91).

If you can't make it out on Thursday, we hear the Charleston Beer Exchange will have some of these beers on Friday with the addition of the Imperial IPA(8.7% ABV,87,94)

Cheers!