Homegrown Brewhouse

What: Bar
Where: Summerville, SC, USA (117 S Main St.)

Hours: 3pm-9pm Monday to Thursday, 11am-11pm Friday and Saturday

I took advantage of a trip to Summerville today to try out Homegrown Brewhouse, a very cool bar with 31 tabs and about 17 bottled beers.

This place focuses on very local beers, specializing in South Carolina and a few North Carolina brews. You can find things like Westbrook, Hilton Head Brewing, Oak Road, Revelry, Fat Pig, Tradesman, Palmetto, New South or Thomas Creek, to name but a few. What's even better, you can combine it with a couple of things to nible on while you imbibe, like pretzels, pizza or beer cupcakes (beer cupcakes!).

Spike, the guy tending to us thirsty patrons, is a great source of beer knowledge and a very funny guy, that will make time fly by, so you better drink fast or you'll find it's time to go and you still have a big part of your targets to get through.

The loudspeakers play soft lounge music and Edith Piaff, making it like you're drinking at a classy hotel bar. To add to the ambiance, you have a train passing by on the nearby crossing honking its horn every hour or two. It all gives the whole thing a nostalgic feel, very appropriate to come and drink alone. It makes you feel a little less like an alcoholic.

I chose to start off with Thomas Creek's Class Five IPA, a refreshing and fruity IPA that was still nicely balanced. Then I went for Revelry Brewing's Funkmaster Brett and the Furious Hops, a mildly funky IPA with a touch of brettanomyces, which was earthy, dry and moderately bitter. However, probably one of the high points that day was RumbleFish, the spectacular saison by Birds Fly South Ale Project. Dry, spicy and citrusy, it's probably the best saison I've had that's not French or Belgian. I finished my visit by tasting another of Thomas Creek's beers, the Deep Water Doppelbock Lager, a fantastic example of the style, malty, nutty and slightly plummy.

My fiance was starting to get antsy and she was the designated driver, so unfortunately I had to cut my investigations short. So I guess I'll just have to come back. Repeatedly.