Are you planning a trip to coastal South Carolina and wondering about the best breweries in Charleston? Along with plenty of things to do and places to see, Charleston has a hopping craft beer, brewery, and distillery scene. Find your next favorite lager, ale, stout, pilsner, or IPA.
Consider renting a car in Charleston to check out the city’s breweries. Enlist a non-tasting friend to drive.
Most breweries offer great food, entertainment, and live music. Visitors can still have a good time even if they’re not drinking. Another terrific way to check out the breweries is with walking tours and day-drinking tours.
You’ll join a knowledgeable local guide for these fun and informative experiences. Learn how each differs, the history of beer and the brewery, local agriculture, and fermentation science. You’ll also get to sample craft beer varieties.
Charleston is a very walkable city, making it convenient to explore and take tap room and brewery tours on your own or with a guide. There are plenty of parking decks if you’re not anchored at a hotel within the city center.
Although it may be hot during the summer months, Charleston is actually quite mild for the rest of the seasons. Walking from location to location in the brewery district and elsewhere should be comfortable. Whenever you decide to visit Charleston breweries, a refreshing sample will make it worth the walk.
Wondering how many breweries there are in Charleston? About a dozen Charleston breweries downtown and many others just outside the city in Mount Pleasant, James Island, Johns Island, and Avondale. Let’s dive right in and explore the best breweries and craft beer scene in Charleston, South Carolina.
Best Breweries in Charleston, SC
1. Charles Towne Fermentory
Address: 809 Savannah Hwy., Charleston, SC 29407
Located just west of the Ashley River in Avondale, Charles Towne Fementory uses traditional ingredients and specialized fermentation techniques to brew craft beers, emphasizing hops and organic ingredients.
This modern-day taproom and fermentation spot has everything a craft beer lover could want. Decked out with foosball tables and plenty of tap handles, this brewery feels like hanging out at your favorite college hangout spot (but with good beer instead of the cheap stuff).
With a large selection of lagers, sour IPAs, and pale ales, Charles Towne Fermentory also offers Austrian wine, craft cider, and non-alcoholic beverages. The brewery has an in-house kitchen with a rotating lineup of local chefs, caterers, and restaurants.
This is one of the local’s favorite hangout spots. Grab a refreshing beer after a long day in the sun. With live music most nights and free tours, this relaxed, laid-back setting will leave a good impression on you, your taste buds, and your best buds.
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2. Holy City Brewing
Address: 1021 Aragon Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405
Located in North Charleston, this tasting room is also in an old garage space, which seems to be a popular theme nowadays. Some of my favorite breweries back in Minnesota and Wisconsin are also set in old garages. A pool table, live music, flea markets, and free tours make this one of the best Charleston breweries.
Holy City Brewing serves up a little of everything with its tasting room and outdoor seating. From a wide variety of pints and a refreshing selection of food options, it has something that will fit everyone’s needs. A rotating list of brews includes Pluff Mud porter, Holy City pilsner, Bowens Island oyster stout, and strawberry sour.
Established in 2011 by four friends who came together for the common love of beer, Holy City Brewing has made a big name among the locals and has reached beyond just N. Charleston.
With some hard work and determination, these beer-loving friends joined, overhauled their 4,000-square-foot warehouse, and turned it into something special. Quickly outgrowing their first space, they recently moved to a 20,000-square-foot warehouse and overhauled that.
The new space has a music stage and acreage in the marsh out back with picnic tables. The Porter Room is a 450-capacity event space.
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3. Frothy Beard Brewing Company
Address: 1401 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard, Charleston, SC 29407
Frothy Beard Brewing Company is all about producing full-flavored ales, fun flavors, and creative events. Located across the Ashley River, near Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site, Frothy Beard offers a variety of brews from light to dark and every pilsner, IPA, and amber in between.
Three good friends started Frothy Beard in 2013 and haven’t looked back. Relocating to a bigger and more capable facility in 2017, they’ve gained a lot of press and attention from the locals.
Drinks, events, and a menu filled with sandwiches, wings, burgers, pizza, and other delicious food make this the best craft beer scene to share with friends, family, and even the kids. For the designated driver in your group, there’s a non-alcoholic Italian pilsner, juicy IPA, and mango dragonfruit.
Unique events range from book fairs, trivia nights, and craft fairs to yappy hour (that would be with your four-legged furry friends – and they have house-made treats), cosplay contests, your favorite nerdy-inspired games (think: Dungeons and Dragons and Kids on Bikes) and upcycled tequila bottle terrarium workshops.
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4. Munkle Brewing Co.
Address: 1513 Meeting Street Road, Charleston, SC 29405
Munkle Brewing Co. has a bit of a backstory, and that’s what we love about breweries. Every brewery has a different backstory about how they got started with their craft.
The tale of this brewery is a bit different than most, but the knowledge from learning the traditional ways to brew beer from monks is something most don’t have access to. Any beer geek knows the monks paved the way for us modern-day beer drinkers, but they rarely gain recognition. It’s time to give them their due recognition.
Munkle came into being by a guy whose uncle started brewing at a Benedictine monastery in Three Rivers, Michigan. A lucky find of old home brewing equipment in the basement of the monastery, this uncle began mastering the art of brewing honored by monastic tradition passed down through generations.
Their old-world-style beers have made waves around the downtown Charleston area. The fact that the owners have sampled beer from all over the world is unique. Learning the authentic and historical ways to brew is something not every brewery has taken the time to learn.
This is one of our favorite breweries in Charleston for classic styles. Part of the Charleston Brewery District, Munkle brews Belgian-style beers, German-style Trappist, and other great beers. They also serve amazing soft pretzels.
If your taste buds want to go back in time with a sip of traditionally brewed, take them to Munkle. They won’t be disappointed.
Add a couple of other breweries to your tour with a visit to Tradesman Brewing, a few blocks north and off of King Street. Tradesman Brewing has 15 taps, two bars, TV screens, dart games, and more. For traditional styles, Cooper River Brewing is another nearby brewing co to add to your list.
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5. Revelry Brewing
Address: 10 Conroy Street, Charleston, SC 29403
Revelry Brewing is best known by the locals for having a great atmosphere and even better beers. With a large selection of great-tasting beers, this brewery needs to be on your Charleston brewery list. There are definitely a few beers on my list that I want to try from them.
They have beautiful fermentation blends such as Quenched, which is a blend of grapefruit puree, citrumelo, Meyer lemon, red lime, and kumquats. Located in the heart of Charleston, this is one brewery that’s hard to miss. If I were you and had some time to kill in South Carolina, this is where I’d be going for the afternoon.
Revelry overlooks North Morrison and the city of Charleston and serves traditional beers as well as sushi. Give their bear pale ale a try and pop in for trivia night and kickball leagues.
When you’re done sipping and sampling at Revelry, head a few blocks over to Palmetto Brewing, the oldest brewery in downtown Charleston. The original brewery opened in 1888.
It closed in 1916 and reopened in 1993. Located on Huger Street, it has a warehouse taproom, a speakeasy taproom, and a courtyard with a stage for live bands, games, and other events. Its amber ale is the oldest recipe still brewed today.
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6. Freehouse Brewery
Address: 2895 Pringle Street B, North Charleston, SC 29405
Freehouse Brewing is South Carolina’s premier organic brewery. Specializing in organic beer, they focus on Mother Nature and the people who drink it. No pesticides or chemical fertilizers are used in any production stage of their brewing process.
With zero GMOs and artificial ingredients, their craft is truly pure beer. Organic agriculture is better for the environment, so you can feel good about drinking their products.
Situated on the banks of the Ashley River in Charleston, this quaint taproom serves cold drinks and warm smiles on those hot Charleston days. With views of the marsh and the river, Freehouse is the perfect place to drink a couple of craft beers on a beautiful weekend.
With an emphasis on classic IPAs and lagers, Freehouse also presents deliciously sour wild ales, all brewed with local ingredients from all over the Carolinas. With plenty of seating outside, this dog-friendly brewery is one of the best Charleston breweries.
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7. Fatty’s Beer Works
Address: 1436 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29405
While Fatty may or may not be a fictional character, we know that the beer Fatty serves is an absolute treat. The story behind each beer brewed in Fatty’s taproom is a good one. Some of them are quite intriguing. Brews include Lazy Hazy Juicy IPA, Serape Mexican Lager, and High Style Italian Pilsner.
Fatty’s taproom and brewery are something special in Charleston. People come for good laughs and even better beers.
Specializing in sour beers and IPAs, Fatty’s has a beer for everyone’s style. They even have a stout that’s brewed with local oysters. Now that sounds like a beer I would be interested in trying.
With a dog-friendly atmosphere, local food trucks, and live music on the weekends, this spot is hard to beat. According to the locals, get there early on the weekends, because otherwise there won’t be much parking.
Edmund’s Oast Brewing is nearby and makes another great stop on a tour of Charleston breweries. Edmund’s Oast Brewing has three concepts: a restaurant and brewpub, a brewing company and taproom, and The Exchange, a retail store and bar where you can enjoy Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co. beers and other local brews.
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8. Indigo Reef Brewing Company
Address: 2079 Wambaw Creek, Unit 1, Charleston, South Carolina 29492
One of Charleston’s newer breweries, Indigo Reef Brewing Co., opened in 2019. Christopher and Nicole Raner brought their beer-making expertise from Madison, Wisconsin to the Holy City. They blend local ingredients, hospitality, sustainability, and eco-conscious practices into their brewing business.
With a large bar and community-sized tables, the taproom has become a gathering place for locals and visitors to enjoy various brews infused with ingredients like chocolate, coconut, cinnamon, peach, blackberry, pomegranate, and more. Try German pilsners, Mexican lagers, dry Irish stouts, and honey cream ales.
Indigo Reef Brewing Company – which gets its name from a Charleston crop, diving, and beer – is northeast of Charleston on Daniel Island.
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9. Westbrook Brewing Company
Address: 510 Ridge Road, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
Located northeast of Charleston, Westbrook is worth the short commute. This brewery is also unafraid to go to the dark side with its selection of barrel-aged specialties and dark beers with Mexican cake influences. Extremely popular, these limited editions sell out quickly.
Specializing in sours, light beers, and IPA, every palate will be quenched with the refreshing and varied selections in their tasting room.
Westbrook puts thought and effort into crafting its beers. The tasting room has 22 rotating beers on tap and in bottles, cans, and growlers.
The indoor area is air-conditioned (all the better for those hot Lowcountry days). There’s also an outdoor beer garden.
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10. LO-Fi Brewing
Address: 2038 Meeting Street, North Charleston, SC 29405
With flavors like Mexican lager, German malt, American stout, and Belgian tripel, LO-Fi is an excellent spot to visit with friends. This brewery is small, with minimal choices, but the quality of beers and service keeps people returning.
With only four or five options on tap, it’s not hard to choose (We think that’s a nice option for a change). Certainly, nothing can top the signature beer: the LO-Fi Glitter Pony.
Described as a “complex modern classic,” it seems this beer has something that everyone wants. Fruity, spicy, and deep golden, it’s deceptively drinkable.
People don’t complain about the small selection of beer because they know they’ll get a good pint of craft beer when they go to LO-Fi, regardless of how many choices are on tap. Plus, it has a super cool website, so be sure to check that out.
Not to be confused with Low Tide Brewing, LO-Fi is located in N. Charleston, not far from Downtown. Low Tide Brewing is on Johns Island, a bit southwest of Downtown Charleston, and is another Charleston brewery with great beer. It was the first brewery on the island and features food trucks, BINGO, trivia nights, corn hole games, local bands, and other fun, family-friendly events.
The next time you’re in Charleston and have a few hours or days to kill, check out a few (or more) of the breweries on this list.
Check out what the locals say, and knock back a few cold and refreshing lagers, IPAs, or stouts to wind down the day. Enjoy what these Charleston breweries have to offer, which is a variety of flavors, good vibes, and an amazing craft brewery scene.
FAQ
What are the top breweries in Charleston?
The top Charleston breweries include Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co, Holy City Brewing, and Low Tide Brewing.
What are the best local beers in Charleston?
The best local beers in Charleston are Brugge City Brune, a beer from Munkle Brewing Company, and Never Sunny by Revelry Brewing Company. Gullah Cream Ale is another top choice from Revelry.
Are there any kid-friendly or pet-friendly breweries in Charleston?
Frothy Beard Brewing Company hosts kid-friendly events and yappy hours where you can bring your favorite canine companions.
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