One of the great joys of vacationing in places that I've never been to is finding beers that are either regional or local brews indigenous to that location. I can drink Bud Light or Sam Adams virtually anywhere I travel. I want to try something that's new and exciting. I found a couple while we were in Savannah and on Hilton Head Island.
The first beer is from the SweetWater Brewing Company, most notably the SweetWater 420 pale ale that Cindy had with our first meal in Savannah. Compared to the Smithwick's that I had for my first beer, the SweetWater 420 was outstanding. (I've found sometimes that Smithwick's out of a keg goes flat rather quickly.) When I was the mood for a beer while in Savannah, I immediately opted for a SweetWater 420.
The SweetWater Brewing Company is based out of Atlanta and brews four annual beers and six seasonal beers. The brewery started in 1997 when two friends from the University of Colorado, Freddy Bensch (on left) and Kevin McNerney (on right), settled in Atlanta and started up their small brewery on Atlanta's west side. Within five years, SweetWater was awarded the title of "Small Brewery of the Year" at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, and Kevin McNerney was also named "Brewmaster of the Year." SweetWater has won numerous GABF and World Beer Cup awards for their beers over the years.
In 2004, SweetWater outgrew their original brewery and moved to a larger Midtown Atlanta location. Since SweetWater's beer is not pasteurized, they have a limited distribution area in the Southeast since their beer must be shipped refrigerated to ensure freshness. You can find the beer throughout Georgia and South Carolina, with limited availability in northern Florida, southern Tennessee and parts of Alabama.
SweetWater also offers tours and tastings of their Atlanta facility (see map) on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. I'm going to be in Atlanta soon and I would love to swing over for a quick look and some tastings.
The other beer that I fell in love with was from the Palmetto Brewing Company based out of Charleston, SC. The Palmetto Brewing Company is much smaller than SweetWater as they only offer four year-round beers. The Palmetto beer that I fell in love with was their pale ale, although I did try their amber while on Hilton Head. The Palmetto pale ale may have been a little more forward in "hoppiness" than the SweetWater 420, but Cindy liked the SweetWater better.
The Palmetto Brewing Company is a little older than the SweetWater brewery, opening in 1994. Louis Bruce, a long-time wine distributor, had been looking at what it would take to open a small craft brewery for a number of years. He enlisted the help of Ed Falkenstein (right), who had studied the art of brewing beer, and they opened the first licensed brewery in South Carolina since Prohibition. Their distribution area is much smaller, as well, with their beers available only in the greater Charleston area, and in the Low Country around Hilton Head Island.
The Palmetto Pale Ale was the type of beer that just went well with seafood. And it was refreshing to sip on a warm afternoon. It was very tough to beat.
While I was drinking a lot of Bacardi Limon and lemonades on vacation, I really enjoyed the SweetWater 420's and the Palmetto pale ales when I wanted a good, cold beer. I love good pale ales and both SweetWater and Palmetto make a good one.
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