West Ashley’s first brewery opens brand new beer garden and taproom
by Lorne Chambers | Editor
Near the end of 2016, Charles Towne Fermentory (CTF) rolled up the garage doors and viola!, West Ashley had its first brewery. Lucky for us, owner and head brewer Adam Goodwin came with an impressive resume and some serious brewing chops. Before arriving in Charleston, Goodwin had made beer for Trillium Brewing Co. (Boston), Tired Hands Brewing Co. (Philadelphia), and Cisco Brewers (Nantucket), three Northeastern craft beer heavyweights. Specializing in hop-forward beers, CTF quickly made a name for itself on the local beer scene. Arriving just in time for the New England “hazy” IPA craze to sweep the nation, CTF started churning out some of the tastiest IPAs around the Southeast. It’s can releases created huge lines down Savannah Highway in front of neighboring Avondale storefronts and a rotating kitchen of local restaurant pop-ups offered a different dining option almost every night of the week.
Six years later, CTF has solidified itself among the top tier of the Charleston breweries. And just like other successful local brewing, such as Coast and Holy City, CTF has reached a point where it’s busting at the seams and in need of more room to stretch out. But don’t worry West Ashley craft beer fans, CTF isn’t leaving Avondale. Instead, Goodwin has just opened The Garden by Charles Towne Fermentory at 1331 Ashley River Road, in the space formerly occupied by Wine & Design. The new taproom and beer garden offers lots of space for patrons to enjoy CTF beers either indoors, outside on its expansive patio, or out in the beer garden.
Goodwin says he looked all over Charleston for the right space, but in the end staying in West Ashley just felt right. “I was keeping my eye out for another taproom where we could sell Charles Towne Fermentory beers to our customers. I think we’ve established ourselves as a West Ashley brewery,” he says. “What really drew me to this space was the big, shady trees and being able to stay in the community that supported us since we opened was important.”
The brewing production will continue at its Avondale location. Goodwin says for now nothing will change at the brewery, the taproom there will still be open to the public like normal, and food pop-ups and beer releases will still be held at the brewery. But now he has much more room at The Garden for larger events, food trucks, live music, and other things that were virtually impossible at the smaller Avondale taproom. There’s also ample parking at The Garden, with a separate lot next to neighboring R Kitchen and Capri Salon. By taking some of the pressure off the Avondale brewery, Goodwin says he will now be able to hold beer dinners, special releases, and more curated events at that space, with larger events being held at the new location.
“We’re kind of creating a nice community of complementary businesses over here,” says Goodwin referring to The Garden’s proximity to R Kitchen, Taco Bartina, A Salt n Battered, Tin Roof, and Home Team BBQ all being within about a quarter-mile small stretch of St. Andrew’s Boulevard.
Besides the large patio, tree-draped beer garden, and indoor taproom, which has ample bar and table seating, there are also two other structures on site that could be used for future expansion, experimental brewing, or other projects. “We have a lot of possibilities with this property,” says Goodwin.
The Garden by Charles Towne Fermentory is open Wednesday-Friday 4-10 p.m., Saturday 12-10 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. It is located at 1331 Ashley River Road. For more information, call the brewery at (843) 641-0431 or visit www.chsfermentory.com.
