Westbrook Brewing

Beerfolk:

• Edward Westbrook - Co-founder, CEO, and Brewer
• Morgan Westbrook - Co-founder, Sales, and Marketing
• Scott "Skoon" Koon - Head Brewer
• Mike "Tattoo Mike" Levin - Assistant Brewer
• Shane "e.e." Cummings - Assistant Brewer
• Colin "8-bit" Robison - Graphic Design
• Chris Magee - Tasting Room
• Brian Stetson - Assistant Brewer

Westbrook Brewing is a sprawling, 18,000 square-foot, purpose-built brewery located just off of Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant.  With their current cadre of tanks, the brewery can yield 4,000-5,000 barrels per year, but the floor is expansive enough to add more tanks and pump that up to a potential 20,000 barrels per year.  The estimated $2.2 million price tag allowed them to build in this room for growth.

Edward Westbrook, the brewery's co-founder along with his now-wife, Morgan, is very young but very talented.  His start as a homebrewer quickly moved from hobby to obsession to ambition, causing him to pursue and achieve his dream of owning and running his own brewery alongside his wife, Morgan.  Though it's the largest local brewery by a longshot, Edward is stylisitcally different enough to have carved out a niche that enhances local beer production instead of being redundant.  While he brews some American-style beers, including an incredibly fruit-forward IPA, most of his output has been along European style lines.

Their draft-only launch in late December of 2010 included the debut of two year-round offerings, White Thai and Belgian Pale, as well as a one-off beer aptly named "Batch 1."  IPA soon joined the year-round bunch, and Westbrook continues to churn out multiple seasonals and "Special Collection" beers.  Perhaps the most exciting part of the brewery to beer geeks is the barrel room, where a variety of used wine and spirit barrels hold everything from a Belgian Tripel, to a Flanders Red Ale, to a dark sour beer brewed in conjunction with the Charleston Beer Exchange.  The smell of that room alone is beautiful enough, but anxious tongues await its spoils.

The recent addition of a canning line has seen Westbrook's availability in area stores explode as they approach their first anniversary.

Tour & tastings

Tours are offered at regular intervals during tasting hours, usually hosted by either Morgan or Colin. You'll get a full view of the giant brewing floor and a walk-through of the process from malt grinding to canning/bottling/kegging, and a peek inside the magical place that is the barrel room. During tour/tasting hours you can purchase up to four 4oz. samples, which will run you $1 a piece if you buy a set of 4. The tour itself is free of charge.

Growler fills

Number of taps: 20
<p>64 oz. and 32 oz. growlers are properly bottom-filled after getting a quick wash from the bar-mounted glass rinser. They will fill outside growlers, but have their own for sale as well. Cans are also for sale at the brewery, as well as swag, and they hold periodic bottle releases (those that don't sell out remain on sale at the brewery, of course). Cash and major credit cards are accepted, and parking is free in their own lot and driveway.</p>