Myrtle Beach's New South Brewing

One of the favorite things we did during our trip to the Myrtle Beach area was the tour at New South Brewing. Kristy and I have done the tours, here in St Louis of both Anheuser Busch and Schlafly. both of those tours are interesting and offer their own great bits of information. New South Brewing was a bit different though because the Brewery is so small but puts out such a great product.

We learned a lot about brewing and South Carolina at the tour. New South has been in business since 1988 because it was illegal to brew beer in S.C. before 1987. The owner of the company learned to brew in Colorado and when it became legal in his home state returned home to begin his brewery there. He still works daily in this small brewery. New South does not sell their product anywhere except the greater Myrtle Beach area. For a long time they only distributed Keg beer to local restaurants and bars but recently started canning some of their product. They do all the canning by hand That's actually the canner in the picture above. Most you can do is 4 at a time but with hard work they manage to can a lot of beer.

They actually only distribute 2 of their canned beers to local stores, their Nut Brown Ale and their White Ale. Other canning is limited and may be available for purchase at the brewery itself. The tour also taught about beer ingredients; types of yeast, types of hops, and how the roasting and milling of grain affects the sugar content and flavor.

Of course no brewery tour would be complete without being able to sample some of the product. New South Brewery allowed 5, 4oz pours of different styles of beer during the tour. tasting each style as the brewing process for that beer was being described. The other cool thing was they gave you your samples in these nice pilsner glasses then cleaned them and let you take your glass home at the end of the tour.

I'm fairly sure the nut brown ale is pictured above. My favorite was actually the "Java Nut" which is basically the Nut Brown Ale, allowed to age in a vat filled with coffee beans. It really was good. 

This place is a little off the beaten path but if you appreciate the art, science and flavor of good beer brewing I would suggest a stop by New South Brewery when you are in the Myrtle Beach Area.