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By Jake Grove<\/b>
\nPhotography by Craig Mahaffey \u201998<\/b>
\nIllustrations by Chris Koelle<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><\/p>\n
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Six South Carolina craft breweries creating a distinctly Clemson \ufb02avor<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div> The craft beer world is moving, changing and growing with every brewery that opens its doors. Since 2014, the number of independent craft breweries in the United States has nearly doubled to more than 7,400.\u00a0 And each year, multiple craft breweries are popping up in communities large and small.\u00a0<\/span> Amid the roar of Interstate 85, nestled in the Piedmont woods between exits 32 and 34, you will find a small sanctuary known as Golden Grove Farm and Brew. Owned by Andrew and Sarah Brown, Golden Grove grew from Andrew\u2019s homebrewing during his student days at Clemson.\u00a0<\/span>
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\nFrom the shores of New Jersey to the mountains of Colorado and even the far-off reaches of Nicaragua, craft breweries are rich with Clemson alumni. They graduated in fields as diverse as bioengineering, travel and tourism, architecture, and computer science, but it was the craft beer industry that called them to use what they learned in college and apply it to a niche market.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe key to craft beer and its people, however, is the connections. Like the Clemson Family, the brewing world is close knit, inclusive and tends to go out of its way to help each other.
\nTime constraints don\u2019t allow us to include every brewery with Clemson ties. Here we focus on three from the South Carolina Upstate and three from the Lowcountry.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>
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\nBetween classes and helping book gigs for the likes of The Marcus King Band, Andrew spent time brewing wine, cider and eventually beer with his buddies in a small apartment just off campus. The setup wasn\u2019t much, but it was enough to plant the seed that would grow into one of the most rural breweries in the Upstate.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cI was working in the music industry [managing a band], and we were traveling a lot. That\u2019s where I saw the craft beer boom,\u201d Andrew says. \u201cAnytime I went anywhere, I was hitting a brewery along the way \u2014 I just jumped right in as soon as I could.\u201d
\nDuring his final semester, Andrew interned as an assistant brewer at Quest Brewing Co. in Greenville. After that, he wasted no time getting his own business started. His grandfather owned 100 acres of woodland in Piedmont that was barely being used. The home on the property had recently burned down, and the outbuilding there had been used, unbeknownst to the owners, as a poker house before the renter was busted for his illegal activities.\u00a0<\/span>
\nBut Andrew and Sarah didn\u2019t see the space as a beat-up old poker house. Instead they envisioned somewhere a small 30-gallon brewing system might be set up. They saw a disc golf course, a fire pit, a stage for local musicians to gather, taco nights on Tuesday and wings cooked on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/span>
\nAll they had to do was clean it up a little.
\n\u201cThis place was rough, but once we got the junk cleared out and started to see what we had, it really came together,\u201d Andrew says.\u00a0<\/span>
\nBy 2015, the brewery was licensed. He and Sarah brought on Graham Temples Ph.D. \u201916 as a brewer and Jackson Sparks \u201908, head of social media and graphics.\u00a0<\/span>
\nLater that year, they were ready to start brewing a few batches of beer based on Andrew and Graham\u2019s recipes. By spring 2016, Andrew and Sarah were opening on Fridays and Saturdays; today they are a seven-day-a-week operation, putting out 30 gallons with each batch and open to the public Monday \u2013 Saturday.\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhen we last spoke, Andrew was clearing away tons of lumber for an expansion project. It will offer more space to ramp up production and offer amenities to RV campers and even Airbnb possibilities. They are growing the disc golf course and outdoor stages and have plans for play areas for kids and dogs.\u00a0<\/span>
\nAnd all of it, Andrew says, had its genesis with the culture of Clemson and the opportunities they were afforded there.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cClemson is in you,\u201d he says. \u201cThe core four of us at Golden Grove are all Clemson alums, so we were family even before we were family, if that makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>
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