Liberalized SC laws—which also fueled the state's microbrewery boom—made the local craft beer business a realistic one for Hunter-Gatherer Brewery and Alehouse, started in 1995 by owner/brew master Kevin Varner, and Lexington's Old Mill Brewpub, which John Clinger and wife Kelly opened in 2013.
Not far from the Vista and near USC, Hunter-Gatherer is a two-decade-old tradition with students, professors and others who like its dark, quiet décor, casual atmosphere and, naturally, its beers. Varner, who according to his brewpub's website has "brewed every batch of beer at H-G for the last 20 years," learned his craft at Hale's Ales in Seattle, one of the Northwest's original microbreweries.
The food menu is eclectic, ranging from appetizers (including hummus, black bean and veggie platters) to exotic main courses (steaks, chicken and even duck). As for Varner's beers, four standards—a wheat, a pale ale, an ESB (extra-special bitter, an English style) and a dark beer, porter or stout—are complemented by such rotating beers as H-G's Plain X Stout, Ye Olde Bastarde, Black Patent Ale and more.
"When Kevin finished college, he went to Seattle because he'd always been interested in brewing," says his mother, Nancy. "He and others worked to get the (state's beer) law changed so we could open as a brewpub, and the changes have helped us all."
It's been so successful that Hunter-Gatherer is opening a second location at the historic Curtis-Wright Hanger at Owens Field, Columbia's municipal airport. There, in addition to a taproom and observation deck, Varner has a 17-barrel brew house with bottling and kegging lines, enabling H-G to sell beers off-site, just as breweries Conquest and River Rat do.
Another site with history is Old Mill Brewpub, which is in a 125-year-old cotton mill overlooking Lexington Mill Pond that has hand-hewn beams and exposed brick walls. Brew master Matt Rogers—who Clinger says has "the Midas Touch" when it comes to beer—runs the pub's three-and-a-half-barrel operation, producing a rotation of beers, with three on tap at any time.
Among past brews are Blowfish Island Brown Ale, Coffee Stout, Spillway IPA, Dark Chocolate Stout Nitro, local favorite Pineapple Kolsch, a pumpkin porter and Strawbaby Wheat, which used local organic strawberries. Old Mill offers traditional pub fare including burgers and shaved prime rib sandwiches, fish and chips, shrimp and grits, blackened chicken, and appetizers such as Buffalo chicken dip and a crab-dipped large, soft pretzel.
Clinger has been in the restaurant business since 1976, when he was a 14-year-old dishwasher, and operated taverns in Pennsylvania before moving to South Carolina in 2001 to manage a restaurant chain. Like Varner before him and Baldwin more recently, Clinger saw the potential in offering good food and local beer to stand out in a market once dominated by chains.
Now, they're on the cutting edge of a food and beverage wave, and their futures look bright.
"It still hasn't really hit South Carolina yet, but this is the time to be doing it here."
Hunter-Gatherer Brewery and Alehouse, 900 Main St., Columbia; 803.748.0540
Old Mill Brewpub, 711 E. Main St., Lexington 29072; 803.785.2337
