Edmund's Oast owners Scott Shor and Rich Carley won't do anything if they can't do it right (see: 2013's rain-soaked Brewvival). When the best friends opened The Charleston Beer Exchange in 2008, they did more than sell swanky brews, they took South Carolina's simmering craft beer scene to a rolling boil.
Edmund's Oast will break craft beer ground beyond the marsh. For those clamoring for a biergarten brawl or yet another sports bar, look elsewhere. Edmund's Oast will be a brewpub, which is a pub or bar with its own brewery onsite that typically serves food.
"There's nothing like Edmund's Oast in Charleston, in the Southeast or really the country," Shor says. "The same spirit that drove us to do Charleston Beer Exchange is driving us to do the brewpub. We created the beer store where we wanted to shop. This will be the brewpub that we've always wanted to go to."
A brewpub like America has never seen is a tall order to fill. Shor and Carley know their limits, and they've hired a team of extraordinary talent to fill in the necessary details.
Brewer Cameron Read, just returned from a sabbatical opening up The Greenville Beer Exchange, will be at the helm of the cask and mash. "We'll have beer from around the corner and around the world," Shor says. Edmund's won't be recreating the wheel with Charleston's much loved local styles or your favorite American and international offerings. Instead of traditional beers, Read will focus on obscure, old world recipes and new world experiments with a long list of brewers eager to collaborate. He has an English mild on tap using tea from Charleston Tea Plantation, as well as a funky peanut butter and jelly brew that won first prize at SweetWater Brewery's "Brew your Cask Off" competition last year.
Former FIG sous chef Andy Henderson will man the kitchen. Whole animal butchery and heritage breed livestock from Georgia-based Revival Foods will play a featured role on his menu, but the former chef de cuisine of Local Mission Eatery in San Francisco is not scared of vegetables. "Making pork belly taste good is not hard. But to come away from a meal remembering the carrots ? that's a challenge," he says. Henderson is rekindling relationships with local farms and fishermen and is working toward custom-grown veggies from Bo Collins of Sol Haven Farm and Jim Martin of Compost in My Shoe in Johns Island.
Gluten-free sweet and savory items will pepper the menu from Henderson's girlfriend, Julia Ingram, who recently opened up downtown Charleston's first gluten-free bakery, Sweet Radish Bakeshop.
There really is no categorizing Edmund's Oast: a brewpub serving world-class food in a community-focused environment. Shor and Carley are leading a driven team of hardworking lovers of the land, the pint, plate and palate, all hitting their gastronomic peaks at the ideal time.
Edmund's Oast is shooting for an open date of Dec. 1. Stay tuned for more Eater details on the menu, its beverage program and onsite brewery; as well as the North of Morrison (NOMO) locale and design.
Written and reported by Erin Holaday Ziegler
· Brewvival Pours on Despite Rain [CP]
· The Charleston Beer Exchange [Official]
· Edmund's Oast [Official]
· Who Will Be Charleston's Best Beer Garden? [CP]
· Southend Brewery and Smokehouse [Official]
· Brew your Cask Off [Official]
· Revival Foods [Official]
· Local Mission Eatery [Official]
· Sol Haven Farm [Official]
· Compost in My Shoe [Official]
· Sweet Radish Bakeshop [-ECHS-]