Southern Brewed offers southern beers to Northeast Columbia

When Tammie Hunter and her husband got married 28 years ago, they dreamed of retiring one day and opening a bar. Fast-forward to this past June, when Hunter became the proud owner of Southern Brewed, a second-floor walk-up bar and storefront on Sparkleberry Crossing above Mint Julep Bistro and Lounge. As the name would imply, the business only carries Southern-brewed beers.

“There’s nothing in Northeast Columbia like this,” said Hunter. “We wanted to provide a place for people on this side of town that they could come out and enjoy a beer or fill a growler and not have to drive all the way downtown. We have bottles and cans; they can take a six-pack out and mix and match in any amounts they want to. If they wanted to take just one beer out, they could. It just provides opportunity to sample different beers and try different breweries and different styles of beer. This side of town needed this.”

The location’s bar features 12 beers on tap that you can purchase as a pint, a flight (four five-ounce sized samples), a sealed growler (64 ounces) or its smaller counterpart, the “Boston round” (32 ounces). This is just one of the ways Hunter has been able to identify which beers are the best bets for the humid summer months.

“The lighter pale ales and the wheats are what most people are going for in the summer,” said Hunter. “The ambers do really well around this time, too.”

But by far, the most popular seller has been Terrapin’s Liquid Bliss.

“Its a chocolate peanut butter porter,” said Hunter. “We actually had one of our employees make cupcakes out of it.”

Holy City’s Pluff Mud Porter, the Orange Blossom honey pilsner and the Sea Dog blueberry have been standouts as well.

“We killed that keg in one day,” Hunter said of the blueberry beer. “That was a hit.”

The space carries Conquest, Swamp Cabbage and River Rat, brewed here in Columbia.

“We want to support local breweries,” Hunter said emphatically. “We want to give back to the community and just help each other out.”

But these are just three breweries that contribute to the more than 100 beers in stock. Even if you’re not a big beer drinker, some of the processes to craft it or something about the name may make you want to give it a swig.

“People like the unknown,” said Hunter. “I just ordered an All Tech Kentucky Bourbon Ale that I think will do well. The Gulluh Cream Ale by Revery out of Charleston was brewed with Adluh grits, and that has been a good seller. Anything that’s different, people want to try.”

Dwaun Sellers