How I Go Columbia: River Rat Brewery’s Mike Tourville
After moving to Columbia six years ago, Mike Tourville started brewing his own beer and soon realized he was more than pretty good at it.
In 2013, Tourville founded River Rat Brewery, named for the Congaree, Broad and Saluda rivers and the working-class group of men who labored on them more than a century ago. In its first year, River Rat brewed 1,300 barrels of beer – an impressive figure that would only double in the business’ second year.
The brewery, at 1231 Shop Road, brews everything from lagers to ales to stouts and barleys, as well as specialty beers such as the German Märzen that it will introduce at the upcoming Oktoberfest.
Tourville lives in Columbia with his wife, Summer, her son, Grayson Webber, and the couple’s 19-month-old twins, Ella Grace and Mikey.
EAT: When I’m looking for a chilled, relaxed environment with a good wine selection, I go to Terra. I’m friends with (chef) Mike Davis and know a lot of people there, and I like the style. I like the lightness of their food, and Mike is a very accomplished chef. I also like the atmosphere at The Oak Table. I like looking at the capitol while I’m sitting at the bar having a couple of happy hour drinks. If I want a really good steak, that’s where I go. For ethnic food, I love Baan Sawan – I love (chef) Alex (Suaudom du Monde) and (managing partner) Sam (Suaudom) – a little family-owned Thai restaurant off Devine. I go in and swap stories with Sam and do a little wine sampling, and we talk about different wine parings with different foods.
DRINK: River Rat Brewery. Best beer in town. That would be my No. 1 go-to, of course. If I’m not drinking beer, again, I love going to Terra. The bartender there makes great drinks and they have an awesome wine selection. The happy hour at Oak Table is great, too. If you’re visiting Columbia or even part of Columbia, just go in there and have a couple of drinks and stare at the action at the State House. It’s a nice ambiance. It’s pretty at night, and it’s just a really classy joint. Capital City Club has a very nice, very cool bar with the city atmosphere that is really cool. Motor Supply makes really awesome drinks, too. And, of course Bourbon – they have the best bourbon selection in town. I’m not really a Five Points guy. I’m getting a little long in the tooth, so I feel like a baby sitter down there.
SEE: You can’t beat the scene at Soda City Market. There’s great people-watching there. I go to USC games and will soon to go to Firefly games. I also love to go to the art museum. The Andy Warhol exhibit was amazing to see in person. And I like going down to the Riverwalk to people-watch. I like to see what people are doing, what they’re up to and, particularly, what they’re drinking.
PLAY: I walk around and jog around my neighborhood a lot and spend a lot of time working in my yard. I do hunt and fish, but I’m not an avid hunter, more of a sportsman. I pretty much work all the time and meet people and talk about beer. And play with my twins. My life is really about beer and twins.
LISTEN: When I look for venues to catch a show or group, it’s typically at The Township Auditorium or Colonial Life Arena. I love Township because it’s smaller and a little more intimate. Shows there are really awesome. I also book bands at River Rat Brewery. If I like a band, I’ll book them at the brewery. I’m kind of lucky that way – I can have my own show anytime I want to. I just book a band. I haven’t been to Music Farm, yet but I want to – I hear it’s awesome.