Indigo Reef Brewing Co. taps into local craft beer market

New brewery to open off Clements Ferry Road in June

It’s a bit of misnomer to call the American love of small time breweries a “movement,” as so many do when referring to the boom of craft beers seen in the U.S. over the last two decades. Beer brewers spring up so often and distribute so far that the craft beer section of grocery store aisles is getting just as big as the areas dedicated to corporate beers.

Within Charleston’s city limits, tourists and locals never have to touch a drop of Budweiser or Michelob, thanks to the large array of breweries like Holy City, Palmetto, Commonhouse or Edmund’s Oast. At this point, it’s less of a revolt against outside companies and more of a self-sustaining system.

And with the omnipresent business growth on Clements Ferry Road and the increasing population in the area, a new social gathering spot like Indigo Reef Brewing seemed predestined to pop up at some point.

Situated in a neat position between Daniel Island and Mt. Pleasant, nuzzled behind a storage unit and veterinary clinic lies Indigo Reef, a brewery that intends to pour a glass of something for everyone, said founder and brewer Christopher Ranere.

“I like to say, ‘as long as the beer’s legal, there’s no beer that I won’t brew,’” he commented.

Ranere, and his co-founder and wife, Nicole Ranere, first encountered the concept of microbrews while working in Madison, Wisconsin for an electronic medical record company.

“While we were up there, we had some friends who were homebrewing and that’s kind of around the time we really got into craft beer,” Christopher reminisced.

With the mindset of an engineer, the future brewer became interested in the process after Nicole bought a homebrew pack for him.

“The first three batches were all just kits,” Christopher said. “You know, just follow along and you get good beer at the end. Then, the fourth batch, I said ‘I really want to write my own recipe.’ I borrowed a book from one of my buddies that had recipes in it and they were kind of like baseline recipes. I started with that and then kind of ventured out.”

After moving to Mount Pleasant in 2015, the Raneres continued brewing their own beer at home, but wanted to pursue it more seriously.

In the time between their relocation and Indigo Reef’s establishment on the Cainhoy peninsula (they officially open next month), Christopher took time to perfect his recipes, working as the assistant brewer at Two Blokes Brewing for “a little over a year,” according to Two Blokes Co-Founder and Head Brewer Matty Symons.

“I was sad to lose him, but I’m thrilled that he’s opening up his own place,” Symons added. “If his homebrew is any indication of what he’s going to be doing in the future, we’ve got some nice offerings coming our way.”

“Nearly everyone in this industry is willing to help out and it’s so different coming from other industries where everything’s so competitive,” Christopher said about the people he’s worked with in Charleston. “There’s definitely a sense of comradery there, so that was another big reason for us to get into it.”

Indigo Reef was afforded a central location off Clements Ferry Road (2079 Wambaw Creek), thanks to the Ranere’s realtor. Originally, the business was going to set up shop at the intersection of Highways 41 and 17, but were advised to give Clements Ferry a shot.

“When we were pulling down these side streets, we started noticing how many communities are already there,” said Christopher. “Then we started to see all the building that was going on.”

That decision provides the area with a unique option, putting Indigo Reef as a singular idea in a region that is rapidly expanding.

Already, the new business is looking to expand out of their walls.

“We are planning within the first three months of being opened to sign with a distributor, just for kegs,” Christopher explained. “We’ll be on tap at local restaurants and bars. We really want to be a part of the community and so we really want to go to places and be able to have our beer on tap.”
GOING WITH THE GRAIN: THE PROCESS OF BREWING BEER

It might not look like it from the outside, but the building Indigo Reef resides in has the equipment to brew over 1,000 gallons of beer every three weeks, which they will serve in the brewery’s barroom and eventually beyond.

Behind the pristine bar of repurposed wood, is an array of gleaming chrome vats, fermenters, and other accouterment for brewing beer.

After recently obtaining their first grain shipment, Indigo Reef plans to begin brewing this week.

Going through the multi-step process of making beer, Christopher explained that it all starts with grain.

“What we do is we take the stacks of grain and then we run them through—most places call it a mill, but really what it does is cracks the grain, so I like to refer to it as a grain cracker,” he said.

Once the grain is broken and converted into mash by mixing it with heated water, the starch is turned to sugar. Wort, a sweet liquid, is extracted during the process. It is boiled right before hops are added to offset the sweet flavor.

Once all undesired particles are removed, the liquid is ready to ferment for days.

It takes roughly three weeks to brew a batch of beer.

Taken out of the fermenter, the beer is ready to go into a keg where it is stored, shipped,and eventually sipped.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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