Connelly Hardaway

Fancy beans with “decent” olive oil, pickled chilis, herbs and pita chips at Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co. | Andrew Cebulka Don’t call what you now get at Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co. (EOBC) “bar food.” Chef Alex Yellan is cooking up fresh, inventive dishes in the King Street kitchen. Yellan took the stoves and burners in July, bringing both familiar and further-afield flavors to the brewery’s menu.

Is craft beer in trouble? Yes. And no. But perhaps most importantly for Charleston — craft beer is very much still here. More than 10 breweries and brew pubs of almost 40 have closed since Charleston City Paper published its Hops master list in 2023. Across the nation, craft beer output fell 4 percent in 2024.

The Charleston Beer Fest takes place on Oct. 25 at North Charleston’s Riverfront Park Credit: Charleston Beer Fest file photo My first beer festival came along in 2012. I was freshly 21, living in a college town where the leaves turned perfectly red and orange every fall and craft breweries were just beginning to make a name for themselves.