SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – Four years ago, Spartanburg’s Holliday Brewing opened in the Drayton Mills Marketplace.
It’s a family-run business, co-owned by Jim and Carin Holliday along with Jim’s brother, John.
John is also the head brewer, a dream of his that started with a little trial-and-error.
”I was brewing in my house in the kitchen learning how to brew and I found out what a boil-over is. It’s wort that’s in the kettle and it’s basically sugar water. And it boiled over onto my wife’s stove. Needless to say, that was the last time I brewed in the house.”
Practice made perfect.
”90% of the recipes I have up on the board up there are from when I was a home brewer.”
The Hollidays started small by design, according to Jim.
”That gives us more room to experiment more, try different styles.”
“We’re well known for our IPAs. I think that’s what my brother does really, really well is his IPAs. His Mosaic Paradise is our number one IPA, it’s been our best seller for four years now.”
That beer took second place in the IPA category at the 2022 South Carolina Beer Awards.
You’ll find more than IPAs.
With two dozen taps, you’ll find everything from stouts to ales, as well as ciders and seltzers.
”We started seltzers about two years ago, so we started getting into that and we’ve really grown.”
Expect different seltzer flavors in the warmer months, with a Tequila IPA also on the way.
Holliday Brewing is about to expand, and they’re going to be replacing their smaller brewing facility with a much larger one.
”Holliday Brewing Inman. It’s about a 9000-square-foot facility. We’re partnering with Burgers and Bakery which we’re super excited about.“
With a target opening date of early this summer, they’ll also have indoor and outdoor event areas, including a music stage.
This will allow John to increase production.
”Here I do about 250 barrels a year and there I’ll start out 100 barrels a month.”
The Drayton Mills location will remain open as a taproom, with the current brew area becoming a kitchen.
Even as their business expands, Jim says that Holliday Brewing is working to help other area restaurants and bars.
”We try to work with local bars and restaurants, we do tap takeovers. It’s just, working with different businesses, it really helps us all.”
They’ve also worked with local firefighters, even producing a beer with help from the Spartanburg City Professional Firefighters Association: Hazy Blaze 369.
All part of fitting in with the community.
”Just everyday, meeting people in the community, meeting new friends, doing events. It’s not easy running or working in a brewery, but it is rewarding.”
You will also find a few Holliday offerings served at the Hub City Hog Fest BBQ Festival in downtown Spartanburg on March 31 and April 1.
Enjoy responsibly.