Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company. Where the hell is that? That’s what we wanted to know. Edmund’s Oast was to be the third and final stop on our little Charleston brewery crawl-if we could find it. We had already hit Palmetto and Revelry, and our valiant Lyft driver was doing his best to find Edmund’s Oast. It was located in an office park, and well hidden in that office park to be sure. The driver got out of his vehicle and looked around, and while he did we call the brewery and got the details on how to get there, hidden as it was behind several other office buildings accessible only on foot. Both driver and bartender were well tipped this night, I can assure you.
When we arrived, we were informed by the same bartender (a very pleasant gal to be sure) that the location was fairly new, and indeed that they had struggled with the issue of customer’s unable to find the place. Once folks did, however, they returned frequently, and sampling some of the beers, we could see why. We enjoyed them for the most part. Anyway, the experience reminded me of the first time I tried to find Victory brewery, well before the days of GPS.
I ordered a sampler of four here, and though I would have liked to have tried more, we were tired. I did get a crowler to go of one of the beers in my sampler. For those that don’t know, an “oast” or “oast house” is a kiln where hops are dried.
The third beer I tried in my sampler was Session Confection Stout. This was described as a "Session Stout", which to me seems like a bit of a contradiction in terms. After all, stout does not have to be high in alcohol (Guinness Stout on draft has only 4.1% ABV).
On the website, Edmund’s Oast says:
Sometimes we like to indulge our inner Augustus Gloop with all the delicious flavors displayed in decadent imperial stouts. But, we usually have to work in the morning. With this in mind, we’ve created a sessionable stout that still contains all the delectable flavors often found in the world’s most coveted confections. With copious amounts of cocoa nibs and vanilla beans added after fermentation, this dry stout displays oozes with notes of the finest chocolate bars.
With ingredients:
Malts 2-Row, Oat Malt,
Crystal, Roasted, Black, Chocolate
Flavor Hops East Kent Goldings
Yeast English
Other Ingredients cocoa nibs, vanilla
Edmund's Oast Session Confection Stout has an alcohol content of 4.7% by volume and runs $6 for a pint at the brewery.
My sample of Edmund’s Oast Session Confection Stout arrived a brownish black, less than opaque color with a thin head and a roast cocoa and marshmallow nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a thin body and cocoa with vanilla in the palate and a roasty bitter finish.
The flavors here were not a problem, but the body is too thin to support them and that meant this did not work for me. When our friendly bartender came by to see how we were doing, I complimented the three beers I enjoyed here but was honest about this one. She looked aghast at my frankness, but we do our friends no favors by failing to mention their faults.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft