CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) - Clemson’s first-ever brewery started with an email. And maybe a little bit of drinking, too.
That’s how Bryon Leggett and Bobby Congdon – lifelong friends who met as students while working at Clemson University’s radio station – described the genesis of Kite Hill Brewing Company, the craft brewing operation and outdoor beer garden coming to Patrick Square next year.
“It was four or five years ago, I sent the message and asked, ‘Hey, you want to come down and open a brewery?’” Congdon, who now works at Clemson University, remembered.
”… And I may have been drinking.”
Leggett was living in Vermont at the time, but was looking for an excuse to leave. Soon after, he moved back to Greenville and began looking for spaces in the Clemson area with Congdon.
Eventually, the two – who graduated from Clemson in 1998 – settled on a new build in Patrick Square, the sprawling planned development on the edge of Clemson, just off U.S. 123.
“We’d been chasing properties for two-and-a-half years,” Congdon said.
The 5,000-square-foot brewery will have a taproom, brewhouse and outdoor patio with green space. The pair will hire a master brewer to make the company’s own beer, Congdon said.
Kite Hill Brewing Company plans to begin serving its beer, along with a small assortment of German-inspired pub food, cider, wine and soft drinks, in May or June of next year.
The brewery will be part of The Exchange, a two-story mixed-use building in Patrick Square’s commercial area that will lease office and commercial spaces. The remainder of the commercial tenants on the ground floor have yet to be announced.
Kite Hill will be the first brewery of its kind in Clemson, according to Clemson Director of Planning and Codes Todd Steadman. Plans to remodel the Astro Theatre on College Ave. were scrapped by Magnetic South Brewing earlier this year in favor of a larger outfit in Anderson County.
But being the first in Clemson does not scare Congdon and Leggett. They said the success of Keowee Brewing Co. in Seneca and brewing operations in similar-sized cities prove the popularity of locally-made beer.
When complete, Kite Hill will serve their own in-house beers. Congdon said they plan to “run the gamut” of craft brew. Stouts, IPAs, sours, lagers.
“Even if you don’t like beer, but want to explore beer, there will be something to explore your tastes,” Congdon, who’s been brewing his own beer at home since 2005, said.
KITE HILL “NOT TOO ON THE NOSE” OF CLEMSON CULTURE
Congdon and Leggett always knew they wanted to open a brewery in Clemson, but didn’t come up with a name for the operation until their dream became reality.
Named after the area of campus that sits at the intersection of States 93 and 76, Kite Hill is home to the transmitter for Clemson’s college radio station, where the two men met in the late nineties.
“So it was full circle,” Leggett said.
The pair wanted the name to be tied to Clemson University, but not be “too on the nose” in case their beer sales expand beyond Pickens County.
They also wanted to ensure the brewery wasn’t branded as a place for Tigers only.
Congdon said they want Kite Hill to be “a place for the community” of year-round residents and families. That means they won’t be matching the energy or hours of the downtown college bars, where college students and football fans flock every weekend.
“We’re not opposed to college students coming, but we were looking for something more for the year-round community. Something that’s family-friendly,” Congdon said. “We’re not a giant party spot that’s overrun with people.”
Patrick Square – which has dozens of businesses and hundreds of homes – offered up ample parking, a built-in customer base and plenty of nearby restaurants, Congdon said. They plan to host live music and have a large green space by the patio for dogs and children to run free in.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.