MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA
Encompassing a coffeehouse/brewery, large wood picnic -tabled porch, chaired firepit area, a sprawling beer garden and palm trees, TIDAL CREEK BREWHOUSE started its journey in June 2020. At Myrtle Beach’s newly developed Market Common (formerly used as part of the nearby airport base), Tidal Creek retains a loungey sea shack vibe amongst the newly built small stores, restaurants and townhouses.
Inside the blue-awninged beige aluminum sided brewhouse, an L-shaped ten-seat bar (with cement-lacquered shell bar top) centers the cement-floored shop. There are ten 4-seat tables, hanging Edison lights, a spray foam insulated ceiling and corrugated aluminum walls filling out Tidal Creeks’ interior. Stainless steel brew tanks take up the 3,000 square-foot backspace. Cocktails, wines and pub fare were also available.
My wife and I had some delicious noontime pops during April ’23 visit.
Dry light pilsner, Liberatore, let bright lemon licks dabble with wafting floral spicing and leathery straw acridity over buttered white breading.
Cake-battered banana sweetness and mild clove-coriander spicing picked up a prickly lemon spritz and mild herbage atop the buttery sourdough base of Harmonic Hefeweizen, a delightful traditionalist on par with nearby Grand Strand’s German wheat competitor.
Sharp IPA-like fruiting and oily pine resin gave a moderate bittering to Breezy Blonde Ale, plying dry orange rind and grapefruit pith zing to latent floral herbage.
Streamlined Imperial IPA, Mean High Water, combined candied pineapple, grapefruit and orange tanginess with light herbal spicing and resinous pine remnants over crystal malt sugaring.
Equally approachable New England IPA, Bogey Bomb, let candied pineapple, sugared orange and tart lemon fruiting pick up mild sweet spicing over lightly creamed oated wheat pasting.
Mildly embittered NEIPA, Beam Reach, places spritzy grapefruit-peeled orange, pineapple and mango tanginess next to New Zealand-hopped guava-passionfruit souring above oated wheat complacency.
Piney citrus fruiting and floral-spiced herbage permeated Grand Strand, a West Coast IPA draping lemony orange, grapefruit and tangerine tanginess thru honeyed pale malts.
Coffee-stained dark chocolate led Backwater Brown Ale, leaving cola nut, waddleseed, hazelnut and candied molasses snips on its dewy earthen bottom.
Dry espresso-milked black coffee fortified Pollywog Porter, picking up setback peanut-walnut illusions and mild Blackstrap molasses bittering.
Nutty chicory coffee surged ahead of coconut, pineapple and black grape fruiting for Tradewinds Tropical Stout, gaining bittersweet dark chocolate influence.