Munkle Brewing Co.

Munkle Brewing Co. opened in October 2017 on Meeting Street Road, on the upper peninsula north of downtown Charleston. The name is a play on "my monk uncle": founder Palmer Quimby, a Charleston native, was inspired by an uncle who learned to brew at a monastery in Michigan before becoming an Episcopal pastor. That heritage shapes the whole operation. Munkle focuses on Belgian-style ales, drawing on Trappist and monastic brewing traditions, and is known as one of the few Lowcountry breweries dedicated so heavily to the style. Belgian ales and German lagers stay on tap, joined by barrel-aged beers and real-fruit beers. Regular pours have included the Evening Post Porter, named in honor of the founder's grandfather, the Munk Pils, and the 3rd Floor Tripel. The taproom is built like a European beer hall, with an industrial picnic-style space, communal seating, rocking chairs, a pool table, and Belgian flags. A bar opens onto a covered patio, and there's a grassy outdoor area beyond it. Munkle doesn't run an in-house kitchen; instead, rotating food trucks set up on-site, and the beers pair naturally with charcuterie. Family-friendly and easygoing, it sits within the cluster of upper-peninsula taprooms you can string together on a downtown Charleston brewery crawl.