Brewery 85 extends hours

For the past month, Brewery 85 has opened its doors to the public — but only off and on with "soft hours" announced the day of or maybe a little before.

The unpredictability is understandable. The brewery has been in the process of simply getting its first beers brewed and is not fully staffed to tackle what will surely be a busy tasting room for a long time to come.

All that changes Saturday.

Exactly a month since Greenville's newest brewery (Swamp Rabbit ain't open yet, y'all) first opened its doors, 85 will be running on regular hours — 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

That means certainty in tours, growler fills, pints and half pints to drink on-site (keep in mind that state law caps on-site consumption at three pints, or 48 ounces total).

It's not quite ready for flights or tasters yet. One of four of the core beers that 85 will offer full time is currently being brewed — the 864 Weizen wheat beer, a darling of owner and brewmaster Will McCameron that he says he wants to get right.

The 864 will serve as an introductory beer of sorts for those new to craft, "designed with everyone in mind," and it'll be available on taps later this spring, McCameron says.

The brewery is also working on a special brew, Sweet Tea Sour, a Centennial single-hopped pale pitched with a wild Saison yeast blend harvested by Clemson bioengineering alumni SouthYeast labs.

McCameron says the special brew should be available next week, but in "very limited" quantities.

The Chuck Truck mobile burger joint will serve food.

Spring fever at Quest

It's definitely been feeling a little more like February lately as February comes to a close.

Nevertheless, Quest Brewing is looking to the promise of spring.

On Tuesday, Quest will host a release party for its new spring seasonal — Melusine Bière de Garde, a 7 percent ABV farmhouse ale.

For those who didn't take French as their high school elective, the Bière de Garde translates to "beer for keeping."

To avoid the volatility with yeast that can occur during summertime, these strong pale ales traditionally were brewed in winter and spring in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.

It's brewed with pale, Munich, caramel and wheat malts and enhanced with Belgian candied beet sugar and Saaz hops.

As for the "Melusine" part of the name — please forgive my Southern drawl as I phoneticize a French word — it sounds to be pronounced like "MAY-lou-ZEEN."

The "z" maybe with a hint of "s." The "MAY" with perhaps a hint of "MEH."

I took three years of Spanish in high school, OK?

In any case, doors open at 4 p.m. and close at 8 p.m.