A half dozen years after opening in Park Circle, Commonhouse Aleworks ended 2023 with two major collaborations. You can now find a Commonhouse outpost at Charleston International Airport, located near gate B5 and you can order your favorite Swig & Swine dishes from Commonhouse’s Park Circle location.
The opening of the airport bar is particularly sentimental for Commonhouse proprietor Pearce Fleming, who, before entering the craft beer world, traveled frequently for work.
“For me it’s full circle,” he said. “When we started walking down the ramp [in Concourse B], and I saw the Commonhouse sign there next to the DCA gate, which is what I would take to fly up to my office in Washington, it was a surreal moment.”
The Swig & Swine collaboration is meaningful for Fleming too. He noted in a press release about the brewery’s kitchen partner that Commonhouse was “elated to welcome another community-forward business into our space.”
“Community” is the name of the game at Commonhouse, after all. It’d be hard for it not to be with a mission statement that reads: “Celebrating what we all share in common and making a positive impact in the communities we serve is what drives our team.”
Events, ethos and giving back
Commonhouse Aleworks celebrates six years in Park Circle this month. Since opening in 2018, the brewery has grown and evolved, adding more beer, food options, outdoor seating and even more boozy selections to accommodate a loyal and growing fanbase in the popular North Charleston neighborhood.
A recent addition includes a liquor license, acquired before Memorial Day weekend 2023.
“We did that very specifically,” said Fleming. “Because we wanted to be able to bring ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails [to the bar].” Commonhouse doesn’t “free pour,” meaning it doesn’t offer mixed drinks made on the spot. Rather, it rotates what RTD cocktails it has on offer. Recent selections have included a tequila paloma and vodka mule from Cutwater and vodka seltzers from Nutrl.
“We want to create an environment where everybody can sit and enjoy themselves,” said Fleming.
But people aren’t just flocking to Commonhouse for beer, cocktails and barbecue. The brewery has become a bonafide community hub, hosting a variety of weekly events and community partners. Whether you want to join the Park Circle Pacers for a Thursday evening run that starts at the brewery, head to the Commonhouse grounds for a weekend pop-up yoga class or sit in on an open mic night hosted by Charleston’s Free Verse Poets, the brewery is more than just a place to sip beer.
Staying consistent
It can be challenging to stand out and stay consistent in the Charleston area’s current craft beer scene, which is home to about 40 breweries (as of Jan. 3).
“When I wrote the business plan for Commonhouse, there were four breweries [in Charleston.] When we broke the ground, there were eight. When we opened our doors a few months later, we were the 16th brewery in Charleston in 2018. And now there are 42,” Fleming said. “And that is wonderful, because we’ve gotten back to a day and age when every neighborhood has its own hyperlocal craft beverage being produced.”
Part of Commonhouse’s hyperlocal focus includes the unCOMMONly GOOD beer series, which benefits community impact organizations with a beer release and, according to Commonhouse’s website, “a sharing of our platform to celebrate and support organizations doing great work.”
In addition to the beer series, a portion of every Commonhouse beer is donated back to local community groups including Alliance For Full Acceptance, We Are Family, Camp Rise Above, Eunoia Rescue, Neighbors Together and more.
“What do we do to stand out? Not just from a liquid perspective, but from an ethos perspective,” said Fleming. “We focus solely on who we are and do what comes naturally to us. We were [always] for this neighborhood, for our area and we were for the ethos that we tried to put out in the world.”
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