USA, SC: One of Greenville’s craft beer pioneers Quest Brewing Co. closed down for good

It was just a year ago that Don Richardson had renewed hope that the craft beer brand he and partner Drew Watts had so lovingly built would get a new chance at success. But that light turned dark earlier this year when plans to shift ownership and take on a new investor fizzled, The Greenville Online reported on December 16.

While Richardson had been working vigorously behind the scenes to rebrand Quest and to reinvigorate the company, now, he says, he must let it go.

Quest Brewing Co., one of Greenville’s pioneers in the craft beer industry, is closed.

The announcement earlier this year of the closing was temporary, but now Richardson says it’s permanent.

“It’s sad times,” Richardson said, his normally positive demeanor a bit less so.

Richardson is trying to look to the future, one that would keep him immersed in the Upstate’s local beer scene.

“I think we’ve got some really talented brewers in this city and some great people behind the breweries here,” Richardson said with a smile.

With the closing comes reflection, and at least for Richardson, a lot of thoughts about what he would have done differently. Chief among those is not to grow too quickly and not to rely on distribution.

In some states, like North Carolina, breweries can self-distribute their product up to a certain amount.

South Carolina’s three-tier system of distribution means producers can sell their product only through a distributor, who then sells to retailers. While the SC Brewer’s Guild has fought hard to change some of the state’s laws (legislators passed the Pint law in 2013, which allows breweries to sell up to 48 ounces of beer to patrons instead of the previously limited 4-ounce samples, and paved the way for breweries to become community gathering centers) there are some that just make it hard for smaller breweries, Richardson says.

Last year, Quest made headlines for effectively changing distributors, something that is harder to do given certain laws that make it hard to break contracts.

But, by the time the company found Greenco Beverage Co. (which was purchased by Reyes Beer Division earlier this year), Richardson says the Quest brand had become tarnished. That, along with keeping up with licensing and state taxes and loan payments in a time when sales slowed down, just meant righting the ship would take more than he could do himself.

Watts, Quest's co-owner, who helped launch the brand and open the brewery in 2013, stepped away from operations a year ago, Richardson said.

Watts did not respond to calls or texts from The Greenville News for comment.

So, what does the loss of Quest mean to Greenville? Richardson’s not sure, but he hopes others will take some lessons from Quest’s experience.

“Focusing on small and the taproom sales, that would be my lesson to everyone else,” Richardson said of what he’d do differently. “Sell as much beer on-site as you can; the margins will be much better.

“Distribution is just an expensive game and ultimately what sunk us was all the money we invested. Packaging for one thing – to get pre-printed cans of a certain type you have to get a tractor trailer load so that’s $30,000 right there.”

Richardson is sad about the loss of Quest, but with 30 years of experience in the brewing industry, he’s not ready to walk away. He still gets excited about the chance to create recipes and the chance to connect with the community, but he’d just assume leave the business stuff to someone else.

“I feel like one of the pioneers of the new age of brewing here,” Richardson said, shrugging humbly. “I’m very proud and I would like to continue brewing here.”

17 December, 2021