Passing the bar exam: Legal Remedy Brewing

Like most breweries, the building is repurposed. A car dealership formerly occupied the space. Unlike most breweries, Legal Remedy boasts a full kitchen in addition to its beverage offerings, so pair a pimento cheese sandwich with your pale ale. That’s a personal recommendation.

Now I ain’t passed the bar, but I know a little bit, enough to see the naming scheme is quite legit. Legalese features prominently on all offered beer names, with special personal nods to Sequestered Saison, Motion to Strike Milk Stout, and especially Dubbel Jeopardy.

Several friends of mine cut new breweries slack for the first six months, claiming they need this amount of time to dial in their new brewing system. I’m not as generous, being of the opinion that breweries should take time before opening to brew and dump a few test batches. So was I satisfied with the verdict on Legal Remedy, or am I seeking appeal?

It’s a 62-minute roundtrip from my South End abode, courtesy of a car wreck, folks playing hooky from work, and a spontaneous downpour which brought traffic to a halt. While the distance is slightly daunting, I can proudly say I’ll be attempting this trip more often. No matter what your taste preference, Legal Remedy will have something for you.

Leading off was a pint of All Rise Pale Ale, because I know better than to switch up flavor profiles while noshing on delicious pimento cheese. It’s billed as a “lighter” version of the Alibi Pale Ale, carrying a dainty body but possessing a hop profile that can handle cheddar and bacon.

My hunger sated, it was time to take flight. Four 4-ounce samples quickly found their way to my mouth: Witness White IPA (honey addition gives smooth-bodied beer slight sweetness and helps dry the finish), Sequestered Saison (a little too full-bodied for how I like the style, with a finish that lingers a touch too long), Pro Bono Porter (which is a dead ringer for the sublime “Victory at Sea” from Ballast Point, courtesy of splendid intermingling of coffee and vanilla notes carried by a solid base beer), and Polygraph Pumpkin Ale (slight char on the finish, with a pumpkin-spice middle and rummy raisin finish, my first pumpkin ale of 2015 did not disappoint while packing a deceptive 8 percent alcohol by volume).

As I wrapped up my flight, I lamented to a friend how I felt something might’ve been missing from the saison. One texted recommendation later, and I was prepared to order a half-pint of Sequestered Blueberry Saison. The 45 pounds of pureed blueberries carried away any slight misgivings I had about the base beer. With summer wrapping up in a few weeks, I felt I was sipping the last few drops of the season.

Already a line is starting to form, with more than a dozen people awaiting a table at 5:50 p.m. as I make my way to the door. There’s quite a mix in attendance ranging from geeks in beer shirts, fresh-faced parents toting their newborn, and folks from down the street just wanting to see what having a hometown brewery is all about. Legal Remedy is the first brewery to open in Rock Hill, and it looks like the locals are more than ready for jury duty.

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