Columbia’s Swamp Cabbage Brewing Co. shuts its doors

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Swamp Cabbage Brewing Co., one of Columbia’s first breweries, has closed its doors as of Dec. 18.

The closing was announced on the brewery’s social media pages and website.

“We, as a family run and operated brewery have decided to permanently close,” the message said. “During the COVID pandemic, we thought we had to shut our doors but you helped us through the rough times. However, it has been an uphill battle and have decided to throw in the towel. We have loved brewing beers, talking about beers and enjoyed every conversation and cherish the friendships made.”

Swamp Cabbage opened in 2014 at a time when the beer scene in Columbia was just getting off the ground. It is the second of the city’s early breweries to close. Conquest Brewing, another early entry in the Midlands beer market, closed its doors in 2019.

Located at 921 Brookwood Drive near Williams-Brice Stadium, Swamp Cabbage was a destination for beer lovers on Gamecocks game days as well as other days of the week. It hosted Friday night trivia games which were especially popular. The brewery produced a number of popular beers including its Red-tro IPA, Sabal Palm Blonde and Oxbow Ale.

Swamp Cabbage’s owner Doug Boyd also provided support to others in the Columbia beer community. For the past six years, Swamp Cabbage also provided brewing space to Bierkeller, the roving German-style brewery owned by Scott Burgess, which will be opening its own brick-and-mortar site in early 2023.