Craft Beer Bar the Whale Anchors New Charleston Development the Refinery

Craft beer bar the Whale is the first retail space to open in Charleston’s latest mixed-use development the Refinery. Located at 1640 Meeting Street, the Whale offers a wide selection or beers from around the world for on-site consumption or available for purchase to take home. The name, the Whale, comes from the beer world term for a difficult to find brew, like Ahab in Moby Dick, collectors will often go to great lengths to find their “whale.”

The bar comes from Jesse Van Note and Andrew Ross. The duo met while working at a brewery in Asheville, North Carolina. The opened their first location of the Whale in Asheville in 2017, created a second location in Greenville, South Carolina, in 2019, and now have a third spot in Charleston.

Going forward, the space will host food trucks, and it’s presumed that other bars or restaurants will join the Whale at the Refinery. Right now, it’s a sort of build-it-and-they-will-come situation.

The official opening was on Tuesday, September 28. The Whale hours are Monday through Thursday, from 2 p.m. to midnight; Friday to Saturday, from noon to midnight; and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.

• The Whale [Official]
• The Refinery [Official]