River Rat Brewery

River Rat is definitely a unique brewery. It is very small on the inside, but has a ton of character. I spoke to the bartender quite a bit on my last trip in and he told me the story about the River Rat name and how they got all the cool scrap metal art from one of their neighbors (in exchange for free beer, I assume!).
Their beer selection is pretty good with some regulars and some seasonals. I really like the Broad River Red Ale and the Hazelnut Brown. Their branding is great as well. It definitely is eye catching. I have seen their stickers all over the place in other breweries and bars and their logo is easy to gravitate towards. I will definitely be back, many times I am sure.

River Rat has a really nice range of beers– you’re bound to find at least one or two that you like. Both times I’ve been here, I’ve gotten a flight. With the flight you can pick any 6 beers on their menu. I’ve always been impressed with the number of beers on tap.
The first time I was here was back in the summer when it was nice and hot out. The backyard patio area was open, and people were out playing corn hole, and chatting around the picnic tables with their dogs. The second time I was here was a rainy winter day. Inside the tasting room we found that they had a selection of board games to play, and new monstrously huge TVs to watch the football game.
The staff is exceptional. Always friendly, and really knowledgable of their beers.
I haven’t tried any of their food, but I’ve heard good things about it.
Whether you’re looking to chat with a friend over a beer, or make it an afternoon of beers, River Rat is definitely worth a visit.

This place as awesome. The beer was top tier, the ambiance was great, the staff was knowledgeable and friendly. Ask for a tour and they will happy to oblige. I will return again and again.

Delicious hummus!!! House made hummus with special ingredients make for a wonderful snack with their double IPA and Barley Wine. Great staff and spacious tap room make this a winner locations for craft beer lovers!

Back in SC for the first time in a few years, and I wanted to check out one of the new craft breweries that I’d heard had opened in recent years. And boy am I glad I chose River Rat! A few highlights:
1) The beer is excellent. Truly impressive variety for a relatively small brewery, with a good range of dark to light, malty to hoppy, and light to heavy. And I enjoyed just about every one.
2) The tap is a true work of metal art. You’ve gotta see it.
3) Huge outdoor patio/​grassy area with cornhole! i could spend a good long time drinking their beer and tossing corn-​filled bags at slightly inclined boards.
Check out the River Rat, it’s worth a visit.

Good spot to enjoy a few beers with friends. They had twelve house beers on tap so my husband and I got two flights so we could try everything. I wasn’t overly impressed with the beer, of the twelve we tasted I would only order three or four again. The IPA tasted dirty to me, and the lighter wheat beers had absolutely no flavor. However, the porter was pretty delicious. Fun atmosphere, big space to bring dogs and play cornhole. We didn’t try any food but the bbq sounded good, plus they serve wine and cheese/​charcuterie boards. If I lived in Columbia I would come back!

I really liked it here! It was basically all outdoors, but they do have an indoor section with quite a few tables. They’re dog friendly, and there were tons of dogs! They have a bunch of corn hole sets, and a ton of outdoor seating! This brewery doesn’t just have beer, they offer wine and food as well, so you’re not just stuck with beer. They have a bar inside and they have a window where you can order drinks from outside. This bar isn’t just for one age group, there were people there from 21 – 75. This was a great experience!

Not a fan, The double IPA is not very hoppy, The brown Ale is bland not much flavor. The building is nice KC hotdogs was great.
Swamp Cabbage and Conquest is much better

Having never been to this area before, I had no idea what to expect. I was happy to find the atmosphere is nice, clean and not too loud for my tastes.
The beer selection was on par with most tap rooms I have been to, but the quality of the beers was quite a bit higher than most. I tried the sampler of 6 and would have a hard time choosing just one to get next time.
For food, I was disappointed at the lack of options to be honest. Fortunately I found the BBQ sandwich to be really good, which made up for the lack of any other choice. I’d eat it again without issue.
All and all a definite winner. I’ll be around for a few more days so I may just have to stop by again before I fly out.

Is it possible?
This beer is fine enough to
mistake for a cloud.

I have been here for three events, and every time I have left disappointed. They have been understaffed each time and the bartenders clearly serve their buddies and acquaintances first, which gets pretty old when you’ve been waiting for service for 10 – 15 minutes. They often have music and food, but all three times I’ve gone, the food has consisted of nothing but barbecue. As a vegetarian, there are only so many coleslaw sandwiches I can eat. The beer, which has yet to knock my socks off, actually costs more here than at retail shops, which is a bit confusing. They’ve done a good job with their outdoor area, but all in all, I’d rather go somewhere else.

Good local beer, large outdoor seating area, hound friendly — with outdoor ordering window, friendly and attentive staff; can life get better?
My two trips to River Rat Brewery were both excellent. The outdoor area is so large that even while hosting a private party outside there was still plenty of room for other patrons!
The beer selection is limited — they have 6 or so on tap — but that’s about what you would expect from a local brewery. The beers I sampled were good and both times there they had a ‘unique’ brew available — like the Grapefruit IPA I ordered, yum!
Cons: On busy days parking gets a little rough, but it appears they let you park in the dirt lot across the street. My other complaint is more of an unreasonable desire — but it would be nice if they were able to close the gates when it isn’t so busy and allow off-​leash play for the dogs; it was a little weird having so many there that couldn’t play!

This is the best microbrewery in Columbia. Bold flavors with high SG.

Awesome local brewery! Defiantly the best in the area as far as looks and beer! Great bar area and outside area with several TV’s outside and inside! My favorite spot to go to before SC games for sure and is right at a mile walk to the Stadium. Usually will have live music on Friday or Saturday night with KC hot dogs and a few other food trucks always outside to feed you after a few brews! KC hot dogs defiantly recommended! (Seattle DOG OFF THE CHARTS!!) As far as the beer goes My favorite would have to be Moncks Corner! But don’t think they will have it til next year!. Double IPA it is then!

What a badass place! You immediately see the intention is for patrons to relax, have fun, and drink good beer. They have a great outdoor area with plenty of seating and corn hole for the competitive folk. Was here on a Wednesday night for the haunted brew tour which was a fun twist to their usual tour. Saw some posters for Yoga and Beer on Sunday morning as well as an outdoor screening of a film on Thursday. This isn’t just your one visit that’s it type of place, this is a place to hang out and participate in different activities… And I love that!

Great beer and music on Friday and Saturday. Different food vendors everyday so come back every night for something different. Their beer in Bourbon barrels is awesome so try what they have on tap that night.

I was at an event that River Rat brewing provided beer for and it made us want to come down and check the place out. The inside definitely has an «industrial» theme with the metal art work they have. They had some metal tap handles at the event that were pretty awesome looking. The inside is simple and clean. The inside is similar to what you would find in Europe in that it just has some simple benches for you to sit at and that’s it. Its meant for enjoying beer. The brew theme is definitely UK in their use of malts and hops in their beers. We got the sampler of the 6 beers that they had available. We felt the best beers were the Kolsh and the Abbey brew. I felt the sampler was a bit pricey at $ 9.50. As far as food they have food trucks that will come out during certain days of the week which they have listed on their board.
One of the downsides of the place is the location. It appears to be in an old industrial area which does not make you feel the safest at night. They are very new so their beer selection is currently limited and a couple of the beers were a bit rough. That being said go out and give them a try and buy one of their glasses, very cool and good quality glass ($ 13)

I give them 5 stars because of red ale and hazelnut brown, which recently beat out Big Boss’ s Bad Penny as my favorite beer. So smooth, dark, and sexy. Better than a spoonful of nutella. Also, my friends play music here. Love to see bands and food trucks, and enjoy the porch.

A lot of great food trucks like Size Matters BBQ and KC hot dogs are showing up here at River Rat to feed the hungry boozers ! Also they have a lot of live music and late night comedy shows at the brewery now. With the Stone Bill being passed I expect River Rat will have more new beers to try and maybe do some bottling so we can take our own ales to other states so they might try our kick ass beers themselves. Get off the couch and support your local brewery!

A local brewery and watering hole for the locals. The best thing that has been popping up across the nation.
Was in town for business and needed somewhere to hang and pass time. It is nice to find a local hometown brewery that has a tap room to go in hang and relax.
Walked into a very nice, relaxing taproom that had a bar-​top area and several high-​tops and tables. Great environment…
Started off with the Sampler/​Flight in order to have a taste of all their brews. Unfortunately for me, they ran out of the real nice sampler plates because the brewery was pretty busy during my visit and they were all distributed to other customers.
I was impressed by the Monck’s Corner Abbey Ale, this was by far my fave! Very smooth and tasty. It had the perfect combination of hoppiness and bitterness that kept you wanting more sip after sip.
I’m an IPA connoisseur, but for some reason I really didn’t like their IPA. The IPA was fairly bitter, I think the IBUs are decently high, in the initial and lagging sip… but it had a great nose!
The only issue I had…
The way they served the beer. I ordered a couple of more goblets of the Abbey Ale. But only had the goblet half filled… the rest… HEAD. Both times.
This brewery has great potential, especially because it is new and up and coming. It has some great brews and a great environment.
I wish this business great luck in their future endeavors because I think hometown breweries are a hit across the nation nowadays.