Garrett Mitchell
Jon Aylestock, the brewmaster for Wild Ace Pizza and Pub, stands in front of some of his brewing equipment.
Garrett Mitchell
Jon Aylestock presents a ceremonial toast for becoming the first brewmaster in downtown Greer at Wild Ace Pizza and Pub.
Now Aylestock, who began brewing his own craft beer seven years ago, is bringing his signature creations to the restaurant that he helped found. It is the first craft beer that was created in Greer to be served downtown.
"We thought it would be cool to be a producer of beer here at Wild Ace so I decided to go ahead and learn and get the process started," said Aylestock. "Seven years later we started."
Wild Ace obtained its South Carolina BrewPub license in November and Aylestock got to work. His first two beers, Downtown Honey Nut Brown and Bombshell Blonde, were unveiled at Wild Ace last week.
"(Downtown Brown) is a honey pecan but brown ale," said Aylestock. "It's an English style brown ale that's going to be light in body but it's still 6.5 percent alcohol and is full-flavored. I use local honey and local pecans in it. The pecans came from Inman and the honey came from Taylors. It's got three different hops and five different malts."
"The Bombshell Blonde is 4.5 percent alcohol and is a very light beer, light in color, light in body to appease the light beer drinker.” Aylestock said. “It only has one hop in it and four different malts."
VanderBerghe said, "It brings a new element of excitement for both our customers and our employees," VandenBerghe said. "We have always tried to offer new recipes in the kitchen and now we get to offer that same flavor experience behind our bar.
“As we develop new beers covering various beer styles, it will always allow us something new to offer our guests,” VanderBerghe said.
Aylestock said he is working on new recipes and is expecting to roll out a new dark Porter beer.
"It's a chocolate coffee oatmeal Porter that is fermenting right now," Aylestock said. "I'll have it ready probably by the end of this week, beginning of next week, and next we'll be doing an IPA (imperial pale ale)."
VandenBerghe said Aylestock’s beers will be offered exclusively at the Greer location. "For now, the beer will stay in the Greer location. The BrewPub license is an on-premise for a single address only.”