Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Burgess.
Hi Scott, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I first went to Bamberg, Germany, as a University of South Carolina exchange student in 1993 and found a place—and a culture—that would shape the rest of my life. I returned to Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship and ultimately lived there for nearly a decade, falling particularly in love with Franconia’s beer, bierkellers, and deeply rooted traditions. Back home, I spent years trying to recreate those beers, brewing the same recipes over and over in a friend’s garage and returning regularly to Bamberg to learn more. In 2015, that obsession became Bierkeller: first, as beer brewed under contract, then as pop-up biergartens along Columbia’s riverfront that began drawing 1000s of people, and eventually as a permanent brewery, bierhall, restaurant, and riverfront biergarten.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Bierkeller began as a very small operation, brewing under contract and building a following through pop-up biergartens, and for years we were essentially trying to grow while producing as much beer as our limited capacity allowed. The transition to a permanent home brought a different set of challenges: primarily the huge learning curve of turning what had been a relatively simple brewery and event concept into a full-time brewery, restaurant, and biergarten. There have been plenty of mistakes and plenty of moments when things were much harder than they appeared from the outside. But the common thread has been persistence—trying to learn from what didn’t work, adapt without losing sight of what made Bierkeller special in the first place, and keep moving forward.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Bierkeller Brewing Company LLC?
Bierkeller is really about much more than beer. We are hyper-focused on the beer, food, traditions, and culture of Germany—particularly Franconia and the area around Bamberg, where I lived and where the idea for Bierkeller was born. From the beginning, we’ve brewed exclusively traditional German styles using traditional ingredients and methods, and we’ve never been particularly interested in chasing trends. That same philosophy extends to the food, the long communal tables, the glassware and ceramic mugs, the festivals, and even the way the beer is served. We want the experience to feel less like visiting a typical US brewery and more like discovering a little piece of Germany in Columbia.
What I’m probably proudest of is that people recognize that authenticity. Over the years, Bierkeller has grown from pop-up biergartens along the river into a permanent riverfront brewery, restaurant, bierhall, and biergarten, but the original idea hasn’t really changed. We still travel to Germany, maintain relationships with the people who grow and produce the ingredients we use, and continue learning from the traditions that inspired us in the first place. In a business where there’s always pressure to become something broader or more fashionable, I’m proud that Bierkeller has developed such a strong identity by doing almost the opposite: knowing exactly what we are and trying to do that one thing exceptionally well.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Pretty simple actually. Come drink our beer. Eat some food. Bring your friends. And then come back and do it again. We’re a brewery, not a complicated philanthropic initiative. Beyond that, we love working with people and organizations who have an idea that fits what we do—events, festivals, private parties, cultural collaborations, food, music, soccer, Germany, or anything else that gives us a reasonably defensible excuse to put a bunch of people together at long tables with liters of lagerbier.
And if you really want to support us: tell people about us. Bierkeller was built largely through word of mouth, long before we had a permanent home. We can buy advertising. We can’t buy somebody telling a friend, “You need to go to this weird German place by the river.” That’s always meant more.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bierkellercolumbia.com
- Instagram: @bierkellercolumbia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EsvCkCos2/
