CLEMSON, S.C. (WSPA) – Fall officially begins in the early morning hours of September 23, but Fall football is well underway.

If your rooting interest leans orange, Clemson’s first brewery is ready for you and it’s located in the Patrick Square development.

Bryon Leggett and Bobby Congdon opened Kite Hill Brewing in July of 2021. Bryon said the process took a while.

“We spent two years looking for a location. We had looked at Patrick Square once early in that process, and then we came back after it was a little more developed and there was more going on here.”

The brewery’s name comes from their time as Clemson students, working at the radio station. 

“The transmitter was on Kite Hill and so we both spent some time out there, I did the engineering work there for a while. We were looking for a name that was not Tiger Blood Brewing but was a name that Clemson people could recognize.”

As you might expect, it’s a place where you can watch Clemson football or other Clemson sports. 

Whether it’s for live music or if you want to have an outdoor group function, they’ve got a nice spacious beer garden waiting for you. 

16 beers and seltzers are on tap. Kite Hill rotates through about 60 beers a year. 

Bryon notes that Frequency Modulated, their flagship IPA, is always available. 

“We try to have a little bit of everything so that somebody can come in here and there’s something they’re going to like.”

In the two-plus years they’ve been open, Kite Hill has been building a close relationship with their Clemson neighbors. 

“We do a couple things with Clemson Community Care which we’re really happy to support. And then the Green Crescent Trail, they do some fundraisers out here. We’ve done some stuff with the Clemson One Foundation, we let them auction off a chance to do a brewery tour and a tasting with our brewer.”

They have held numerous other fundraisers at the brewery.

“We try to keep it as local as we can. We intentionally want to be a part of this community, and so the resources we have to support those efforts we want to keep in the community as well.”

A community mapped in the brewery. 

“So this is the genius of my business partner Bobby, but he had this vision to put this big topo map back behind the bar.”

“We want to create this inclusive community gathering space. We want people to talk to strangers, their neighbors, and when we see those things going on, it’s great.” 

Enjoy responsibly.