With Fireforge, the Cendrowskis transformed a home brew hobby into a bustling brewery
Fireforge Crafted Beer cofounders, co-owners, and coconspirators Brian and Nicole Cendrowski are clearly up to something, and it is not about them.
“We created Fireforge to be a community gathering space, and it has become that,” Brian says of the business he and Nicole launched in mid-2018. “People just want to gather here, so, in a sense, we’ve done what we set out to do.”
But do not misunderstand—Fireforge is all about their award-winning craft beer, the gastropub-quality food, and the attentive, knowledgeable staff.
“We have the best Reuben I think anyone’s ever had,” Brian, a former software engineer, says. “Sure, that’s a bold statement. But it’s a bold Reuben.”
And it’s a bold concept, growing a 10,000-square-foot biergarten beneath downtown Greenville’s ever-expanding concrete canopy. And yet, it’s working.
The L-shaped place at the corner of East Washington and North Church streets was once home to W.N. Watson Tire & Automotive (which has since moved). “Our [real estate] broker, John Parker of Broadstreet Partners, used to get his oil changed here,” Brian says.
The place has high ceilings and truck-sized spaces that lend an airy, rustic feel to the indoor/outdoor space.
On a recent fall day, a gaggle of cyclists rolls in, taking seats at an outdoor picnic table and noshing on pretzels shipped from a family bakery in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.
Just inside the open-air taproom, downtown professionals cluster around pub tables, quietly enjoying craft pilsners, lagers, schwarzbiers, and kölsches with conversation-starter names like Space Force and He Ain’t Hefe, He’s My Brother.
What’s Happening at Fireforge
The emcee dryly reminds everyone to grab a card and get ready—it’s bingo night at Fireforge. It’s clear that fun is a big part of Fireforge’s formula, as is a healthy slate of excuses to bring people together. Oktoberfest is a huge draw, of course. “It’s our biggest day of the year,” Brian says.
Fireforge’s first-ever Polish Fest happened in spring 2023, Nicole says over a pint of Casual Peyote IPA. “We both have Polish backgrounds.”
“We made our own kielbasa . . . and sold out in an hour and fifteen minutes,” Brian says. “I had to go to Costco for more.”
Gasparilla Pirate Invasion in January is Fireforge’s answer to the mid-winter blues, Brian says, a concept borrowed from the couple’s experience living in Tampa Bay, Florida. “January is such a slow, depressing time around here,” Brian says. “We decided to spice things up. It’s like pirate Mardi Gras.”
“We’ve learned over the years the importance of creating fun and new experiences to celebrate,” Nicole says. “So we’ve started these traditions, these big events throughout the year that started small, but continue to grow.”
And behind it all? A love of brewing good beer. “We’re really big on overthinking drinking,” Nicole says.
There are 20 taps at Fireforge that offer a well-rounded, ever-changing lineup of styles, Brian says. They also offer a seasonal wine list and make their own hard seltzer in-house, flavored to order.
“Tapping into that creative outlet keeps us coming back,” Nicole says. “Bringing something new—a new beer, a new event—it’s what fuels us.”
It Starts at Home
Brian Cendrowski did not always love beer and, in fact, intensely disliked it. But when a friend introduced him to Sierra Nevada pale ale in his 20s, he knew he’d just been “drinking the wrong beer,” as the story goes.
His appreciation for beer grew into a home-brewing hobby. He says he brewed his first batch around 2007.
“After about three years, I was probably batting about .500 [in terms of] whether a batch was good or bad,” he says. “But some were really good. That’s when we started getting serious about it—around 2010, 2011.”
Seven years later, Fireforge was born. Cendrowski says for the novice, it’s important to know that for beer to be “beer” it must have four ingredients: water, some type of cereal grain (barley, wheat, rye, for example), hops, and yeast.
But in Greenville, Cendrowski says it’s the water that makes a difference.
“Greenville’s water is excellent for brewing,” Brian says. “It’s soft. There’s nothing in it so it’s almost like a blank canvas.”
Make your own
Want to try your hand at home brewing?
Grapes & Grains lets clients choose a recipe and make beer with a brewmaster overseeing the process. Go home with two cases of your own beer. grapesandgrains.com, 864.236.5676.
Meet other budding home brewers at S.C. Upstate Brewers Anonymous, or SCUBA. They meet the second Thursday of each month at Grapes & Grains/Shoeless Brewing Co. scuba.beer, scupstatebrewers@gmail.com.
