Image by Flickr user jetalone

The Charleston Beer Exchange posse will throw two brews on the growler station at 5 p.m. for Rare Beer Tuesday, both of which are based on stuff you normally eat rather than drink.

First up is a super-limited, draft-only release from San Diego's Ballast Point Brewing called Old Barmy Ale.  According to the brewers, "barmy" was a term used on old sailing ships referring to the foam that developed on top of fermenting fruit.  Keeping that in mind, they brewed this puppy with apricots, as well as caramelized honey.  You can blame the big ol' 10.7% ABV on all that sugar. B+, 94.

Second is a brand spanking new beer from our hometown heroes at COAST Brewing.  Bull's Bay Oyster Stout is fairly self-explanatory -- it's a stout made from local Bull's Bay oysters.  More specifically, it was brewed with oysters in the kettle, and later even run through oyster shells for maximum effect.  This might sound like some wacky new concoction, but oyster stouts have a long history going way back to merry old England around WWII, where the popular combination of drinking stout while eating oysters led to someone finally combining the two. 6.5% ABV.

Charleston Beer Exchange parties all the time at 14 Exchange Street downtown.