A Pennsylvania brewery known for such beers as Good Vibes and Voodoo Love Child will soon bring its funky flair to Grand Strand taps.
Voodoo Brewing Co. plans to welcome a Murrells Inlet franchise in October and a Myrtle Beach location in early 2024. The new pubs, which don’t brew on site but offer beer from Voodoo’s Pennsylvania brewery, mark the latest addition to the Grand Strand’s growing craft beer scene.
“They want you to create the vibe,” said Mike Dapolite, the Murrells Inlet Voodoo franchise owner. “So it’s wood, it’s barrels. Their signature thing is tables made out of pallets. … Same colors, same attitude.”
The hippie aesthetic is a key part of the Voodoo brand, which bills itself as focused on “crafting the best beers and dankest food you’ve ever tasted.”
The staple Voodoo beers run the gamut from West Coast IPAs and traditional American lagers to sour ales and hard seltzers. There are also seasonal offerings and “spontaneous releases,” according to Voodoo’s website.
The Murrells Inlet pub will be at 3453 U.S. Highway 17 Business in the former home of a seafood market. The Myrtle Beach location is planned for Broadway at the Beach near Dave and Buster’s.
Founded in Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 2005, Voodoo didn’t open its first tap room until 2012 but quickly expanded in Pennsylvania. Franchises now operate in states across the country, including Colorado, Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee.
Voodoo arrived in South Carolina last year with the opening of a pub in Fountain Inn, a town on the southern edge of Greenville County. Murrells Inlet and Myrtle Beach will be the second and third franchises in the Palmetto State, though the company is considering at least three other South Carolina cities for expansion.
“South Carolina has great demographics to support our pubs,” said Tony Lang, the Voodoo franchise group’s chief marketing officer, in an email. “South Carolina also embodies an entrepreneurial spirit which is part of the reason we are finding great franchise partners in the state.”