Military medevac pilot on new mission in Rock Hill – opening the city’s new brewery

When deciding on a name for his new brewery, Joshua Williams says he took inspiration from his last job – flying a medevac aircraft in the military.

The newest brewery in Rock Hill – Dust Off Brewing Company, co-owned by Williams and David Grassi – is set to open Sept. 21.

Williams said “dust off” is the call sign for any deployed military medevac aircraft. He was a medevac pilot for five years and recently retired from the military.

Now he wants to make a community gathering place, a designated “third place” for Rock Hill residents after home and work.

“You want a community gathering to be your third place,” he said. “So that was kind of my business plan, to show that we’re going to bring the community together.”

Dust Off Brewing is opening at 130 W. White Street Suite A. The brewery will host an opening day event from 3 to 11 p.m. Sept 21.

Williams said the brewery doesn’t have a kitchen, but will host food trucks.

He said he’s lived in Rock Hill since he was 15 – about 20 years total – and is excited to see the area grow.

He said he’s most excited for Knowledge Park development and for the planned sports complex.

“It’s huge,” he said. “You’re looking at having 5,000 people in town just for (the sports complex) every weekend once that’s open. So that’s going to be insane for us. I just love everything that’s going on over here. To me, this building is the apex of everything that’s going on over here.”

And the brewery will be open to the whole family. Dust Off Brewing is dog and kid-friendly, Williams said.

“We’re just trying to open something up that people will like,” he said. “Somewhere nice to go to and hang out.”

This story was originally published August 29, 2018 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Military medevac pilot on new mission in Rock Hill – opening the city’s new brewery."