Best Local Beer For the Money
Decatur Metro | April 3, 2013
OK, so most local brews retail for around the same amount, so the “for the money” qualifier here isn’t that apt. But the franchise is “for the money” so we had to tack it onto the tail of this post title. Didn’t realize it was a franchise? Well neither did anyone else, including myself!
Anyway, this should be an interesting topic, since there’s a good amount of pent up passion surrounding local suds. And by local beers, we’re looking for the specific beer, not just the company. So we’re talking Sweetwater IPA or a Red Hare Watership Brown or a Wild Heaven Invocation. ‘K?
And I guess the definition of “local” here is Georgia. But if you want to stretch it up into Western North Carolina, I won’t complain.
Photo courtesy of Atlanta Beer Snob
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My current favorites are Terrapin’s Wake ‘N Bake Coffee Oatmeal Stout and Hopzilla.
We occasionally pick up a can of Jittery Joe’s Terrapin Wake ‘n’ Bake coffee. Starts a Sunday off just right.
Sweetwater “tackle box” 12 pack sampler at $14.99 gets my vote for best local beer value. Sweetwater IPA is now available in 12 packs (but not sure price), this is the probably the best value if singling out a particular beer.
+1 for the tackle box as best bargain.
Best beer if I had to pick just one:
O’Dempsey’s Beer To Die For – Your Black Heart Russian Imperial Stout
Best beer in a pitcher:
Sweetwater 420
Best named beer that is actually drinkable (also best Growler beer ever):
Monday Night Brewing Co – Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale
Best beer that I wish was still in production:
Highland Brewing (Asheville) – Thunderstruck Coffee Porter
+1 for Monday Night Brewing Co – Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale
Always a good choice:
Terrapin Hop Karma BIPA
Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy (extra goodness in the barrel aged version)
Sweetwater Festive Ale
he said beer…
Way to get us off of school costs and taxes!
For those of us who are so revenue-negative that we don’t invest heavily in local bars and breweries, when can we do Best Local Pedicure for the Money? Or at least Best Local Coffee for the Money?
Good point! We can definitely expand the franchise.
Wild Heaven’s Ode to Mercy is divine.
The Monday Night Brewing folks make very good brews as well (and I love the shape of their glasses). I like their Drafty Kilt
I will third the praise for Ode to Mercy. It’s absolutely my local fave from the moment the weather turns cold in the fall to the onset of Georgia heat in the spring. Which means I’ve got a couple good weekends left to get some in, then I’ll have to move on to something a little lighter.
Wild Heaven either Ode to Mercy or Invocation wins it for me, too.
And I just tried their “Spring” beer Let There Be Light, quite good.
For after-yard-yard-sittin-on-the-porch beer, you can’t top 420.
The world of beer overwhelms me. I need a sensei.
Terrapin Rye has been my favorite local brew for years. Best served with homemade pizza on my front porch.
Considering that Kroger routinely marks down Sweetwater beers, I would give my vote to the IPA and 420.
Wild Heaven’s Eschaton. One of the best Belgian style quadruple ales I’ve ever had – I cannot believe it is brewed in Georgia. They do not seem to make this regularly nor sell it in bottles, but when they do make it, you can find it on tap locally (I’ve had it at the Square Pub, BrickStore, as well as the Avondale Beer Growler).
For locally produced and usually available, I seem to have common interests with others here:
- Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy
- Monday Night Drafty Kilt
- Terrapin’s Wake-n-Bake
For some reason most of Sweetwater’s brews don’t excite me (I’m just not an IPA/hop fan when that is the primary focus), but I really like their Happy Ending Imperial Stout.
“For the money,” my favorite day-in, day-out beer is Sweetwater’s Exodus Porter.
But for a splurge there’s nothing, absolutely nothing, beats a growler of Eschaton. We go right for the finish.
Ode To Mercy does indeed ROCK! But “for the money” has to go to almost everything that Sweetwater pumps out. Regardless of them being local, they are my favorite beer company in the United States right now. Happy Ending is the only brew I’ve had from Sweetwater that was a bit too strong (but still good!).
I foresee many Red Hare Long Day Lagers in my future this summer. Much love for Ode to Mercy and Invocation, draft over bottle.
“draft over bottle”
If there any beer that you prefer in a bottle?
I am not sure what you high-falutin’ beer connoisseurs be talkin’ ’bout, but doesn’t Budweiser still have a brewery in Cartersville? I prefer my Bud to be local.
All kidding aside, it is hard to go wrong to Sweetwater. I have purchased many of their six-pack Hop Tours lately. 420 is still one of my favorites.
We sure do got lots of rich ass, fancy beer drinkin’ snooty folk around here, don’t we? Maybe if you all just drank PBR and High Life like me, you could afford to send your kids to private schools and keep my taxes from going through the damn roof
I should have taken bets on how long it would take you to make a PBR comment.
I’ve thought for a while that Sweetwater’s best(non-specialty brew) beer is their IPA. And the price is always one of the lowest for any IPA at the grocery/beer/liquor store.
Terrapin’s Hopsecutioner is good too, but I like Sweetwater’s IPA flavor more and I think Hopsecutioner is usually a little bit pricier.
Sweetwater Roadtrip for me. Freddy used to live in this ‘hood and brought kegs to our block parties.
My favorite local beer is Ezekiel’s Wheel Pale Ale from Kennesaw’s nano-brewery Burnt Hickory. They haven’t started bottling yet but it occasionally turns up at the growler stores, the Thinking Man, and BSP. Their Cannon Dragger IPA is hoppy fun, too.
Since the New Belgium people are building a facility in Asheville, can we include them? I’ll pick up a twelve-pack of Fat Tire Amber Ale in cans when it goes on sale at Publix for $14 and keep it for the road trip cooler. That’s what accompanied us to Doo-Nanny last weekend and it made a few friends quite happy, even though I prefer something hoppier.
If we’re doing mani/pedi salons next week, let’s at least only mention ones that are BYOB.
For the money, 12 packs beat 6 packs, and Terrapin Hopsecutioner is available in 12 pack so that’s high on my list. You can also find good deals on 6 packs of Sweetwater’s LowRyeder and IPA, which are fine beers as well. I haven’t seen those in 12 pack, but I’ll keep an eye out.
Yeah, Terrapin Wake N Bake and Ode to Mercy. If you think your school taxes are high try private schools like Woodward or Paideia. Then compare programs, colleges students are accepted to, SAT scores, you name it. City Schools is a bargain. Do the research and see. The reason our housing Market didn’t tank like the titanic…. Great Schools. Or you can move to Gwinnett and pay lower taxes, but your kid can be in a high school with 3200 other kids.
This comment is totally bizarre out of context!
That’s Number Wang!
AGREE
on the beers- my 2 local faves. Actually they are probably my favorites anywhere. I feel like I need a knife and fork to drink them!
My vote:
Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy
Terrapin Hopsecutioner
I’m a sucker when I see either of those on tap.