What Are Your Favorite Georgia Beers?
Decatur Metro | July 10, 2014 | 11:35 am
There are a lot of new breweries in Georgia, even in the past year. Both full-on bottlers and brewpubs. Does the old guard of Sweetwater or Terrapin still hold your allegiances or has a newbie won your affection?
If you need a list to help jog your memory, here’s BeerAdvocate’s latest brewery/brewpub list for Atlanta.
Wild Heaven photo courtesy of Wild Heaven, Three Taverns photo courtesy of Chet
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Three Taverns Night in Brussels IPA — proud to say it’s a Decatur product.
Seconded
Glad to have all the local breweries but I’m not a big fan of most Belgian styles. Sweetwater still makes the best IPA in the south and their new pilsner is a winner too.
+1
Three Taverns then Sweetwater and Monday Night. Orpheus is making a good impression early, but it’s still too early to tell. Blue Tarp has a couple of good ones, but I wish I could find them in cans/bottles.
Definitely a seasonal beer, but if you haven’t tried Wild Heaven’s new saison White Blackbird, you should. Best saison I’ve had.
Staying local, I like Blue Tarp’s Hopsided.IPA.
Of course you can’t go wrong with Sweetwater or Terrapin, and I occasionally pick up a six pack of Hoplanta.
Second the White Blackbird. Tried it at the brewery, picked up a growler a couple days later. Good drinkin’.
I had some at the brewery opening weekend, but they were having problems with foam so I don’t think I got a good sample. Looking forward to trying it again at Brickstore or somewhere with a proper pour.
I’m with Doug, although I’d put Monday night above Sweetwater, and Red Brick would make the list. So:
-Three Taverns
-Monday Night
-Red Brick/Sweetwater
+ Definitely a fan of Eyepatch.
Wild Heaven. Civilization (limited availability) and Eschaton (92 rating from beer advocate) are near the top of my list of best beers I have ever had.
Although I sure do like Fünk Weisse from blue tarp on a hot day too.
Gotta be Billy Beer…
http://www.drunkard.com/issues/55/images/billy-beer-2.jpg
1. Wild Heaven Eschaton: A great quad. Looking forward to its wider availability now that their brewery is up and running.
2. Jekyll’s Hop Dang Diggity: Very clean. Close to being a session IPA (for a big guy like me anyway).
3. Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy: One of the stronger brown ales.
4. Monday Night Brewing’s Drafty Kilt: Scottish Ale, similar to the Ode to Mercy.
5. JailHouse Mugshot IPA: Nothing special, but I like it better than the Sweetwater or the Eyepatch IPA.
I tend to vary and like seasonals, so
1. Three Taverns’ Feest Noel
2. Max Lager’s Imperial Mocha Oatmeal Stout
3. Orpheus’ Atalanta Plum Saison
4. Moon River’s Irish Stout
5. Blue Tarp’s Fünk Weisse
6. Terrapin’s Maggie’s Peach Farmhouse Ale
7. Burnt Hickory’s Big Shanty Graham Cracker Stout
8. Creature Comforts’ Bibo Pilsner.
9. Cherry Street has a slew of good stuff right now, including a watermelon blonde and They’ve gone to plaid – a wee heavy with tart cherries.
I want to party with you, cowboy. If the two of us together, forget it.
Peter in Decatur’s list tells me I need to break out of my IPA rut. I haven’t had a single one of those beers.
We’ve come a long way since the days when Sweetwater 420 and Dogwood Pale were the class of Georgia brewing…
A lot of people knock Sweetwater 420, but I’ve always found it to be the perfect session beer. I moved here about 12 years ago, and it’s still my go-to whenever I’m in doubt.
Not disagreeing — it’s a fine product. But it’s no longer the only game in town. Not by a long shot.
Keith F: Name the place, I’ll be there!
brianc: For what it’s worth, apart from Max Lager’s, Moon River (Savannah), and Cherry St, I’ve seen or had all of these beers at Thinking Man, so they’re around.
The Feest Noel was so popular and limited last year, they’re almost doubling this year’s production; look for it in November. It’s one of the best US-brewed Christmas beers I’ve had. Max Lager’s IMOS comes out around March. The head brewer, JR (bald, red beard), has great stories about his years brewing / working in Boston, he knows Jim Koch, etc. The Wrecking Bar in L5P can be fun, too, especially during their anniversary party, which just took place with some 25-30 special beers on draft. Their outside bar reminds me of something you’d see in Portland, like Amnesia Brewing. Cherry St is nice after a day on the lake (they’re opening a tasting room next to the restaurant soon and will be increasing distribution in Decatur). Have fun!
Love Wrecking Bar’s atmosphere and food, but haven’t been a big fan of their beers so far.
Speaking of craft beer, Google “Synek”. Being billed as Keurigs for beer.
That is one smooth idea and marketing pitch. Apart from variations in individual states’ regarding legally filling the bags, the only thing I wonder about is keeping the lines inside the machine clean, e.g. bars have theirs cleaned every 30 days. Otherwise, awesome!
I would like to see a dual tap machine. You would get the benefits of a kegerator but with smaller “kegs” you also get the benefits of a growler – you can always try something new and frequently rotate your selections. Assuming of course the machine works as advertised.
pastemagazine[dot]com/articles/2014/07/synek-personal-tap-house-coming-soon.html
My brother just sent me the link for this. Would filling those bags be legal under Georgia’s growler laws? Isn’t there something about labeling required for growlers?
Monday Night’s Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale is hella Good. Also + however many to Wild Heaven Invocation.
1) Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy
2) Terrapin Hopsecutioner
3) Sweetwater 420
I still think Sweetwater’s consistent quality keeps them as the top brewer in Georgia, and their Festive Ale is a damn fine Christmas beer.
I’d probably put Monday Night above Terrapin at this point, followed by Jekyll, Wild Heaven and Three Taverns. What I’ve had of Orpheus has been great so far.
One brewer we’ll never see on this list: Park Tavern. Their beer should be amazing, and yet they squander that beautiful view of Midtown with lousy food and awful beer.
Am digging Terrapin’s Recreation Ale this summer, but Wild Heaven’s Ode to Mercy is my go-to (really enjoyed their Eschaton too, the one occasion that I tried it). I also like Red Brick’s Dog Days, when I can get it.
I’m more of a spirits girl, meself. Give me a good old Lime Rickey on a hot day!!
Good to see Burnt Hickory get some love above. I can’t wait for Scott to expand capacity so we get to see it more often on this side of town.
What about Terrapin’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Porter – Liquid Bliss? Surprisingly balanced and not too peanut-butter-y, but the flavor is there. Best I’ve had “local” in a while, though it could stand to have a little more bite to it. Maybe make an imperial version of it?
Did you see the email yesterday from Terrapin that they will be releasing an Imperial Pumpkin Pie Porter this year? I used to like pumpkin ales, then became indifferent, but have found I like the darker versions (porter, stout). Though their Pumpkinfest is tasty, too.
Salivating madly, as we speak!
Best Safe Bet: Sweetwater 420 – this is a damn fine beer, and it’s our “local go-to.” We should be ashamed to be so fortunate.
Best Seasonal/Limited: Monday Night Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt – this is arguably my favorite beer I’ve ever had (and according to Untappd I’ve had almost 200 this year alone). I love barrel-aged beers, and this one was practically perfect.
Best Overall Roster: Twain’s – no matter what style you’re into, they’re gonna have SOMETHING on tap that you’ll dig.
Twain’s has some tasty brew.