SweetWater Brewing Company

 

Stopped here for lunch, good burger. The beer was solid but nothing to go out of your way to seek out. A lot of the trendy styles done at a basic level. Massive space with yard games and porch outside. Large rectangular 360 bar with plenty of tables around it, sleek. Service was friendly and accommodating, but were not beer people. A gateway brewery that is a fun space

Day 3 Atlanta beer & baseball trip with the unusual suspects. Phillies/Braves in a few hours; we are literally pre-gaming the game at Sweetwater. Located not exactly near to where the ball park is but neither this or the ball park are near where we’re staying so get on the road and deal with it. Large standalone in Industrial Areaville that selfishly wasn’t open yesterday when we showed up. OG Sweetwater, ‘figgin you’ve got to go put eyes on it when in town…

Large open room with a massive rectangular bar in the center; concrete topped, rock face base with a wave design in the negative space grout, and a railroad tie foot bar. Seating for 18 on just 2 sides around (the 3rd side faces the kitchen, and the 4th side’s for ‘get your beer, then stand clear’ service). Center concrete topped bar island holds a blue piping tower with 24 logo handles on both sides, with glassware stacked countered just below and crowls tucked behind. Small wood boards above listing tap selections (beer, style, ABV,) in 3 rows, and flats atop and on the ends. Crimper & slushie machines countered and cooler space below. Cool wood plank framing on iron beams overhang here.

Concrete floor seemingly previously tiled, black ceiling with plank lengths, drop pan lamps, spinnys, & ducts. Walls of large paneled windows 3 sides around. The rear wall with a brick & I-beam trim offering brew room views, and the front wall of roll up doors over the patio & biergarten space below. (we’ll get to that). Otherwise, brick wall space around the merch room in the corner off the entrance and where the open kitchen lives on the far end with music, events, & happy hours chalked above its length. I-beam uprights about the room with mounted lanterns or flat screens or both. Drop lanterns over the inner seating, track spots in the plank lengths, and pan lamps in rows around the room. 2 dozen tables high, low, long, shared, & barrels about the room.

And then outside, seating along the deck on bar counter sections for just shy of 3 dozen all the way down the rail, and then 2 dozenish tables in the seating pen below umbrella’d up or not, some around Adirondack chairs, some picnics, and some shorty squares. A row of trees stands in the seating pen, and bushes bushing on the end. Slight step up enclosure on the other end for band play. Flats out there mounted for the looking at. It’s a good outdoor space.

23 beers up including the “Oh that’s right, they own Green Flash & Alpine now, woohoo!” offerings. It’s a good mix albeit roughly 2/3 of it in camp hoppy and the other 1/3 not so (420, Extra Pale Ale, 5.7%; Blue, Wheat Ale with Blueberry, 4.6%; Hop Pop, Pale Ale, 6.7%; High Light, Lo-cal Easy IPA, 4.2%; Georgia Coast, Blonde IPA, 6.4%; G13, Hazy IPA, 6%; Goin’ Coastal, IPA with Pineapple, 6.1%; IPA, 6.3%; Swaapse collab, Hazy Belgian IPA, collab with Kaapse, 7%; H.A.Z.Y. Citra Wheat, Single Hop American Wheat Ale, 4.8%; H.A.Z.Y. IPA, DDH Hazy IPA, 6.2%; H.A.Z.Y. 710, Hazy IPA, 5.4%; H.A.Z.Y. DIPA, 8.5%; Green Coast West Coast IPA, 7%; Alpine Duet, IPA, 7%; Alpine Nelson, IPA, 7% Broken Coast, Lager, 5.5%; Ice Cold Phatty, Dry Imperial Lager, 7%; Smoked Out Beech Bum, Rauchbier, 5.5%; Busy Belgian, Session Belgian Ale, 4.5%; 25th Anniversary, BBA Imperial Stout with Dark Cherry, 11%; Laser Bean, Espresso Vanilla Imperial Stout, 11%; Shifting Gears Radler, Citrus Radler, 5%).

I’m just drinking 5oz tasters so I can get at more things (420, Extra Pale Ale, they call it a West Coast Extra Pale Ale, and yes, it checks those boxes, but grassy & herbal, and kind of light; Blue, Wheat Ale with Blueberry, lightly boo, not cloying and not too sweet, pleasant and easy drinking; IPA, piney, citrus, it’s a solid IPA; Broken Coast, Lager, a little bit of hoppiness to it, not bad, not great; Alpine Duet, just lovely, same as it ever was; Alpine Nelson, tragic, what did you do to this beer?) Alpine Duet, IPA, & Blue for the wins. Would have liked to have gotten into that Session Belgian Ale, Rauchbier, maybe the BBA Stout with cherries, and some of the non-hazy-nonsense IPAs but we were tight on time.

Some good beers here, glad we made it back on the heels of finding it closed the day before (even though they were posted as being open). Yep, they've got a kitchen, but we didn't get to it as generally our days start with large cripping breakfasts. Note: There are no puppies allowed inside. I don’t know why I took note of that but I did, and now you know, too. Definitely worth the visit.

Took the standard tour. Guide was really hard to follow. The facility was rather run down, dingy and pretty disappointing. The tap room about the same with nothing special in the way of a selection. Service was good. Their beer is so cheap when on Bogo it’s hard not to drink the best of their offerings, all/any of the Hazys and the Mangos.

Sweetwater: how have I not reviewed you until now? Once upon a time, this was pretty much the only game in town. On Friday nights when I was an undergrad and we had to take a “tour” which came with a pint glass and six tickets, the entire industrial park would be packed with cars for patrons of SweetWater. There are more brewery options in Atlanta now, laws have relaxed, and SweetWater even sold out, but this place remains a popular beer destination in Atlanta. Lots of options: indoor bar, second bar upstairs, outside garden. Long tap list of the house beers, few of which are ever beyond average-in-style. The crowds are still pretty festive, and bar service is pretty standard. Atlanta has come a long way in the past 15 years, but SweetWater will always have its place in the local scene.

 

 

I’ve been drinking their beer since the started brewing beer but I just visited the cornerstone of Atlanta craft beer. Well worth it. The space is fun and the beer was great. I can’t wait to visit again. I don’t know what took me so long

The newly-expanded Taproom, with 24 taps at the large rectangular bar, plenty of other seating, big windows into the brewery and outside, and with a patio and beer garden now shaded/shielded (from afternoon sun and light industrial/warehouse neighborhood) by rapidly growing trees and other screening vegetation, is filled with people and (outside only) their pooches digging the scene, the beer and the limited but excellent food from the newly-opened kitchen.

The food is pub bites, salads and sandwiches, but excellent. The smoked corned beef on the sandwich by the same name is the best I have ever had outside of Montreal. Only quibble? The sandwich could use a little more of it. But again, in a town with a lot of breweries practically none of which offer food other than an occasional truck, SweetWater stands out.

SweetWater’s beers speak for themselves. All styles, seasonals and series are on tap, and there is a nice selection of reasonably-priced cellared bottles.

Service was more than adequate, although several bartenders were prone to get caught up in extended transactions with friends and acquaintances.

Tours depart the bar area regularly, but I did not join one. Parking is limited (with a valet option), but there is some street parking, and SweetWater is centrally located for ride services.

I will go back.

 

 

The place is cool and the people great. The beer selection is small and their beers are so so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A real landmark brewery, that you need to visit no matter what. I was here on the last weekend of the crazy "Taprooms can serve pints, you pay for a tour and get a taster" laws in Georgia. I enjoyed the taproom but could've used a few more options. I've always never really like their beer, no matter the style. This is still a can't miss.

Not my favorite beer biter.

 

Visited Atlanta a few weeks ago, and this was definitely a must stop for me. The location is a little hard to find and definitely hard to reach (impossible) without a car. Their hours are also very short, but the place was completely packed.

The tasting room has a great vibe and a ton of people, and their tour is a really good value (six 6-oz pours of your choice + a tour for $12). Most of the beers are good, and their Dank Tank really produces some interesting beers, though it could be a hit or miss kind of thing. The tours were very casual and informative.

Would have appreciated if they extended their hours a little bit, but otherwise I have no complaints. Would definitely be back if I had the chance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ordered an IPA at a sports bar that doesn't have IPA on tap. They brought me this APA which is surprisingly hoppy. Its pretty good.

I was actually extremely surprised by the selection on-hand at Sweetwater. I expected the usuals but when I visited they actually offered 4 brewery only exclusives which were very good. The service was fast, but the bartenders were not friendly at all and some just looked annoyed to be working. And the place was SOOOOOO crowded. Granted it was a Saturday afternoon, and I expected a crowd, but it was much worse than I expected.

 

 

Sweet water beer company is a very solid company with great tasting beers . The newest one I had was going coastal an IPA with pineapple . Great beer .

 

 

What a great place! For 10 bucks you get a 12oz/pint glass and six samples of beer on tap on the serving room. The tours are short but very cool! The vibe was great, lots of laughter and smiles. It was very loud inside and out because it was the Friday evening mega crowd. The beer selection wasn't all that great but they just incorporated a new small batch program that only brews a 15bbl batch of brew by the brewers there. This small batch is never bottled and is only sold on tap at the brewery, once it's gone it is gone. Overall an awesome place with good vibes and great beer for an amazing price!

 

 

Great beer, band, and vibe. Informative, impressive tour. Free parking.

Fun place to hang out. Had about 8 of their beers on tap. Tour was really fun, had a great guide. GA brewery laws suck so you have to "buy a tour" but you get a glass and tokens for 6 pours- 6oz each. However if you want more, you just "buy another tour." The system isn't the brewery's fault, but does suck compared to those in AL, where you just buy on demand.