Visiting Savannah, GA from Chicago

I posted this in a thread back in November 2015. I considered making a "Guide to Beer in Savannah" thread, but I don't think it is popular enough to warrant it considering other areas in the South Atlantic region are much more well known for the craft beer scene and get many more threads like this one (Asheville, Charleston, Atlanta, Tampa, etc.).

As far as what to pickup that is on the shelf now, Orpheus just released their DIPA for the season, Transmigration of Souls. It is my favorite DIPA coming from a GA brewery at the moment. They also have their new year-round IPA (somewhat NE style) coming out in cans, The Rites. Creature Comforts Athena is pretty easy to find in cans in the Savannah area, but that is it from them other than the occasional keg at a local spot of Bibo, Reclaimed Rye, etc. All three Savannah area breweries have a few year-round can offerings, as well as seasonal bombers. I believe the Terrapin Single-Origin Coffee Stout 4-packs should still be around.

One favorite of many that visit GA from your area of the country is access to Cigar City. We get fresh Jai Alai cans regularly, as well as some Florida Cracker, Invasion, Maduro, Tocobaga Red, etc.

Here is a decent break down of the craft beer scene in Savannah, at least IMO.

Breweries

For breweries, they typically open a few times per week for tours and tastings for a short two to three hour window (I haven't verified these hours lately). For ~$10-15 you can sample up to 36 ounces of beer (per GA law) and in some cases take home some beer. I have honestly not made it to Coastal Empire yet, they just recently expanded their tour hours. Service Brewing has a cool military inspired taproom and typically 6-8 beers on tap. Southbound has a social and more eclectic vibe (IMO) and also typically has 6-8 beers on tap (I believe they now keep their tap list and to go list updated on their website).

Coastal Empire Beer Co.
79 Ross Rd
Savannah, GA 31405
http://coastalempirebeer.com/

Tours / Tastings
Thursday - 5:00PM to 8:00PM
Friday - 5:00PM to 8:00PM
Saturday - 1:00PM to 4:00PM

Service Brewing Co.
574 Indian Rd
Savannah, GA 31401
http://servicebrewing.com/

Tours / Tastings
Thursday - 5:30PM to 7:30PM
Friday - 5:30PM to 7:30PM
Saturday - 2:00PM to 4:00PM

Southbound Brewing Co.
107 E. Lathrop Ave
Savannah, GA 31415
http://southboundbrewingco.com/#

Tours / Tastings
Wednesday - 5:30PM to 7:30PM
Thursday - 5:30PM to 7:30PM
Friday - 5:30PM to 7:30PM
Saturday - 2:00PM to 4:00PM


Brewpubs / Restaurants

Moon River is the only brewpub in town and the food is decent to above average. The beer garden is a great way to enjoy the outdoor weather (assuming it isn't between May to August when it is often miserably hot outside) and a beer brewed in the pub. Crystal Beer Parlor and The Distillery are the best historic district craft beer list / good food combinations (again, IMO). If you want to venture a little farther from downtown then Green Truck Pub is also a good option. There is a World of Beer in Savannah and in Pooler if you are just looking for a large draft list, but neither are often that impressive (they keep their tap list updated on the website and app, so it is easy to check if they have something of interest).

Moon River Brewing Company (Brewpub)
21 W. Bay St
Savannah, GA 31401
http://wordpress.moonriverbrewing.com/

Hours
Sunday to Thursday - 11:00AM to 11:00PM
Friday to Saturday - 11:00AM to 12:00AM

Crystal Beer Parlor
301 W. Jones St
Savannah, GA 31401
http://www.crystalbeerparlor.com/

Hours
Sunday to Thursday - 11:00AM to 10:00PM
Friday to Saturday - 11:00AM to 11:00PM

The Distillery
416 W. Liberty St
Savannah, GA 31401
https://www.facebook.com/DistillerySAV

Hours
Sunday - 12:00PM to 9:00PM
Monday to Thursday - 11:00AM to 12:00AM
Friday to Saturday - 11:00AM to 3:00AM


Bottle Shops

Both Habersham Beverage locations as well as Hops & Barley get the majority of the craft beer market share in the Savannah area.

Habersham Beverage Warehouse
4618 Habersham St
Savannah, GA 31405

7927 Abercorn St
Savannah, GA 31406
http://habershambeverage.com/

Hours
Sunday - 12:30PM to 6:30PM
Monday to Saturday - 9:30AM to 10:00PM

Hops & Barley
412 MLK Jr. Blvd
Savannah, GA 31401
http://hopsandbarleysav.com/

Hours
Sunday - 12:30PM to 5:30PM
Monday - Closed
Tuesday to Thursday - 11:00AM to 8:00PM
Friday to Saturday - 11:00AM to 9:00PM

 

At MRBC, we currently are pouring a Wild Farmhouse, Dry Irish Stout, Oatmeal Brown, IPA, Wit, Porter, Dubbel, and a couple dry hopped Pale Ales. We have 12 guest taps in our Beer Garden, and we're pouring Foothills BA People's Porter, BP Grunion, and a selection of local rotating options from our friends at Southbound, Coastal Empire, and Service.

Shoot me a PM if you want the nickel tour, I'm the sweaty guy behind the glass in the brewhouse.

 

Incredibly helpful! Looking forward to checking out Savannah!

 

Coming in from Chicago as well. Thanks @emr25 for the recommendations. Any chance of finding Creature Comforts in Savannah? (Sorry to be that guy)

 

Southbound was a good place as I visited it last year and I too am from Chicago. IIRC, they are only open on Saturday for just a few hours. They sell you a glass ($10) with tickets for beer tasting. That's all you get and you can't pay cash for more. Thank the crazy GA laws. Maybe 2016 turned out to be better for craft brewers in GA in terms of laws.

 

Sadly, no. There are variations on the tour theme but it's essentially unchanged from your last visit. I know this is a HUGE source of frustration my Georgia buddies and is even more so for the brewers!

 

It's truly frustrating to see how the rest of the country operates and not be able to do the same.

Since my first reply, the GA Craft Brewers Guild and the DoR were able to "reinterpret" the law, and now the local municipalities can allow growler sales from brewpubs. So, currently in Alpharetta and Savannah, you can grab a growler to go. Finally.

 

Yeah that sucks that the laws are so restrictive in GA but I'm glad you can sell growlers now . They changed the law here in VA back in '12 and now brewery's can have tap rooms and not just give out small samples . It's made a huge difference here , lots of new brewery's have opened .

We actually stopped there on the way to Tampa about 2 years ago . Had forgotten the name but we went down to Huna fest and things got kind a crazy that weekend . Had a blast though . I had a great burger and a good IIPA there . Sounds like there are more beer choices now . We liked the place , had a nice vibe to it . The building had some interesting history also . We were surprised when they offered us togo cups for our beers when we were getting ready to leave . You can't do that here .

 

I am heading to Hilton Head for a week beginning on May 7th, and was planning to drive over to Savannah for at least one night, so thank you for this list @emr25 !

How easily obtainable are beers from breweries from different parts of Georgia, such as Burnt Hickory and Orpheus (I saw the Savannah breweries listed above)?

For Creature Comforts, is the best way to track that down via a trade?

(Edit: I went ahead and put up an IP post as well: http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...comforts-ft-ohio-midwest-distribution.412594/)

 

You should be able to find a few different Orpheus cans, Burnt Hickory bottles, Cigar City cans, Terrapin, etc. at any of the bottle shops I listed.

For Creature Comforts trading is probably your only chance, but even then it would take good timing because we don't get Tropicalia, Cosmik Debris, etc. down here in Savannah. Just depends if someone in the area has made an Athens or Atlanta trip recently.

I have a few Cosmik Debris cans from 3/22 and one Athena Paradiso can left if you'd be interested in a small IP. Shoot me a PM and we can discuss.

 

Any bottle shops in Richmond Hill?

 

Thanks EMR....any updates since you posted this a while back?

 

The thread I started should be up to date in terms of breweries, restaurants, and bottle shops.

If you'd like to know what packaged options are recent the Hops & Barley Instagram / Facebook pages will give you an idea of what to look for.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beer-guide-for-visiting-savannah-ga.437359/