Not technically in Macon, but the boonies of Dry Branch. I have seen and read through a previous post on Macon and plan to check out some of the growler shops listed there. But what is the canning/bottling situation around the area? I'm hoping to bring back some packaged beer with me. Are there any liquor stores or grocery stores that have any decent selection? I'm open to IP trades however, I'm sharing a few vehicles with ~30 other people so I'd hate to set something up and not be able to meet because I can't get a car at that time. My best chance for an IP trade would be Monday or Tuesday, December 29-30. If anyone wants to try and set something up BM me so we can keep this thread on topic. While there I'll be looking for any beers we don't get in Texas: Bells, CCB, Westbrook, Allagash, Duck-Rabbit, Terrapin, The Bruery. That's just going off of seek-a-brew so some of those may be a long-shot. If anyone has any local suggestions then I'm open to hearing about them for brewery tours.
I live about a half hour from Macon so I go through there pretty often. I'm not aware of any breweries in the area and due to Georgia law you can't purchase beer from a brewery anyway. There's a fairly new HUGE package store in Macon that has a rather large craft beer collection, Macon Beverage Superstore. They carry Bells, Terrapin, and a host of local brews. This is the place I mentioned in another post that has Sculpin for $9.99/six pack!! It's on Log Cabin drive off of exit 3 on 475. I highly recommend it.
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I could only stop by a couple of places when I hitched a ride into town with a cousin and Macon Beverage Superstore was not one of them. I did make it to Carriage Hills and Lazy Dog downtown. Both had excellent selections. My family didn't even know those places existed!
I went by Lazy Dog the last time I was in Macon over the Thanksgiving holiday. One thing that impressed me was they were operating as a tasting room, which we can't even do in ATL. That was cool. By chance, did you go over to the Rookery? Their selection of craft beers isn't the largest, per se, but it is well curated, and the food is great. Do check it out next time if you haven't.
I was traveling for the holidays and missed this thread. Will definitely check out Macon Beverage Superstore - I know exactly where that is but haven't stopped in. If you're skipping Macon and heading down I-475, WineStyles is your best bet. Everything is sold warm here, but they have a small but well selected variety of craft beers and wines. Carriage Hills Bottle Shoppe and Growler Spot are sort of the same place, and have a great selection. Bottles and 40-some drafts for growler fills. They're next door to each other and have similar, although not identical selections. Worth stopping in both and is just off I-75 on the north side of town. Growler Spot has applied for a license to serve pints of beer, but as of a week ago they didn't have it yet. I'd expect them to serve pints sometime in January. Lazy Dog Growler (which is changing their name to Just Tap'd) is located downtown and has bottled beer and wine, as well as 60-some taps for growler fills. Lazy Dog was the first shop in town to take advantage of the new law that allows growler fill shops to also sell draft beer. As a result, this is now the largest beer bar in town. Things are a little more expensive here, probably due to location. They also have a location in Warner Robins. Only odd thing is that all of the draft beer is served in pints, so things you might normally expect to see in smaller pours may seem expensive ($10 pints of Prairie Bomb for example). Rookery is one of the oldest craft institutions, with around 10 taps (only craft) and a page-long bottle list. Great burgers, but it gets packed at peak hours. Bearfoot Tavern, Margaritas in Mercer Village, Downtown Grill and Lemongrass all have good craft selections as well. Ocmulgee Traders is a small grocery store downtown that has 6 taps for growler fills and a small but craft-focused bottle selection.
I had lunch there before walking to Lazy Dog. Great burgers and fantastic battered fries. I was too full to get a milkshake, I had to save room for the beer at Lazy Dog I'll have to check out the other places and set up an IP trade next time I'm in Macon.
That Jimmy Carter burger is something else. Who'd have thunk that peanut butter could work on a burger? But it does. My sense is that Macon is coming along. (If it's tours you're after, most of the action is still in ATL.) I'm surprised that a few of the breweries you mentioned are not distributed in Texas, particularly Bell's, Bruery, and even Terrapin. Obviously, Jester King is the big draw for most Georgia folks. You can purchase as far east as Birmingham, but no further than that. If you need things to put on your radar screen, I'd call attention to Orpheus for their saisons and sours (with Atalanta and Lyric Ale being their first two canned offerings). People are going to go nuts when their DIPA Transmigration of Souls is canned later this spring. I'd also add Three Taverns if you like Belgians. And I did see Heavy Bells (barrel-aged Quasimodo) at Lazy Dog, so I know it's making its way south from Atlanta. Wild Heaven is another cool one. And the hot brewery right now is Creature Comforts for their Tropicalia IPA and Berliner Weisse. Unfortunately, cans of those haven't gone much further than Athens at this point. Not local, but there's Evil Twin if you don't get it. Great beers, many of which are brewed at Westbrook, especially their imperial stouts. I have no idea if Westbrook comes to Macon, but I'd imagine that the core lineup does. Too bad you came in the winter, when Gose is not being brewed. As for CCB, we've been deprived for some time. We were getting tons of Jai Alai in ATL, and now we're getting none.
Yeah I was disappointed to not find any CCB. And I was under the impression that Westbrook Gose was a year-round offering. I was quickly corrected at Carriage Hills. I had some of their other offerings though. As far as Texas goes...the label approval is ridiculous from what I understand and is expensive for breweries to come here. The scene has exploded in the last two years and we have gotten some big names like Firestone Walker and Founders. I'm hoping Bell's makes it here eventually because the beers I've had have been excellent. I did find a Two Hearted sitting on the shelf. Some months old but still quite delicious. I brought a few others back home. I wish The Bruery made it here but not yet...you have to resort to these types of antics to get it around Texas. Jester King can be difficult for Texans, too! You have to go to the brewery for any fruited sours though they have released some of their more available ones for distribution again. I was surprised to see so much Prairie Christmas Bomb! sitting on shelves. People go crazy for all of the Bomb! and Noir variants around here and they don't last very long. I did find some Orpheus cans. I brought Lyric and Atalanta home with me. I'm excited to open those up since I was so impressed with the draught pours but was a little let down by Sykophantes. Next time I'm in Georgia I'll try to make a point to spend some time in Atlanta before I fly back out. I've heard of some great beer bars there and as you mention going on some tours.
Yeah, Macon is never going to stand up to what Atlanta offers (6 million people versus 150,000 in Macon). But if you're in Macon, the beer options have greatly improved in the past couple of years. I think almost all of Georgia's breweries are distributed here now, although Creature Comforts doesn't produce enough for Macon to get any yet. As you mentioned, Westbrook is distributed here, including most of the bombers. Gose sticks around a lot longer than it does in Atlanta, but nothing lasts forever. On the upside, a lot of rare stuff sticks around for a couple days even though we get less of it.
Gose is seasonal only, and it makes sense to an extent. It's low ABV and taste profile do make it a better summer beer. But One Claw and White Thai are year-round and totally interesting in their own right. My obsession with Jester King has to do with their Metal series. I'm more of a stout drinker than a sours drinker, so these are right up my alley. And I'd be lying if I didn't say that having the likenesses of King Diamond, Dave Mustaine, and Bootsy Collins on the bottles wasn't part of the excitement. As far as I know, Birmingham is the furthest point east carrying Jester King's beer. Bruery is well represented in Georgia, except that our 14% ABV cap keeps out releases like Sucre that would otherwise be distributed here. It's a miracle (and a bit intentional, I'm sure) that we finally got BCBS this year. As for Christmas Bomb!, I think the high price, large supply, and perceived lower quality compared to standard Bomb! conspired to keep it sitting around. We love Bomb! but were partly spoiled by the early mispricing that enabled us to get it at half the cost. Reality has finally set in. Atalanta and Lyric are fine beers. Regarding Sykophantes, I do have a strong opinion. I appreciated Sykophantes, but I also noticed that overwhelming metallic note in the beer, both in a restaurant pour and subsequent growler fill. My guess is that the metallic taste (iron, rust) was intrinsic to the beer itself and not a fluke of storage/packaging/serving. My best guess is that it had something to do with the heavy use of caramel malts, which can be "steely." But I'm not sure. Warming the beer really didn't help, either. Other than that, the beer was fantastic, particularly the aroma. I appreciated the attempt to create what I interpreted to be a sour dubbel. Don't know if that was your experience, but that was mine. Orpheus is an awesome brewery regardless. Do make it to ATL some time and check out the Brick Store Pub, Porter Beer Bar, and host of other great places.
