Newly Available Breweries in Georgia

Jacob Johnston
Editor

While the raising of Georgia’s alcohol-by-volume limit on beer may have made it easier for beer connoisseurs to find their favorite tipple from Belgium, and local brewers to finally make that barley wine, imperial stout, double IPA, or other big style they’d be eyeing for a while, it also started a trickle of creative domestic craft breweries entering the Georgia market.

Domestic craft beer selection has always been an area in which Georgia lacked, in this writer’s opinion. We could get the weaker beers of Belgium. We had access to a good variety of beers from the British Isles. We could even get beers from Russia, Greece, India and Thailand. Yet we couldn’t get world-class beer from widely distributed American Craft Breweries from states thousands of miles closer to home. This is gradually changing, as exemplified by the recent additions of Brewery Ommegang, Brooklyn Brewery, Oskar Blues, Atlantic Brewing Company, Mendocino (at least an expanded lineup), Middle Ages Brewing Company, and Highland Brewing Company. There have been nibbles from other exciting breweries, but we’ll keep you guessing until something more substantial happens.

Part of what was keeping many of these breweries from entering Georgia was the state’s archaic A.B.V. law. Many of the most popular Belgian styles are over 6 percent A.B.V. Only one of Ommegang’s five beers is less than 6 percent. Several of Brooklyn Brewery’s most popular beers are over 6 percent, including their East India Pale Ale, a style that hovers around the state’s old limit. Neither of the two beers available in Atlanta from Oskar Blues would have been legal a year ago.

While Brewery Ommegang is owned by the Belgian Brewery Moortgat, it still operates in Cooperstown, NY, and is well known for its authentic-tasting Belgian-style brews. Ommegang is one of the few American breweries to focus on Belgian styles, much less brew nothing but these incredibly complex beers.

Brooklyn Brewery has some of the most well-known examples of several newly available styles such as Black Chocolate Stout (an 8.5 percent A.B.V. imperial stout) and Monster Ale (an 11 percent A.B.V. barley wine). Their brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, is one of the most respected brewers in the United States and is the author of several books including The Brewmaster’s Table, which teaches beer lovers about the joys of pairing good beer with good food.

Oskar Blues has the reputation of brewing the best canned beer in the United States, at least among beer geeks. The Colorado microbrewery became interested in packaging their beer in cans initially as a joke, but as they discovered the benefits of canning beer, the joke turned serious. Now, Oskar Blues is an outspoken proponent of canning beer in the same way some wineries are advocating tops other than the traditional corks. Currently, Oskar Blues sells its Dale’s Pale Ale (6.5 percent A.B.V.) and Old Chub Scottish ale (8 percent A.B.V.) in the Atlanta area.

Atlantic Brewing Company is based in the coastal town of Bar Harbor, ME. The brewery’s beers are often inspired by the traditional styles of the British Isles like many of the beers from New England’s many breweries.

Mendocino may not be exactly new to the area, but it became much easier to find after the A.B.V. limit increase and the brewery was able to send several of their beers that had been previously illegal in the state. This brewery from California is part of the hop-heavy West-Coast style of brewing.

Middle Ages is a brewery in Syracuse, NY, with a serious medieval theme going on. The brewery’s beers tend to be very traditional English beers and often would fit in with New England’s Ringwood breweries.

Highland Brewing differs from the other breweries mentioned here in that it doesn’t even brew a beer over 6 percent A.B.V. Being based in North Carolina as it is, Highland is restricted to 6 percent or less just as the Georgia breweries were once restricted, although a push by the group Pop The Cap may get North Carolina to follow Georgia’s lead later this year. Highland brews in the Asheville, NC. Highland is going to be a little more difficult to track down unless you live or travel in the Northeast region of Georgia. Highland is currently not distributed inside the Perimeter here in Atlanta, but if you’re in Cumming or one of the other Northeastern suburbs, you can find it there.

To celebrate the newly available domestic craft beer bounty in the state, I gathered together a few members of Ale Atlanta for a tasting. The judges were Ed Hamrick, a BJCP-certified homebrew judge; Matt Simpson, managing editor of TheBeerCellar.com; Larry Goldstein, a homebrewer with years of experience; Hank Gay, a beer geek with years of experience; and Jacob Johnston, editor of TheBeerCellar.com. While there are many newly legal and newly available beers from breweries well established in the Georgia market, like those from Rogue and Sierra Nevada, we chose to focus only on beers from the newly available breweries. With the exception of the Highland beers, the beers were provided by Green’s liquor store in Atlanta. The following is a list of the beers sampled at 5 Seasons and the categories in which they competed.

Light lagers and ales

1. Brooklyn Lager
2. Brooklyn Pilsner
3. Atlantic Island Ginger (golden ale spiced with ginger)
4. Ommegang Witte (Belgian-style witbier)

Pale Ales and Ambers

1. Middle Ages Beast Bitter (British-style ESB)
2. Atlanta Real Ale (this beer is classified as a brown ale, but was tasted during the pale ale/amber flight)
3. Highland Gaelic Ale (American-style amber ale)
4. Highland St. Therese’s Ale (American-style pale ale)
5. Mendocino Eye of the Hawk (American-style Strong Ale)
6. Dale’s Pale Ale (American-style pale ale in a can)

Belgian Strong Ales

1. Ommegang Hennepin (Belgian-style saison)
2. Ommegang Three Philosophers (Belgian-style quadruple, blended with Lindeman’s lambic)
3. Ommegang Rare Vos (Belgian-style amber ale)
4. Ommegang (Belgian-style brown ale)

Brown Ales and Porters

1. Brooklyn Brown
2. Highland Oatmeal Porter
3. Atlantic Coal Porter

IPAs

1. Middle Ages ImPaled Ale
2. Mendocino White Hawk
3. Highland Kashmir IPA
4. Brooklyn East India Ale

Big Beers

1. Oskar Blues Old Chub (strong Scottish-style ale)
2. Mendocino Talon (barley wine)
3. Brooklyn Black Chocolate (imperial stout)

These beers were tasted in 3 oz samples and rated on a scale of 1-4, in half-point increments, in the areas of appearance, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel and overall. We tried to rate the beers by style in the first four categories and used the overall category to judge our personal preference of the beer. The judges tasted the beers without knowing anything about them except the style. The judges labeled their ratings with the number of each beer and the scores were connected to the beer name after the tasting was complete. The following are the top five places from the tasting.

1.              Ommegang – This strong Belgian-style beauty wowed the judges with complexity while remaining an easy-to-drink beer.

2.              Ommegang Three Philosophers – This beer lacked the impact of the brewery’s namesake beer, but the fruit flavors from the lambic and yeast work nicely together.

3.              Dale’s Pale Ale – Oskar Blues’ most popular beer was a bit of a surprise. This hoppy ale did more than dominate its relatively mundane style category. It also beat several beers the group had expected to finish much higher. No judge reported any hint of metallic flavors and all were impressed with the beer.

4.              Old Chub – Oskar Blues’ Scottish ale only trailed its pale, hoppier brother by .01 point. This sweet, malty, smoky brew was tasty but lacked Dale’s drinkability. It also tied with

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout – This big chocolaty behemoth did well, but before the blind tasting several of its fans in the group had expected it to do better. Don’t let coming in tied for fourth deter you from trying this imperial stout though. This was an impressive group of beers.

5.              Mendocino Talon Barley Wine – This has all of the components of a good barley wine: alcohol in the taste and aroma, the buttery character of overworked yeast, and a rich sweet malt backbone, but the parts don’t quite blend as they should. Maybe some age would help this one out. It’s still a good beer, though, and scored well enough to place fifth in a tough field.

A few other notable beers are: Ommegang Witte, which placed first in the light lagers and ales category. This witbier’s light body and aroma spiced with orange and coriander make it a great beer for hot days. Atlantic Coal Porter placed first in the Brown Ales and Porter category, although some of the judges preferred the less harsh Highland Oatmeal Porter, which scored only .02 points lower. Mendocino White Hawk and Brooklyn East India Ale tied for best in the IPA category. Despite not placing, even the lowest rated beer in the tasting was still worth giving a try.

Breweryless Brewpubs

House Bill 645

2003 Craft Brew Challenge

Dogwood Brewery