#4 - Georgia, "The Peach State"

Peanuts. That's one thing I have heard of that Jimmy Carter was good for. I wasn't alive while he was President, and I try to stay away from politics, but my in-laws have a particular disdain for Carter that I like to imagine comes from a contentious personal feud they had with him over Carter's hatred of white tuxedos in the early 1980s. Hey, my mother-in-law worked on Capitol Hill, it very well could have happened if Carter had caught a glimpse of a picture from their wedding. He would have had issue with my parents' wedding too. I wish I could get away with that now. I guess I need a white-guy afro to pull off that look now, huh Dad?

The second thing that Carter graced us with was the law that he signed in 1979 legalizing home brewing and allowing any person to brew up to 100 gallons per year for personal use. One thing led to another, and we are where we are today, with upwards of 1500 craft breweries and brew pubs in the U.S.

So, since Jimmy Carter is from Georgia, here's the rundown of the Peach State breweries.

Beer Stats For Georgia:
Major Cities: Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, Athens
# of Microbreweries: 4
Population: 9,687,653
People being denied equal access to good microbreweries by the powers that be: 9,687,652. There's always that one guy. What a dick.


Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the Constitution and become part of the United States. Besides New York, Georgia is the most populated state on the East Coast. So you would expect they would have a fairly healthy amount of microbreweries. And you would be dead wrong. They have 4. I have at least 4 microbreweries within a 30 minute drive of my house, and the entire state of Georgia only has 4. I would bet that this is due to the fact that Southern states are not known for their alcohol-friendly laws. Although, regardless of their states' desire to control alcohol consumption, people from the South are the closest thing to a race of functional alcoholics that I know of. They love their liquor. I base this on my friends from college from the south, but I think they are a pretty representative sample.

I've only had beer from one of the GA breweries, so I'm not an expert. Each of the four have fairly interesting histories.

Terrapin Beer Co is based in Athens, home of the University of Georgia, making it the main hub for hippies and rich southern kids. So, what better business to run than an environmentally friendly microbrewery. I have a sixer of their Hop Karma Brown IPA. It seems like everyone has gone hop crazy lately and makes a double IPA. So it's good to see that a few breweries are trying some IPAs that have other flavors than bitter. The bottle has a hippy looking turtle drinking a beer with what might be a sitar. I love brown ales, and I like a pale ale, so I love this beer, which is a combo of the two.  Terrapin makes a lot of unique beers and they are distributed extensively in GA, NC, SC, and VA. You can also find them in FL, TN, AL, PA, and NJ like I did. I'm sold after one beer, so you may as well try some too.

Red Brick Brewing is run by Atlanta Brewing Company, which is Georgia's oldest brewery, opening in 1983. You're only going to be able to get it if you are in the South, as they want to remain a regional brewery for the South, with no plans of expanding to a nationwide market. I respect that. They've decided that they want to focus on where they are from and become a staple in a very promising market that is not super-saturated with breweries like the West Coast or the Northeast. They make nine separate beers. Next time I'm in Georgia, which I'm embarrassed to say will be the first time, I'm going to get a Red Brick Porter.

Jailhouse Brewing Company brews in Hampton, GA. Their story is pretty well documented on their website and it's a worn out story that, honestly, I'm just tired of hearing. Guy likes beer, guy buys 1920's era jailhouse in small town, guy completely renovates jail, guy buys brewing equipment from defunct brewery, guy waits for Georgia to give him a license, guy brews beer. They started brewing in October of 2009, so they are pretty much just getting started, but their beers are available in and around Atlanta in bars and beer stores. Not shockingly, all of their beers have Jail themed names (Mugshot IPA, Breakout Stout, the Solitary Confinement Series.) They currently have three year round beers, and from reading over their website, they seem to have a lot of passion and desire to do well, which is enough for me to want to give them a try. However, eventually the newness will wear off and they'll have to let their beers speak for themselves.

SweetWater Brewing Company is in midtown Atlanta and has been there since 2004. They began as a brewery in 1997 when two guys from Colorado figured Atlanta needed a microbrewery. They brew 5 year round beers, 5 seasonals, and some more special edition stuff. Their slogan is Don't Float the Mainstream, and they seem to be serious about brewing without taking themselves too seriously. They say that their beers are unpasteurized so they are best within 90 days. The distribute in AL, FL, NC, SC, TN, and of course GA. It would probably be a fun place to visit and it's probably very convenient to downtown Atlanta, making it a definite day/evening pre-gaming tour possibility.

Trailies:
Best Beer Name: So Fresh and So Green, Green - Terrapin. This beer uses fresh hops from Washington's Yakima valley that are flown in over night prior to brew day. Plus, any homage to Andre 3000 and Big Boi gets my vote.
The Make a Movie About These Guys Award: Jailhouse. Could be a murder mystery/comedy about a brewer who happens upon a murder in the act, setting in motion a long and drawn out investigation, only to find out that the murder was just a scene from a high school student's movie for English class, called "Trouble's Brewin' " Could be a horror film, where the jailhouse ghost haunts the brewmaster and continually makes him mess up and brew Miller Light called "Less Taste, More Thrilling." Ok I'm on a roll, but I'll stop there.
Most Likely to have been Phish fans in High School: Sweetwater. They're from Colorado and they have a 420 Extra Pale Ale. Case closed.

Road Trips:
I can't personally recommend anything, but, I'm sure there is a lot to do in Atlanta, which would get you close to two of the breweries, Atlanta and Sweetwater. Hampton is only a 45 minute drive south of Atlanta, so that's an easy day trip if you are staying in the city. I love going to college towns, and Athens has a great music scene, so I think my first choice brewery to visit in Georgia would have to be Terrapin. Hang out, listen to some up and comers play in a small bar, while drinking unique beers. Sounds like a great trip for the fall. Maybe catch a football game between the hedges at UGA while I'm there. Just need a way to quit my job.... please read my blog.

Music:
Like I said, Athens is known for its music scene, so a lot of bands have gotten their start there. REM and B-52s cut their teeth in Athens. Brian Burton, aka, Danger Mouse, is from New York, but got his big break in Athens after winning a contest to open a show for Outkast and Goodie Mob (two big Atlanta hip-hop groups. I personally love everything Outkast has ever done. Spottieottiedopalicious is #1 a spectacular name, but #2, also a great song. Sorry for the long parenthesis) After the show he gave his demo tape to Cee-Lo Green, and eventually they formed Gnarls Barkley which made both mega-stars. Since then Burton teamed up with the lead singer of the Shins and they put out an album last year as Broken Bells. It's a great mix of beats and catchy melodies, like folk with a hip-hop/electronica beat background. Almost like if Bubba Sparxx learned to play guitar. Nevermind. Nothing could be that good. Burton is one of those musicians that seems to want to explore every type of music possible in an effort to find the one that really fits him. My guess is that he will keep doing collaborations with people from all different genres. I'll keep on tuning in. You should check out the album. It's self titled.

I'll be back in a month or so with Connecticut.

Georgia Brewery Map