SweetWater Brewery, Atlanta

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by Robert Gale in Breweries

The SweetWater Brewery is based in Atlanta, GA and according to their website “specialises in producing aggressive West Coast-style beer for the southeastern US”.

The brewery was set up by two college roommates from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Freddy Bensch and Kevin McNerney had already spent time in various local breweries and after driving through the Southeast decided to setup in Atlanta.

The two had a tough time establishing the brewery due to difficulties establishing a distributor but on February 17, 1997 they sold their first keg.

Whilst touring the southeastern states in 2009 I paid the brewery a visit and was lucky enough to be there during one of their regular Friday night parties. The entrance fee was around $7 and that got you a Sweetwater branded glass and around 5 beers. As well as the cheap beer, you could also tour the brewery for free with a rather inebriated brewer.

Their main beers they brew are an IPA, an Extra Pale Ale, a Brown Ale, a blueberry beer and an ESB. They also produce experimental beers throughout the year from their ‘Dank Tank’.

Dank Tank

I’m not sure how popular the beer is or how far across the US they distribute but their events are well attended and their beer tastes good.

Venue Location

Sweetwater Brewery

195 Ottley Drive Northeast

Atlanta, GA

30324

Tel: +001 (404) 691-2537‎

www.sweetwaterbrew.com

Robert Gale (Twitter: @awv)

Beer Taster, Pub Attendee, Photo Taker

Robert Gale likes beer, pubs and beer festivals. He also likes to take photos of beer, pubs and beer festivals. Most weekends of the year you can find him travelling around the UK (and sometimes beyond) photographing and reviewing good quality pubs and beer festivals. He also has a day job in the form of a web developer for Ozum.