Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven Fest Beer, Year 8

Wild Heaven Fest Beer is back for its eighth year, a brew that took a bit of a “travel curve” before the Avondale Estates, Georgia, brewery perfected it.

A few years ago, brewery co-founder Eric Johnson debuted Autumn Defense, a creative Continue Reading →

Posted in Wild Heaven Craft Beers, Seasonal Return

Wild Heaven Fest Beer, Year 8

Wild Heaven Fest Beer is back for its eighth year, a brew that took a bit of a “travel curve” before the Avondale Estates, Georgia, brewery perfected it.

A few years ago, brewery co-founder Eric Johnson debuted Autumn Defense, a creative take on the classic fall lager. However, Autumn Defense was actually an ale, boasting “pronounced bright citrus flavors, brewed heavy-handedly with Munich malt.” A festbier in spirit, but, as Johnson admits, not very traditional. “You’re not a brewer if you’re not experimenting, I guess,” Johnson once told us. “It doesn’t always work out.”

Wild Heaven Fest Beer has since followed a more traditional path. Now a true Märzen lager, it has officially moved away from the “ale festbier” concept for good. Getting there required tweaks to the recipe and yeast.

In the first two years of Fest Beer, Johnson used Grungeist hops, a European hop of Hallertauer parentage. While these hops produced a good lager, traditional brewing ultimately won out. (Another revelation came later: the Gungeist hop flavor faded significantly after four weeks.)

These days, the lager is brewed exclusively with classic German Noble hops.

The journey from Autumn Defense to Fest Beer has been a story in itself. What Fest Beer is today is quickly becoming a fall tradition for Wild Heaven and its fans.

Wild Heaven Fest Beer is available on draft and in 12-ounce cans seasonally, starting this week.

Style: Festbier/Marzen

Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: 9/22/18
Latest Return: August 2025

5% ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Distilleries, Headlines, Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven Electric Avenue, the 8th Bulleit collab

Wild Heaven Electric Avenue, the latest in the brewery’s ongoing collaboration with Bulleit Whiskey debuts this week.

Munichwine. You don’t see that style in the beer often- if at all. This is a first in 16 years for Beer Street Journal. The idea is pretty simple- think barleywine with mainly German Munich malts.

The 8th Collaboration.

Electric Avenue marks the 8th collaboration with Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, with the first release being 95 Shilling, dating back to one of the worst years in human history, 2020. There are two components to each collab – the brewer and the distillery. In Wild Heaven’s case, each of these unique releases have been the brainchild of head brewer Josh Franks. Franks excels at digging out the right beer style to compliment what barrels Bulleit will send down to Georgia.

Fresh, just emptied “wet” barrels head 437 miles south to Wild Heaven, (also one of the beer collaborations) to be filled with what Franks and co-founder Eric Johnson concocted. Having had 7 of these beers thus far, the fresh barrels make all the difference in the end result.

“Bulleit-vardier”

The Wild Heaven team were on a trip to the Bulleit Distillery last year, drinking Boulevardier cocktails (a bourbon-swapped take on the Negroni) where the idea of a cocktail-inspired “Bulleit-vardier” came to mind. The challenge? Making the herbal and bitter notes of the cocktail work in this barrel-aged beer. That’s where the additions of Gentian root, rubarb root and Angelica come in.

“The question had become what style would work well for the cocktail idea and I had really liked the idea of a Munichwine, I’m a big fan of Munich malt. But some of that Munich and aromatic malt profile doesn’t feel dissimilar to red vermouth so I ran with it,” says Franks.

Tonight we find out the result at a special Bulleit & Beer media preview at Wild Heaven’s new Toco Hills location.

Wild Heaven Electric Avenue debuts this week in 12-ounce cans and draft for a limited time.

Style: Munichwine (w/ Gentian Root, Rhubarb, Angelica. Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Availability: 12oz cans, Draft.
Debut: Mid-March, 2025

9.6% ABV

Media launch party pics below.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Don't Miss This, Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven opens 3rd location (PICS)

Avondale Estates, Georgia based Wild Heaven Craft Beers has opened their third location in the Toco Hills Shopping Center this month.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Wild Heaven Craft Beers
Posted in Beer News, Coming Soon, Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven Punched Up Fruited Sour, Version 2

Wild Heaven Punched Up Fruited Sour with Raspberry, Guava, Passion Fruit, and Pineapple debuts Friday, February 7th.

This latest Punched Up was slated for late fall of 2023, but apparently life got a bit in way of its release. nevertheless, this tart fruit blast drops Friday.

Wild Heaven Punched Up joined the brewery’s lineup as a spring seasonal nearly a year ago, featuring peach, orange and mango. For the colder winter temps and shorter days, the brewery went with a more tropical fruit theme – namely raspberry, guava, passionfruit and pineapple.

12-ounce cans of Punched Up, along with its draft counterpart arrive at both brewery locations on Friday, January 7th. Perfect for drinking while you procrastinate taking down the Christmas decorations.

Style: Sour Ale (w/ Raspberry, Guava, Passion Fruit, Pineapple.)
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Seasonal Release.
Debut: 1/7/24

5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Galleries, Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven Crab Fest brought a little bit of Maryland to Atlanta

Wild Heaven held their first Maryland-style Crab Fest in late July.

Have you ever befriended someone because of a body of water? In my case, it’s the Chesapeake Bay. Let me explain.

I grew up in Delaware. For those of you who are terrible with geography, Delaware is a state. It is actually the first state to ratify the Constitution. They’re pretty proud of that. Sarah Young, the VP, and co-owner of Wild Heaven Brewery in Atlanta, grew up in Maryland. (7th to ratify.) We’ve always talked about growing up in the mid-Atlantic over beers, which actually prompted us to make a Chesapeake Bay-themed beer (aka Old Bae), a saison with Old Bay seasoning. Folks loved it, McCormicks told us to stop. Oh well.

With that over, Sarah wasn’t ready to pack up the seasoning just yet, as it were. Sarah loves beer and crabs and Long John Silver’s drive-through wasn’t going to cut it. We were talking full-on “Bay-Style” crab boil. She brought Maryland to Atlanta in the purest form she could and did it up right.

Young sourced over 800 fresh Maryland Blue Crabs from Harbour House Crabs, which were overnighted to Wild Heaven’s Garden Room at their West End location. Tables were lined up end to end, covered in brown paper, and stacked eye level with Old Bay, crab seasonings, and wood hammers for a cracking good time. Live music started when the first crab hit the table and didn’t stop until the last one was shredded. Beers were cold and plentiful. There was enough low country boil to serve half of Maryland. By the end of it all, couples were dancing along with the band.

All Young wanted was a true-to-life Maryland crabfest in Atlanta and she freaking killed it. ATL’s finest crab-eating pros lined up before noon and when the doors opened, did what came naturally. Hopefully, this will become an annual event for the brewery.

Check out the day below 🦀

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, New Beers, Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven Beagle Party 2023

by Reid Ramsay