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Brick Store Pub Cantillon Zwanze Day 2019
Brick Store Pub hosts Cantillon Zwanze Day 2019, at the pub in Decatur, Georgia.
SweetWater 420 Fest 2024 pivots, now free
SweetWater 420 Fest, held April 20th and 21st at Pullman Yards in Atlanta now offers free general admission tickets with a donation to Waterkeeper Fund
2024 marks SweetWater Brewing’s 420 Fest’s return to a larger format music festival. When initially announced, the headlining acts included Beck, Slightly Stoopid, and Black Pumas.
Today, the brewery has announced a major change to the music lineup and pricing structure. The previously mentioned musical talent will not appear this year, and general admission tickets are now free, with a $10 donation to their non-profit partner, Waterkeeper Alliance.
The reason for the sudden pivot is explained by the brewery this way:
“We’ve thought a lot about the direction of SweetWater 420 Fest and decided to add a hefty dose of eco-awareness and grassroots energy back into this amazing party, which will be the rager it’s always been,” said Ty Gilmore, President of U.S. Beers for Tilray Brands. “SweetWater 420 Fest started as a free Earth Day bash, and that inspired us to reimagine this year’s event with a single-stage format, a lineup that taps into the festival’s jam and groove roots, and a significant charitable component to help the environment. It’s a win-win for everyone: for a modest donation, our fans get to see some of our favorite bands in a uniquely intimate setting and collectively support the Waterkeeper Alliance’s crucial work to keep our rivers and oceans clean and healthy.”
Refunds will be issued to those who already purchased tickets. The festival will still go on as planned on April 21-22, with the amended musical lineup below.
Tickets can be acquired online through the festival site, or by clicking here.
Monday Night Atlanta 404 Lager hits the Peach State soon
Monday Night Atlanta 404 Lager, a new lower alcohol by volume lager will debut soon from the Atlanta-based brewery.
Monday Night Brewing is prepping a new lager- namely Atlanta 404 Lager, for release in the near future. For context – “404” is Atlanta’s area code. (Think NYC’ s famous 212 area code.)
The lager mot only carries the “404” area code, but is purportedly is also brewed with primarily Georgia grown ingredients.
PIC ARCHIVE: MONDAY NIGHT BREWING
It is the intention of Monday Night to make Atlanta 404 Lager more than a beer. It is important to note that finally plans/details haven’t been finalized- the brewery wants to see a portion of the sales of the 404 set aside to create a “404 Fund” intended to be a financial vessel to give back to the city.
Monday Night Atlanta 404 Lager will be available year round in cans and draft. A release date has not been set.
Style: Lager
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Year-Round
Debut: TBA
4.04% ABV
After announcing closure, Pontoon Brewing to re-open January 17th (Updated)
Pontoon Brewing will reopen their Sandy Springs, Georgia location on January 10th, 2024.
Pontoon Brewing announced the closure of both their brewery locations back in late October 2023. At the time the brewery cited payment issues with their main distributing partner, which was Bevana at the time.
In the months that followed, brewery owner Sean O’Keefe worked to find another financial solution to keep Pontoon Brewing alive. Fast forward to New Year’s Eve, and the brewery teased a return to operations – and ultimately, issuing a statement that the brewery would re-open.
It’s been quite a year for Pontoon and certainly didn’t end the way we wanted it to. After being forced to close, we thought our story was finished. Rather than call it quits, we decided to lean on our friends, family and community, to continue fighting and try to keep the brand that we have worked so hard to build! We decided to make some tough decisions and go back to our roots; our home at Sandy Springs. We are saying goodbye to our Tucker location and focusing on our original spot, more limited and selective distribution and the beers that you all have grown to love!
We are opening back up on January 17th, 2024 and heading into the new year with our own set of resolutions so that we can continue to build our community here in Sandy Springs and the surrounding Atlanta area!
Thank you for all the amazing support and love you’ve shown us and our amazing team throughout the year and during this time, and we can’t wait to see your lovely faces again very soon!
Pontoon Brewing via Instagram
The Tucker, Georgia location will close, leaving the original Sandy Springs location open, alongside limited distribution starting January 17th, 2024.
Ed Note: Article has been updated to reflect the new reopening date of 1/17/24
Pontoon Brewing closing October 28th
Atlanta-based Pontoon Brewing will close both their locations on October 28th.
As is pretty standard these days, Pontoon Brewing took to Instagram to announce the brewery will close their doors after their last scheduled event on October 28th. In the post, Pontoon blames a lack of payments from their main distributing partner for the brewery’s demise, stopping short of naming which distributor that has not paid the brewery.
With the current state of the economy, it’s been a bumpier ride than anticipated, but we continued to grow strike up new partnerships, grow our team, and shine bright! That said, due to one of our main distribution partners not paying us for our product, we are faced with a dire situation and are forced to temporarily close our doors while we find a new partner or buyer for the business.
Pontoon Brewing via Instagram
An email shared anonymously this week from an employee at Pontoon to unknown recipients, was much more direct, stating “Pontoon Brewing closing its doors.”
PICS: PONTOON BREWING’S 2ND ANNIVERSARY
Pontoon Brewing opened it’s doors in Sandy Springs, Georgia in January of 2018, and opening a 2nd location dubbed “The Lodge” in nearby Tucker, Georgia in September 2022.
Messages to Pontoon Brewing were not immediately returned.
Below, Beer Street Journal images of Pontoon Brewing’s ribbon cutting ceremony from January 2018.
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 🦀
NoFo Brew Co opens Gainesville location
NoFo Brew Co opens their new facility in Gainesville, Georgia August 2nd a year after the location was officially announced.
The brewery purchased the building in June of 2022, located on the corner of High Street and the Midland Greenway near the heart of downtown Gainesville. The 18,746 brewery is situated near a pond and a dog park, and boasts a 3,308 square foot patio. NoFo also has a walkup window for beers to-go for walking around the open container district of the city.
NoFo Gainesville also has two private event spaces for parties and celebrations.
“After a year of construction, we are beyond excited to see NoFo Brew Co open here in Gainesville. We look forward to serving each and every guest that walks through our door. I also want to give a very special thanks to the City of Gainesville. They have been so welcoming and an absolute joy to work with throughout this process. Cheers!
– Joe Garcia, CEO & Co-Founder
This third location comes shortly after the brewery acquired Tantrum Brewing in North Georgia, turning it into their 2nd facility and production facility.
NoFo Gainesville is located at 434 High Street SW, Gainesville, Georgia, open 6 days a week, closed on Mondays.
Image: NoFo Brew Co.
