Don’t Miss This

Posted in Don't Miss This, Headlines, Monday Night Brewing

Monday Night Atlanta 404 Lager hits the Peach State soon

Monday Night Atlanta 404 Lager
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

Posted in Don't Miss This, Pontoon Brewing

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

PICS: PONTOON BREWING’S 2ND ANNIVERSARY

Posted in Beer News, Brewery Closures, Don't Miss This, Pontoon Brewing

Pontoon Brewing closing October 28th

Pontoon Brewing Closure

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.

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

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

Wild Heaven Crab Fest 2023, Sarah Young

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 🦀

Posted in Beer News, Brewery Expansions, Don't Miss This, NoFo Brew Co

NoFo Brew Co opens Gainesville location

NoFo Brew Co Gainesville

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.

Posted in New Releases, Don't Miss This, New Realm Brewing, Zillacoah Beer Company

New Realm releases a new collaboration with Zillicoah Beer

New Realm Sound of Your Own Wheels

New Realm Sound of Our Own Wheels has hit shelves, a collaboration with North Carolina’s Zillicoah Beer Company.

This double IPA is actually a family collaboration, a first for New Realm. Jon Chassner founded Zillicoah in Woodfin, North Carolina in 2017, and Jeff Chassner is the Chief Sales Officer of New Realm. As the name suggests, these Chassners are cousins. Family ties make a beer collab pretty self-evident.

New Realm’s brewmaster and co-founder Mitch Steele, Jeff, and Beer Street Journal traveled to Zillicoah’s home of Woodfin for the first of what would be two brew days. We’re pretty sure Zillicoah’s Jon and John (Chassner and Parks) wanted to brew an India Pale Ale with the man who literally wrote the book on IPA, so an Imperial IPA had to be on the brew sheet.

Sound of Your Own Wheels is a big tropical flavor bomb, brewed with Azacca, El Dorado, and Strata hops. This douple IPA pours golden and clear like a west coaster (Mitch Steele has entered the chat) and 9% alcohol by volume. It is prudent to note that Wheels doesn’t drink at all like a 9% beer. Finish the 4-pack one sitting and see what we mean.

We asked Steele what he thought of the finished beer this week at the launch in Atlanta. “It’s probably the best double IPA we’ve made yet,” he says with a smile. While New Realm’s beer styles have been all over the map, the brewing of imperial IPAs have been reserved for special occasions like anniversaries or friends. You honor the special occasion with high alcohol and hops, naturally.

Sound of Your Own Wheels is bright and sunny like late summer in the South and strong enough to make you forget how drenched in sweat you are as if you’ve been pushed into the deep end of a pool. The Sound of Your Own Wheels might just be you telling yourself to “drink more.”

Available in 16-ounce cans and draft for a limited time.

Style: Imperial IPA
Hops: Azacca, El Dorado, Strata

Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: Mid-July, 2023

9% ABV

Posted in Second Self Brewing Company, Don't Miss This

Second Self Beer to shut down June 17th

Atlanta, Georgia-based Second Self Beer will close its doors at the end of this month after 9 years of operation.

Second Self – situation on the city’s upper westside, was the 42nd brewery to open in the Peach State. The brewery had a geeky streak, releasing beers like Maverick & Gose (Top Gun) and Triforce IPA (a legend of Zelda nod.) As the years progressed, founders Jason Santamaria and Chris Doyle pivoted the brewery to be more than just beer, with the goal of being a full “beverage company.”

Second Self released “Cirrus,” a line of non-alcoholic CBD drinks, as well as taking on numerous contract brews and beverages for third-party companies.

That pivot was successful for a while until the challenge of the pandemic and rising costs forced the contracts to fold. That was a big financial hit for the brewery.

In a phone call, Santamaria told Beer Street Journal that in an effort to potentially save Second Self, the brewery cut their taproom hours, while Jason himself took himself off of the payroll going back to his previous role at IBM.

“Everything is just so much expensive, it just kept getting more complicated,” he says.

The brewery’s last day will be June 17th, open from 1-9 pm.

On a personal note – I want to say thank you to Jason and Chris. You both have been welcoming of Beer Street Journal even before the Second Self even opened to the public. It has been an honor and a downright freaking blast covering your releases over the years, not to mention canning days, tank pulls, and nerd trivia. You are some of the kindest people I have met in the beer industry. Legend of Zelda for life.

All images: Beer Street Journal