New Launches
Bell’s Hell Hath No Fury
A Belgian style offering from Bell’s Brewing (Kalamazoo, MI) has arrived. First time in Georgia, and after it’s gone will return as a seasonal next fall. It’s a blend of yeasts, with a darker roast profile than you would expect from a Belgian.
Commercial Description:
Originally conceived along the lines of a Belgian Dubbel, Hell Hath No Fury… Ale morphed during development into something entirely different. Blending a pair of Belgian abbey-style yeasts into a recipe more akin to a roasty stout,Hell Hath No Fury… Ale offers up warm, roasted notes of coffee & dark chocolate together with the fruity & clove-like aromas.
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Taste Expectations: Dark fruits. Raisins. Hints of coffee. Clove spices.
Availability: 12oz Bottles. Some draft offerings. Late fall seasonal.
7.5% ABV
CONFIRMED: Cigar City Brewing Headed to Georgia
There has been talk about this for more than a year now. Tampa, Florida based brewer Cigar City Brewing has filed paperwork and signed a contract with Savannah Distribution and is officially headed to Georgia!
Cigar City Brewing was founded by Joey Redner & Wayne Wambles. Their beers are extremely unique, including a saison with guava, an imperial stout with 2 types of chiles & cocoa nibs, and “Humidor” series aged in Spanish cedars.
Estimated Arrival: January 2010
NEW BREWERY TO GA: Howe Sound Brewing
Just launched in Georgia is Howe Sound Brewing. Howe Sound hails from Squamish, British Colombia. The brewery first opened their doors in 2006 and has been expanding ever since.
History:
We opened our doors in Squamish, BC on July 26, 1996. The founders of the business were Stephen Shard, David Fenn and the Fenn family. Stephen Shard left the company in 2001, and today the company remains a family owned enterprise.
We operate out of a beautiful, wooden craft style building, build for our purposes. The inn consists of a pub, restaurant, banquet room, 20 guest rooms and microbrewery. The brewery distributes products under the Howe Sound name to over 300 stores and pubs in BC. In 2009, we began shipments to our beer to the United States and Alberta.
The brewery has won many accolades for the quality of its beers. At the 2007 North American Beer Awards, it won a gold medal for Garibaldi Honey Pale Ale and a bronze medal for Diamond Head Oatmeal Stout. In 2009, it won a silver medal for Bailout Bitter and a bronze medal for Baldwin and Cooper Best Bitter. In the winter of 2008, Bailout Bitter received international attention as a recession-fighting beer, and was featured in worldwide media, including Good Morning America, the Globe and Mail, Global TV, and European and Asian press.
Launch Beers:
Howe Sound brings 2 beers with it’s initial launch, in very unique swing tops bottles.
Diamond Head Oatmeal Stout
Hops: Willamette, Nugget.
Flavor: Roasty & Bold. Oatmeal gives the body a creamy flavor.
5% ABV
16 IBU’s
Rail Ale Nut Brown
Style: American Brown Ale
Flavor: Nutty hints. Chocolate with a touch of licorice. Brewed with only hops, malts, water, & yeast.
5% ABV
More beers to follow from this brewery.
Availability: 22oz Swing Top Bottles. No Draft in 2010.
Looking for these? Only place I have seen it is Hop City currently.
Website: http://www.howesound.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/howesoundbeer
Wild Heaven Official Press Release
WILD HEAVEN CRAFT BEERS LAUNCHES IN GEORGIA
Introducing Two New Beers: Invocation Belgian-style Golden Ale and Ode to Mercy Imperial Brown Ale
September 15, 2010 (Decatur, Ga.)–Last night, Georgia celebrated its newest beer company–Wild Heaven Craft Beers–with a launch party at the Southeastʼs Mecca for beer lovers, the Brick Store Pub. Wild Heaven is the brainchild of Nick Purdy, founding publisher of award-winning Paste magazine, with recipes developed by brewmaster Eric Johnson of Athensʼ acclaimed Trappeze Pub.
“Our goal is nothing less than to brew the finest beer in the South,” says Purdy. “Wild Heaven Craft Beersʼ core portfolio will be high-end beers, and the demand for quality brewing is taking off. Our place in the market is to make beer that appeals to the adventurous craft-beer lover.”
Beginning today, the first two beers from Wild Heaven, Invocation and Ode to Mercy, will be available in pubs and restaurants around Atlanta and throughout Georgia and Alabama later this month. Invocation is a Belgian-style golden ale brewed all-grain, giving it a deep and complex taste. Ode To Mercy is an imperial brown ale combining the flavor and aroma of deep roasted malts, oak and coffee specially blended by Athens, GAʼs 1000 Faces Coffee, yielding a smooth, creamy finish. Bottles will be available by the end of the year.
Johnsonʼs philosophy of brewing is rooted in the European tradition, but with an adventurous American spirit. As both a renowned horticulturalist and proprietor of BeerAdvocate.comʼs #2 rated Georgia pub, he has a deep understanding of the science of brewing, an encyclopedic knowledge of the beer scene, and a creative streak which has yielded unending recipes for world-class beer.
“Georgia has fewer breweries per capita than Utah,” says Purdy, “but itʼs a top craft-beer market. Weʼve got good local breweries, just not enough of them.”
Despite a 2.2% dip in overall beer sales in 2009, craft beer grew 12% during the first half of 2010. And while North Carolina boasts 22 different breweries and Colorado has 25, Georgia only has four. Wild Heaven is contract brewing with Thomas Creek in South Carolina and plans to open its own brewery in the Decatur area by 2013.
Mike Gallagher, owner of the Brick Store Pub, said, “After traveling to cities like Portland, Chicago, San Fran and Philadelphia, itʼs almost embarrassing that we only have four local breweries, and one of those is actually in Athens. We’re a city of over five million people! The locals are ready, willing, waiting and excited.”
Fred Crudder, Beverage Director for Taco Mac, adds, “I was skeptical at first, having not heard anything about this project, but am alarmingly and overwhelmingly surprised at the quality of the beer.”
The following locations have joined with Wild Heaven to celebrate its launch and are featuring both Invocation and Ode To Mercy today: Brick Store Pub (Decatur), The Corner Pub (Decatur), Cypress Street Pint & Plate (Midtown), Diesel Filling Station (Virginia Highlands), The Fred (Sandy Springs), Leonʼs Full Service (Decatur), The Marlay House (Decatur), Midway Pub (East Atlanta), Octane (Westside), Ormbyʼs (Westside), Muss & Turnerʼs (Smyrna), The Porter Beer Bar (Little Five Points), Steinbeck’s (Oakhurst), Taco Mac — Perimeter Place (Dunwoody), Thinking Man Tavern (Decatur), Trappeze Pub (Athens), Twain’s Billiards (Decatur) and Young Augustine’s (Grant Park).
Nick Purdy and Eric Johnson are available for interviews
Wild Heaven expands to more taps
If you haven’t heard the buzz about Georgia’s new brewing company Wild Heaven Craft Beers, take note. Starting Wednesday (9/15) Wild Heaven’s 2 launch titles hit tap handles around Atlanta. Here’s the initial list-
Brickstore Pub, Porter Beer Bar, Cypress Street, The Marlay, Twain’s, Midway Pub, Steinbecks, Octane Coffee, Young Augustine’s, Leon’s Full Service, Ormsby’s, Corner Pub, Trappeze (Athens)
UPDATE 9/15 – Muss & Turners, Diesel, The Fred, Taco Mac Perimeter,
The Beers:
Invocation — Belgian Golden Ale, 8.5% ABV. Sweet candi sugar nose, with a light malt body.
Ode To Mercy — Imperial Brown, 8.2% ABV. Brewed with a special blend of coffee from 1,000 faces in Athens, GA.
COMING SOON: Stillwater Ales
A new brewery will be launching in Georgia – Stillwater Artisanal Ales. Stillwater is based in Baltimore, Maryland although there is no “actual” brewery. Stillwater is a nomadic brewery, much like Mikkeller.
Stillwater’s Bio, courtesy of Brian Stillwater
Stillwater Artisanal Ales is the nomadic brewing venture headed by Baltimore native, Brian “Stillwater” Strumke. A former internationally renowned techno DJ and producer who has extensively traveled much of the US and Europe, he returned home in 2004 to delve into a new passion, brewing. Brian rather quickly made his mark in the homebrewing community for his often odd concoctions and unconventional brewing methods. “I look at brewing as an art form, creating a beer to me is like painting a picture. There are virtually an infinite amount of variables that can be manipulated and my approach to brewing very much parallels how I went about creating my music.”
Brian eventually cut his teeth by ranking in some local homebrew competitions, which eventually led to wins in the Sam Adams Longshot and Holiday Competitions, as well as the AHA (American Homebrewer’s Association) Nationals. These accolades were surprising given that Brian’s beers rarely fit into BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) categories; even the more “traditional” beers he made would have some sort of twist. “I am not really into this to reinvent the wheel (or Pale Ale for that matter), so you can definitely expect something fresh and new.” These competitions often yielded wins in the more esoteric categories and his intricate use of herbs, spices, wild yeasts, and anything else he could get his hands on often came to judges with both intrigue and enjoyment.
In 2010, after about 5 years of backyard brewing, Brian has taken Stillwater Artisanal Ales to the public. Wary of startup costs for a full-blown brewery, Brian now travels to various breweries in the US and Belgium, hand-crafting small-batch, authentic ales.
Beers:
Cellar Door – Saison, 6.6% ABV. A summer wheat saison brewed with German wheat & pale malts forming a crisp slightly hazy foundation accented with Sterling & Citra hops providing a intricate blend of herbal grass & tangerine citrus flavors and aroma finished off with a touch of white sage for a clean refreshing finish.
Stateside Saison – Saison, 6.8% ABV. Stateside Saison pays homage to old world tradition while celebrating new world innovation. Naturally brewed with the finest European malts & fresh aromatic hops from the United States & New Zealand. It’s then fermented using a classic farmhouse ale yeast and bottle conditioned to enhance stability. The outcome is a beer of unique design and exquisite taste, showcasing some of the best attributes of modern-day craft brewing.
Arrival: Estimated late September 2010.
Introducing Wild Heaven Craft Beers
Wild Heaven Craft Beers is officially part of the growing Atlanta beer scene. More and more breweries are being sold in the Atlanta area, and more bars are looking to craft beer to satisfy the thirst of its discerning patrons. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better — it does. A new brewing company rises – and it’s based here. Introducing Wild Heaven Craft Beers.
You may have seen both me and @AtlantaBeer talk about this “wild” mysterious new Georgia brewer. It’s driven a few of you nuts trying to figure it out. Here’s the scoop. Wild Heaven is their name — Belgians are their brew of choice. Nick Purdy, Paste Magazine founder has taken on Wild Heaven as his newest project.
Launch Beers:
Invocation – Belgian Golden Ale, 8.5% ABV. Sweet candi sugar nose, with a light malt body.
Ode To Mercy – Imperial Brown, 8.2% ABV. Brewed with a special blend of coffee from 1,000 faces in Athens, GA.
Invocation is fantastic. I’ve only had 12 ounces of it, and I’m looking forward to more. Ode To Mercy is a very easy-drinking brown ale with light coffee notes to complement. These beers will arrive on tap handles in Decatur and around the Atlanta area starting next week. Brick Store Pub, & Cypress Street will be among the first to tap.
On Twitter: @BeerWildHeaven
