Topic Archives: Hop City

Posted in Beer News

Hop City To Sell Growlers

Hop City Craft Beer & Wine in downtown Atlanta has announced that they will be selling growlers starting April 14th, 2011.  These will be the first growlers sold in Atlanta.

Late 2010, the Georgia Department of Revenue “revised” their view on the use and sale of growlers.  This opened the door for 2 places in Athens, Georgia- The Beer Growler, and 5 Points Growler.  Stipulations for growler sales include being an “off premise” location, and not selling spirits/liquor.

Hop City will open with 16 rotating tap handles.  Refillable 64 ounce growlers will be $4.99.

Posted in Cool Stuff

MailChimp’s “Customer Stories” With Hop City

Hop City Craft Beer & Wine was just named RateBeer.com’s 12th best beer store on the Planet!  That’s huge.  MailChimp posted a cool video featuring the owner/founder of Hop City Kraig Torres in a short movie called “Customer Story: Hop City”.  Well made, and worth a watch.  The movie is directed by Josh Rosenbaum. Why does everything make me thirsty?  Follow @HopCity on Twitter .  Note:  [FLASH NEEDED]

Posted in Tastings

FREE BEER: Brouwerij Timmermans

Today 5:30-7:30pm, Hop City hosts a free tasting at Octane Coffee in the westside.

Featured is 3 offering Brouwerij Timmermans from Belgium – including Strawberry (lambic w/ strawberry), Framboise (lambic w/ raspberry), & ourgogne Des Flandres Brune (Flanders Oud Brune).

Tasting is completely free!

Octane Coffee -12/15, 5:30pm
1009-b Marietta Street Northwest,
Atlanta, GA

Posted in Beer News

Georgia Growler Loophole?

Looks like the State of Georgia may have revised its opinion on growlers.  It has been recently discovered that there is a certain situation that would allow growlers to be sold in the state of Georgia.  I have obtained a letter from the Georgia Department of Revenue that states this:

“The Department [Of Revenue] has determined that, persuant to the Georgia Alcoholic Beverage Code, “growlers” or similar containers may be appropriately  used so long as it is at a licensed retail off premise location that does not deal in distilled spirits by the package. “

Essentially, off premise retail stores that don’t sell liquor, could in theory sell growlers for off premise/home consumption.  However, local city laws or ordinances may prevent this. The letter further states:

“Other provisions of the Official Code of Georgia or local ordinances may be more restrictive in the use of such containers and business models.”

So, the city of Atlanta may specifically prevent growlers”to be sold.  Why is this all of sudden surfacing?  This weekend in Athens a beer store opens its doors with the distinct purpose of selling growlers. The store – “The Beer Growler” was recently mentioned in Athens newspaper The Flagpole. Check out the article here –> http://flagpole.com/Weekly/GrubNotes/GrubNotes-12Nov10

If I understand the situation correctly, the City of Athens has NOT specifically allowed this.  I asked Kraig Torres, owner of Hop City Craft Beer & Wine about the matter. His quote “Atlanta, and surrounding jurisdictions have not allowed the sale of growlers specifically, despite the revised opinion of the State of Georgia.  I am looking into the matter deeply.  The DAY growlers are green lighted by the City of Atlanta is the day Hop City will sell it’s first growler.”

Bottom line, the State of Georgia has revised its view on growlers for off premise sites WITHOUT liquor.  The local ordinances still prohibit the sale of growlers currently.  It is not guaranteed that “The Beer Growler” in Athens will be allowed to remain open by the city of Athens.  There is still a lot to discuss on this matter as it develops.

More to follow on this…

Posted in Tastings, Terrapin Beer Company

Beer & Cheese w/ Terrapin Brewing

Tim Gaddis  aka “Atlanta’s Cheesemonger” teams up with Kraig Torres of Hop City this Thursday for a beer/meat/cheese pairing at Abattoir.

The pairing features 5 Terrapin beers, 5 cheeses, 3 cured meats.  The beers – Moo Hoo, Hopsecutioner, Hop Karma, Big Hoppy Monster, Rye Pale Ale.   Cost – $30

RSVP on Facebook –> http://bit.ly/cohhL1

Abattoir – 11/4/10, 7 pm
1170 Howell Mill Road NW
Atlanta, GA 30318


Posted in Beer News, Sam Adams

Atlanta Homebrewer Wins Sam Adam’s Longshot Competition!

Each year Boston Beer Company a.k.a. Samuel Adams holds a homebrewing competition dubbed the “Category 23 Longshot Competition”.  You might say “Category 23” what’s that?  Well, the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) classifies beer into 22 categories.  The 23rd category, is reserved for beers that are unique/different that don’t fit into the first 22.  Brewery owner Jim Koch was once himself a homebrewer, brewing his great-great grandfather’s now infamous “Boston Lager” in the 1980’s.

The beers are submitted to Sam Adams and judged on aroma, appearance, taste, and mouthfeel.  Each year there are literally 1,000’s of entries.   Over the weekend at The Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO the winners were announced.  Richard Roper, a homebrewer here in Atlanta, GA won!!!  His Belgian Imperial IPA was selected alongside a Black IPA by Rodney Kibzey from Illinois.  Both Richard and Rodney’s beers will be brewed and distributed nationally in the 2011 Sam Adam’s Longshot “Category 23” 6 packs with one more entry- Sam Adam’s employee Caitlin DeClercq’s “Honey Bee’s Lavender Wheat.”  Caitlin won the employee homebrew contest this year.

Richard Roper bought his ingredients for his winning brew at Hop City!

Congratulations Richard!

Runner ups for the Longshot competition include – Rachel McAdams’ “Rae Rae’s Ale,” a brown ale brewed with black tea and bergamot.  Also,  Theresa Szilagyi’s “Don Tiburon Ale,” brewed with agave, mango, and cherries.

Posted in Peak Organic Brewing, Tastings

Peak Brewing Tasting

Today at Octane Coffee, Hop City is hosting it’s weekly free beer tasting.  This week’s featured brewer is Peak Organic Brewing Company (Portland, ME.)  Just released by Peak is their brand new brew – Fall Summit, a amber beer with summit and simcoe hops.

Also in the lineup is the IPA, and Nut Brown Ale.   The IPA is a nicely balanced American IPA (Simcoe, Amarillo, & Nugget hops, 7.2% ABV)  The Nut Brown is a rendition of an English brown ale, brewed with Hallertau hops and chocolate & munich malts.

Tasting starts at 5:30 and runs until 7:30.  Cost is free.  I’ll be pouring the beer so come by and say hello!

Octane Coffee – 9/8/10
009-b Marietta Street Northwest
Atlanta, GA
(404) 815-9886