If you live in Atlanta, you were excited to hear the news of Cigar City Brewing making the jump over the Florida border. That was months ago. Word on the street was that the beers would be on the shelves by March. Fact: CC is approved for distribution in Georgia. Savannah Distribution will bring the beers to the masses. But when?
After doing some investigation, here’s your state of affairs. Cigar City is in their 3rd year of existence. Their growth has been overwhelming to say the least. Making a jump to Atlanta means you have 6 million more thirsty mouths to feed. (Ok, so they all aren’t drinkers – but ATL is a big market. You get the idea.) So to keep up with the current and soon to be future demand for their tasty brews, CC is adding a brewhouse and tanks. Currently, CC produces about 12,000 barrels a year. With the new brewhouse, Cigar’s capacity jumps to 40,000 barrels a year. The brewery is being upgraded as we speak.
When Atlanta? Cigar City is aiming to be on the shelves by end of summer, 2011. This isn’t set in stone by any means, but highly tentative. Just relax and remember they are indeed on the way. Above and below are the new labels CC has been rolling out.
Other CC Stuff:
– June 1st is the release of Tocobaga. The winner of the artwork contest will be announced. First bottles sold at the event that night will be signed by the artist.
– Neilsbohrium & 110k + OT were recently released. Already scarce.
I visited the brewery on the way down to Clearwater for a wedding at the end of April. I talked to the bartender and he said demand was so high locally that Atlanta was not even on the horizon. He basically gave me the impression that if we have Cigar City in Atlanta anytime soon it would likely be mid to late 2012 at the earliest.