Atlanta Beer Envy: Part I

This past Monday I was fortunate enough to be invited by 'Beer Me Augusta' on a trip to the Atlanta area to visit a couple of up and coming Georgia breweries.  Our first stop was Red Hare Brewing in Marietta...

Red Hare is the first craft brewery in Georgia to actually can its beer, and is starting to spread its wings with distribution into South Carolina, and just this week, Tennessee.   The one thing that struck me was how much brewing, fermenting, canning and serving is packed into such a small space (11k sqft).  And as crowded as it looked, head-brewer Bobby Thomas told me that they have room for expansion in their current facility.

The Red Hare brewhouse features a steam-jacketed brewing system, 3800bbls worth of fermentation capacity, a nice cold room/bright tank area, and lots of cans!

Bobby- Red Headed Head Brewer

 Fermentation goin' on

 Bright Tanks

Canning Line

Lots and lots of cans!

Given that Red Hare is now expanding out of state, and that they are brewing every day of the week, I can see them filling up their remaining space with fermentors real quick.

Of course the real fun of a brewery tour is to try out the proprietor's wares, even if it is still before lunch!  Red Hare's frontage tasting room has a good line up of their regular offerings, as well as some seasonals and 'Rabbit Reserve' series.

We were lucky in that Red Hare had just released their most recent seasonal, Cotton Tail Pale.  Additionally, they had their Rauchbier on tap, as well their 1-year old Bitter Hearts Double Black IPA.  Given that it was that old, it had held up really well.   The only reason we knew about it was that Bobby was drinking one during the tour.

Unfortunately they had just floated the last keg of Thrice Hopped Imperial IPA at their Pale Ale release party, so I missed out (until later....).  Lastly, I tried their Root Beer on tap.  Now I lost my liking for Root Beer a long time ago, but this did hit the spot. Perhaps it was the pure cane sugar and spices.... I do hear you can find it in some stores here in Augusta....

Where will Red Hare go next?  Perhaps they will add another offering to their regular line-up, but don't expect that too soon.  Instead, keep and eye out for their seasonals and  Rabbit's Reserve Series.  In fact, go out of your way to ask your bartenders to request these items of the distributor.  Otherwise we will probably never see them here in Augusta.

Thanks again to Bobby and Bryan for the great tour and tasting, and here's to continued growth and success for that scarlet rabbit....