Best beer bar in Atlanta??

I'm headed to Atlanta next weekend for a conference. I hope to be staying downtown but don't yet have reservations. I have thought of going to the Sweetwater brewery for their $8 "tour" with 5 samples. From what little I've read the "tour" is pretty brief and usually guided by someone with little brewery knowledge but it would be better than nothing.

Can someone recommend a good beer bar in the downtown area that preferable has some food. I've been to the Flying Saucer in Nashville which was awesome but don't know of any places in ATL that are comparable.

OK... Your best bet's are The Brickstore Pub in Decatur... While you are there, check out Twain's, which is pretty close by...

You can hit The Porter if you have time...

However, if you are near the Georgia World Congress Center, hit up Taco Mac at Phillips Arena, as it is right across the street...

Sweetwater is good, also check out Atlanta Brewing Company if you can...

Define "next week" and we may be able to hook you up with some local homebrew tastings as well..

Duckfoot said:

OK... Your best bet's are The Brickstore Pub in Decatur... While you are there, check out Twain's, which is pretty close by...

Click to expand...

I would second this recommendation too. You can take MARTA to Decatur fairly easily or it is a short cab ride. There is a Taco Mac in Decatur as well. There is Holiday Inn in Deatur too depending on how flexible you are.

Literally 5 good beer places in the downtown Decatur area that are easily walkable (order of my preference):
1. Brickstore
2. Twains
3. Leon's Full Service
4. Mac McGee
5. Taco Mac

Taco Mac has the biggest selection. All have food with varying levels of fanciness and price.

The Porter, linked above, would be my #1 suggestion for beer and food in Atlanta proper. Their food is very, very good. The Bookhouse is also a good option and right accross the street from a package store if you want to get some bottles.
5 Seasons(Westside) is also an option in Atlanta. Good food and beer there too.

Brickstore is a MUST! seriously.

porters is great as well. Taco Mac had an amazing selection but is a little too commercial for me.

I dont care for red brick beers, but it is an opinion. I would do Sweetwater though. Their IPA is excellent (and you can get it all at the airport also as they have a restaurant there- food is TERRIBLE though)

if you can make it to Athens I would DEF tour terrapin (my fav brewery) and copper creek is an excellent brew pub in downtown athens .. trapeze is another excellent beer bar.

Whew... Looks like I have some choices. I'm going to wait and see where we end up staying at and that may make up our mind for us a bit. I definitely don't want to be driving after I drink and I don't wanna spend $50 in cab fares although I'm going with a coworker so we can split the cab fare. I will be staying Friday night the 27th and attending a conference in the Georgia World Congress Center on Saturday.

Funny thing is that if I had time there is actually an old co-worker that went to Germany to study brewing and got a job at Tarrapin. He wasn't a good friend or anything but I'm sure he'd give us a tour if we had the time.

NNatic said:

if you can make it to Athens I would DEF tour terrapin (my fav brewery) and copper creek is an excellent brew pub in downtown athens .. trapeze is another excellent beer bar.

Click to expand...

How about the Vortex bar and grill? Looks like a cool place with a respectable amount of brews.

zanemoseley said:

How about the Vortex bar and grill? Looks like a cool place with a respectable amount of brews.

Click to expand...

Vortex is good too. Good burgers and will have all the most popular local beers on tap.

This was rated either #1 or #2 brewpub in the world by Beer Advocate. Not only is their beer list about five pages long, they serve every beer in the proper style glass. Their food is very good.
Also, Brickstore is right next to a MARTA station, so you can take public transportation and not have to worry about driving tipsy. Big plus when you have such an awesome selection to sample.
Porter Beer Bar is called a mini-Brickstore by a few. it has a small front, but it is very long, and the back opens up to about ten or fifteen tables. Very extensive beer list. Their food gets top reviews.
If you want to go to a jaw dropping beer store, don't miss Hop City. It is like a beer supermarket, organized by style. So, if you want a Belgian, there is a whole row of them.
Greens also has a huge selection. You can find just about any beer in the world in those two stores.

Lot of great bars here, but if you get more on the north side also check out Wild Wings in Marietta off the 120 loop. Their beer selection is awesome and a great atmosphere.

Without a doubt, I would go to Brickstore. It's a classic, unpretentious bar with an excellent array of imported beers. If you just want beer selection, and ambience is not important, a short walk down the street to Taco Mac will get you a beer menu many pages long.

If you do go to any Taco Mac, go to the Prado at Sandy Springs and go to "The Fred" its a beer bar in the basement, its pretty neat with great beer on tap.

Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Magnum PI.
Find a bar with Sweetwater Dank Tank, and get the Magnum IP. This imperial pilsner is excellant, and will disappear soon.

I've had way too many stale beers at the Taco Mac in Decatur. I don't think they cycle through kegs fast enough. There's absolutely no reason to go there with all the other options in Decatur. (My house is a 20 minute walk from the square).

The Brickstore is a must if at all possible, but if you're going on a weekend get there earlyish or you might be waiting an hour+ for a table... If you're looking for something closer to the georgia world congress center, Stats is right across the street. It's a HUGE sports bar and they have tons of beer options. They even have a few tables that have personal taps at the table that you can reserve, you pay by the ounce. Not very good for sampling though.

Ended up going to the Vortex and had a great time. Got there a bit early 6:30 or so and barely got a pair of seats at the bar. Here's what I had.

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout
Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA
Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale
Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale
Sam Adam Oktoberfest

And of course I had their legendary coronary bypass burger which was AWESOME.

As long as they didn't charge you for the jumper cables to get you heart started again...

The standard bypass burger is a great sized burger however I'd like to see someone attempt the crazy one they have that's 3 grilled cheese sandwiches with 2 half pound patties between and like 12 slices of bacon and 8 slices of cheese.

zanemoseley said:

Funny thing is that if I had time there is actually an old co-worker that went to Germany to study brewing and got a job at Tarrapin. He wasn't a good friend or anything but I'm sure he'd give us a tour if we had the time.

Click to expand...

I absolutely LOVE terrapin. I support them any chance i possibly can. They are such great people, open to sharing tips and recipes for brewing, great atmosphere, at the best college in the world, and make fantastic beers.