Just wanted to say thanks for all the great suggestions. We did end up making the trip and are currently on day 4. If anyone is interested in keeping up with our journey, you can follow us on twitter @GoinEast4Yeast.
Our first stop was Lazy Magnolia in Mississippi. Leslie, one of the owners, gave a great tour. Unfortunately due to state laws they cant serve any beer on premise. New laws go into effect July 1st allowing them to open a taproom and begin brewing beer over 5%. We missed it by a week.
Our next stop was Pensacola Bay Brewery. The brewmaster had the day off so they had cancelled the tours, but when they found out we were from Baton Rouge they called him in to show is around. He seemed excited for an excuse to drink and talk about beer. They had an awesome IPA and we ended up leaving with a gallon growler full.
The tropical depression in the gulf ruined our day at the beach, so we headed to Atlanta a day early. Our first stop was 5 Seasons Brewing on the westside. Every beer i tried was excellent, but i definitely recommend the oatmeal porter. The manager took us down to the brewhouse to show us around. It was a very impressive setup.
The next morning we stopped by Red Hare Brewing just outside of atlanta. They were in the process of setting up their mew canning system, but took the time to show us around and let us sample some beer. They had an awesome saison on tap as their "Rabbit Reserve."
Our next stop was back to Atlanta for Sweetwater Brewing company. It took us a while to get past "The Gatekeeper" but she eventually found someone with enough free time to show is around. He ended up being the head brewmaster and gave us the full tour. Their expansion is incredible. They were in the middle of installing 8 new 1000 barrel tanks and a new 350 barrel brewhouse. Their new bottling line is massive as well. They said they were bottling about 430 barrels a day. The brewmaster then grabbed two bombers that he had been cellaring for over a year and took us to the tasting room. The guys there were awesome. We ended up hanging out in the tasting room for a while with a few brewers and someone from quality control. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far.
We decided to make the detour to Terrapin in Athens even though we couldnt confirm that we would be able to see the brewery. We got turned away at the front desk, but were flagged down as we were pulling out of the parking lot. The guy told us he was offended that we were leaving without seeing the brewery. He turned out to be one of the owners and gave us a private tour and tasting. Another impressive brewery putting out great beer. We ended up picking up a few six packs on the way out of athens.
We spent last night in greenville and hit up Dark Corners Distillery this morning. They had some pretty interesting moonshine they were putting out. We then walked two doors down to Blue Ridge Brewpub. The brewmaster was cool and we talked to him for a while. I wasn't all that impressed by the beer, but to be fair it was before noon and i was still hungover. We grabbed some bottles from the Greenville Bottle Exchange and headed to Thomas Creek.
Thomas Creek was extremely busy and didnt have much time to show us everything. It was cool to hear about all the different contract brews they've been putting out. We sampled a few if their beers and headed to Asheville.
We only had about 4 hours in Asheville, but we made the most of it. We hit up Pisgah, Wedge brewing, and Greenman. The brewing scene in Asheville is amazing. I didnt have a single beer that I didnt like.
We're on the road to D.C. now. Hopefully we'll be there by 3 am. Sorry for the long post, but i wanted a record of my trip for when i get back. We have D.C. Brau and Chocolate City on the schedule for tomorrow. We're winging the whole trip so a lot of it changes on the fly. We're still open to any recomendations
Thanks
i wore my tshirt last night in this thread's honor!
