Photo Credit: courtesy of Akademia Brewing Co.

Akademia Brewing Co.'s beers will soon be available at on draft at other restaurants, as well as bars and package stores, in Athens and Atlanta after the local brewpub partnered with Georgia distribution company Modern Hops.

The first local locations where Akademia's beer will be sold are Catch-22 Gastropub, Blue Sky Bar and the growler shops at both Five Points Bottle Shop locations. By the end of the year, Akademia hopes to branch out throughout Athens and Oconee County, metro Atlanta, Augusta and Savannah, Akademia owner Matt Casey said a news release.

The first kegs of tropical IPA IQ and gose Niobe's Tears shipped on Friday. In the future, Akademia and Modern Hops also plan to distribute High IQ, a double IPA; Moirai, a Belgian tripel; and Everything He Touches, a tart brett saison.

The brewery and wholesaler devised a system whereby freshly kegged beer is picked up from the brewery and taken directly to retailers, staying cold the entire time, according to Modern Hops owner Eric Levin.

"We really want to do our part in helping make Athens more of a craft beer scene," Levin said in the news release. "I think it has the ability to be another Asheville at some point in time, where some people come in for a weekend and are driven by the beer tourism."