Blog Topic: Beer Me

Culture Briefs: Be a VIP at the Twilight Criterium

By Blake Aued | April 22, 2015 2:40pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

Andy Scarano practices last week for the upcoming Twilight Criterium.

You’re going to the Twilight Criterium on Saturday, right? Right? Well, if you don’t feel like jockeying for space with half the city, here are a couple of VIP events, along with a good way to get your pre-race drank on.

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Grub Notes: Get Your First Taste of Southern Brewing Co.'s Beer

By Blake Aued | April 9, 2015 12:27pm

Southern Brewing Co. co-founders Brian Roth (left) and Rick Goddard (right) with 1991 Masters winner Ian Woosnam.

Athens' third craft brewery will make its public debut Sunday at the Classic City Brew Fest.

Southern Brewing Co. will offer six beers at the festival: a kolsch, an IPA, a milk stout, an English bitter and two brewed with wild yeast.

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In the Loop: Beer Bill Passes, Plastic Bag Ban Ban Rejected

By Blake Aued | March 27, 2015 3:44pm

Photo Credit: Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr

A watered-down version of Senate Bill 63, the "Beer Jobs Bill," passed the Georgia House this afternoon. House members also voted down SB 139, which would have barred local governments from banning or regulating plastic bags and other disposable containers.

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In the Loop: A Gutted Beer Jobs Bill Is Up for a Vote Friday

By Blake Aued | March 12, 2015 2:34pm

Photo Credit: Porter McLeod

Creature Comforts' David Stein pours a beer from a tank at the downtown Athens brewery.

Creative Loafing reported last month that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle (who received $130,000 in campaign contributions from alcohol distributors in 2014) was working to kill Senate Bill 63, the "Georgia Beer Jobs Bill," which would have allowed breweries to sell beer directly to the public.

Cagle didn't kill the bill, but it looks like he's at least partially gutted it. A version with the direct-sales clause removed is coming up for a vote Friday, the last day of the session for legislation to pass one chamber and move on to the other.

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In the Loop: This Bill Would Let Craft Brewers Sell Beer Directly to the Public

By Blake Aued | February 3, 2015 12:37pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

The tasting room at Terrapin Beer Co.

Senate Bill 63—the Georgia Beer Jobs Act—was introduced last Wednesday. The bill, co-sponsored by several Republicans, including Athens Sen. Frank Ginn, includes the following provisions:

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Culture Briefs: Terrapin Takes on Budweiser's Anti-Craft Beer Ad

By Blake Aued | February 2, 2015 11:27am

As we sipped our sissy Creature Comforts Athenas, daintily, with our pinkies extended, engaging in a Foucauldian discourse about Missy Elliott and dancing sharks, the Super Bowl ad that most drew our utterly ineffectual ire wasn't that M. Night Shyamalan-styleNationwide disaster, but this little reactionary appeal from Budweiser.

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In the Loop: You Can Buy Liquor in Oconee County Restaurants Now

By Lee Becker | January 8, 2015 11:21am

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

As a result of action taken Tuesday night by the Oconee County Board of Commissioners, the county now has a new liquor ordinance that allows for the sale of beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks in county restaurants.

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In the Loop: Commission Chairman Melvin Davis Suggests Allowing Bars in Oconee County

By Lee Becker | December 18, 2014 11:35am

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to consider over the next three weeks changes in the draft ordinance presented to it that will allow for the sale of liquor by the drink in county restaurants.

Commission Chairman Melvin Davis recommended that the board review the requirement in the draft ordinance that no more than 25 percent of the gross income at the restaurant be from the sale of alcoholic beverages.

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In the Loop: Does Downtown Athens Have Too Many Bars?

By John Huie | December 11, 2014 12:09pm

The Athens Downtown Development Authority, at its next meeting Jan. 20, will discuss limiting the number of bars downtown.

Coming in the wake of a Chronicle of Higher Education article that paints Athens as a poster-city for student drinking, it will be the first official discussion of a subject that's been unofficially discussed here for years.

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Grub Notes: Terrapin Beer Hosts Bake-Off, Expands Can Line

By Blake Aued | December 2, 2014 4:25pm

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout (a collaboration between Terrapin Beer Co. and Jittery Joe's Coffee), Terrapin is hosting a baking contest on Jan. 17 at the Foundry Ballroom (at Graduate Athens, aka the Inn Formerly Known as the Foundry Park).

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