Blog Topic: Beer Me

In the Loop: Athens Is Now the Poster Child for Binge Drinking

By Blake Aued | December 1, 2014 10:56am

Jason Benning purchases thousands of dollars worth of food and alcohol for his Libation Station tailgate. Credit: Randy Schafer

Athens gets a lot of national attention, but this is one of those times when we probably don't want it.

A recent Chronicle of Higher Education article highlighted Athens—long known as a drinking town with a football problem—as the poster child for binge drinking.

The article tells the story of how Athens came to be drowning in booze through the eyes of University of Georgia Police Chief Jimmy Williamson, former fake ID kingpin William Trosclair (whom Flagpole profiled in February), bar owner Mark Bell, UGA health official Liz Prince, alcohol-free party planner Adam Tenny and tailgater Jason Bening (whose Libation Station was featured in a Flagpole photo gallery last month).

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Grub Notes: Creature Comforts Launches Cans, Is Already Expanding

By Blake Aued | November 12, 2014 11:24am

Creature Comforts Brewing Co. launched its can line on Monday and already is planning to expand, CEO Chris Herron told reporters at a media event on Monday.

The downtown Athens brewery plans to expand its capacity from 4,000 barrels to 8,000 barrels annually in February. That's an increase of 1.3 million cans (a barrel is two kegs or 31 gallons).

Herron said the expansion is ahead of schedule. "We knew Athens drank, but we didn't know Athens drank that much," he joked.

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In the Loop: Oconee Voters Approve Liquor by the Drink

By Lee Becker | November 5, 2014 3:09pm

Oconee County voters approved by large margins the sale of liquor by the drink in restaurants throughout the county and its cities and continuation of the 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for another six years.

Unofficial results show 65.4 percent of those who cast ballots approving of liquor by the drink, and 65.1 percent approving of SPLOST.

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Grub Notes: Creature Comforts Wins Great American Beer Festival Award

By Blake Aued | October 6, 2014 12:58pm

Photo Credit: Porter McLeod

Athens' Creature Comforts Brewing Co. might be brand new on the craft beer scene, but it's already winning awards.

The brewery, which opened in April, took home a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Colorado in the American Style Brett Beer category for Curiosity No. 2, part of its one-off series of unusual or obscure styles.

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In the Loop: Beer and Wine Laws Loosely Enforced

By Lee Becker | September 12, 2014 3:35pm

From Oct. 7, 2008, when the Oconee County Board of Commissioners approved the first beer and wine licenses for restaurants in the county, until Jan. 1 of this year, compliance with two key provisions of the beer and wine ordinance was entirely on the honor system.

The county simply assumed that the percentage of sales from beer and wine by each license holder was not more than 25 percent of total sales in the individual restaurant and that each sale of an alcoholic beverage in the restaurant also included “a reasonable order of a meal or appetizer.”

Starting with renewal applications for this year, license holders were required to fill out a form listing their gross income from total sales, the gross income from the sale of beer and wine, and the resulting percentage of income from beer and wine sales.

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Grub Notes: Southern Brewing Co. Broke Ground Today

By Blake Aued | September 3, 2014 3:59pm

Southern Brewing Co.'s construction site. Photo courtesy of Athens-Clarke County.

Another Athens brewery, Southern Brewing Co., broke ground this morning and is scheduled to open in May 2015.

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Culture Briefs: We Live-Tweeted the USA's Crushing Defeat at the World Cup

By Blake Aued | July 2, 2014 10:57am

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

Me, Flagpole music editor Gabe Vodicka, beer writer Jacob Yarbrough and film critic Derek Hill, that is. It went about like you'd expect.

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Culture Briefs: Athens Watches the World Cup

By Blake Aued | June 27, 2014 11:03am

Plenty of Athens residents played hooky Thursday to watch the U.S. advance to the knockout round in the World Cup in spite of a 1–0 loss to Germany, thanks to Portugal's win over Ghana. Flagpole photo intern Joshua L. Jones was on the scene.

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Grub Notes: Sister Louisa's Church to Open an Athens Branch

By Hillary Brown | April 25, 2014 10:02am

Sister Louisa's Church in Atlanta (photo via Facebook)

It is dang difficult to write a headline that encapsulates exactly what Sister Louisa's Churchis for those who don't know. Basically, it is a bar, but a far more interesting one than most we have in Athens, run by Grant Henry, a.k.a., Sister Louisa, an Atlanta artist who already has one location (Sister Louisa's CHURCH of the Living Room and Ping Pong Emporium) on Edgewood Avenue, serving drinks and light eats in an environment one could describe as nouveau Southern rococo.

Henry says he's been looking for space for an Athens location for six months and decided to take over the space at 254 W. Clayton St. that most recently housed Jack's Bar (and was formerly The Mercury Lounge, among various other iterations).

Henry says he is shooting for an opening date of Aug. 15, as he plans extensive renovations.Whether or not he'll offer food—or ping pong—is up in the air as of now Sister Louisa's Church (It's a Glory Hole)—yes, that appears to be the official name—will offer food and ping pong, according to Henry's comment below, and is sure to be a welcome addition to the Athens bar scene.

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Grub Notes: Athens Named Next Great Craft Beer Town

By Blake Aued | April 9, 2014 10:55am

Adam Beauchamp of Creature Comforts.

The food website First We Feast calls Athens the next great craft beer town.

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