Earlier this semester I made a trip down to my home state of Georgia to
go visit a friend who goes to the University of Georgia. Athens is a great city
and is known for being the home of the Bulldogs, but that not the only thing it’s
recognized for. Athens is also the headquarters
for Terrapin Beer Company, so while I was down visiting my friend we decided to
go check it out.
Terrapin was founded by John Cochran, a 1993 University of Georgia graduate,
and Brian "Spike" Buckowski a 1996 American Brewers Guild
(California) graduate. The two met in 1998 while working at another brewery in
Atlanta. They both had a passion for home brewing and decided to partner with
each other to start a craft brewing company. They wanted to start their brewery
in a place that was as unique beers, so Spike and John thought Terrapin Beer
Company should be located in Athens, GA because both Athens and Terrapin have a
great love of music, are environmentally friendly, and extremely fun and lively.
Terrapin introduced its first beer, the Rye Pale Ale in April of 2002.
Six months later while only available on draft in Athens, Terrapin’s sole
offering won the American Pale Ale Gold Medal at the 2002 Great American Beer
Festival.
In 2006, Terrapin obtained an $800,000 investment from investors
which allowed them to buy brewing equipment and lease another facility in
Athens.
In 2008, the brewery moved to a larger 45,000 square-foot facility in Athens
so they could focus on expanding. Here is their present location they are able
to produce up to 18,500 barrels per year. Terrapin Brewing Company offers
tastings and tours and averages 30,000 visitors per year.
In 2011, Terrapin Beer Co. sold a minority interest of less than 25% to
Miller Coors craft and import division Tenth and Blake Beer Company, in order
to help their business grow and get Terrapin beer to be produced all over the
nation.
Terrapin Beer Co. is open to the public for tastings every Wednesday
thru Saturday from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm. For $10 you are able to enter the
brewery, receive a tour, and get a souvenir Terrapin pint glass, with 8 sample
tickets for 4oz samples of the brews.
I went on a Friday for the full two hours the brewery was open and I
loved every second of it. There was a great indoor and an outdoor area to hang
out in. During the two-hour “Terrapin Tour” we enjoyed sampling the brews, listening
to live music, and going on a educational tour of the brewery that was lead by the
staff. The only rules they had for the tour was that you must have on closed
toes shoes for safety reasons. So we
filled our sample glasses up and headed to the tour in which we were lead around
the production facility.
The tour takes you on a walk by the distillers, mashers, boilers,
filters, the bottling area, onto the
packaging sector, and we finished the tour in the storage fridge where there
are cases of beer all around you (which was a magnificent sight!). The tour
guide was really engaging, funny, and very knowledgeable. We learned all about the brewing process and
spent a lot of time talking about the history of the founders and the brewery.
There beers that
I sampled while I was at the brewery were:
Tree Hugger, ABV:
5.0%, this beer was a great combination of hops and malt and I tasted hints
of apple, and apricot
Rye Pale Ale, ABV:
5.5%, this is an slightly bitter pale ale made with a portion of malted rye
for smoothness.
Hopsecutioner
IPA, ABV: 7.3%, this beer was full of hops, it also
reminded me of a Sierra Nevada IPA. Nice bitter start and was full of
flavor. I loved this beer, it was definitely one of my favorites.
Golden Ale, ABV:
5.3%, this was definitely the lightest beer I sampled. It was very
refreshing and tastes of pale malt
Monk's
Revenge, ABV: 9.1% , this beer had a really strong
alcohol content, and because if this the bar tenders only let you sample this
beet once. However I might or might not
have broken that rule.. this beer had such a strong yet delicious flavor that I
had to try more than once.
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