The ATL's Original Craft Brewery: The Atlanta Brewing and Ice Company

Some folks admonish that those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. However, sometimes history sounds really tasty and repeat-worthy.  The latter seems to be the case with Atlanta's only brewery to have survived Prohibition and the naughtiness of Victorian Era ankle shows.  Long before Red Brick and Sweet Water there was the Atlanta City Brewing Company established in 1867 at the corner of modern day Courtland and Harris streets (now the Hilton).

In line with most of its counterparts, Atlanta Brewing was founded by German immigrants.  Egidius Fechter, Joseph Feishel, and Emil Langgesser's original wooden structure burned down in 1880 and was later rebuilt in the same location, this time with more brick and stone.  It seems very likely the trio of German friends may have been the inspiration for the Three Little Pigs, but I digress.  In 1892, seizing on the hellish summer temperatures of Atlanta, the brewery began to market ice as well, and subsequently renamed itself the Atlanta Brewing and Ice Co.  One of the brewery's earliest offerings was an ale with the very German moniker, "Steinerbru."

Things were really looking up for the company until a paternalist Congress decided Americans could no longer hold their collective liquor.  Like all breweries that managed to financially survive Prohibition, Atlanta Brewing had to come up with other streams of revenue to compensate for the lack of beer sales.  Producing soft drinks and bottling for Coca-Cola saw the brewery through the true Dark Ages of mankind.  With the passing of the 21st Amendment and the end of Prohibition in 1933, Atlanta Brewing was back in action, albeit for a short time under the same name.  In 1935, Chattanooga-based Southeastern Brewing Company (nee Chattanooga Brewing Company est. 1890) bought out the brewery and renamed itself and its new acquisitions the Atlantic Ice and Coal Co., because nothing says beer more than not saying it all. 

 In addition to the Chattanooga and Atlanta locations, Atlantic also brewed out of facilities in Charlotte, Norfolk, and Orlando thus becoming the largest regional brewery in the Southeast at the time.  From what I can gather, Atlantic produced several beers including a bock, red ale, pale ale, and a pilsener.  Their slogans during this time period included "Atlantic Ale and Beer: Full of Good Cheer" and "The Beer of the South."

 Sadly, the big national powerhouse breweries such as Anheuser-Busch, Schlitz, et al. eventually drove Atlantic out of business, and the Atlanta facility became the penultimate closing in 1955.  A year later, the final plant boarded up its doors in Charlotte, thus ending the run of the Southeast's largest regional brewery in 1956. 

So that's the tale of Atlanta's first major brewery.  Thanks for reading, and until next time, go drink some craft beer. H.A.G.S.

My Top 4th of July Beers

As the Southern Summer continues its brutal vampirization (we only come out at night) of the masses, we will soon take pause to celebrate our country's independence by venturing outside during the sweltering daytime heat so that we may grill processed meats and briefly become in-touch with our patriotic pyromania side by igniting cheaply-made Chinese explosives.  And as we all know, no Independence Day celebration would be complete without copious amounts of light (not calorie-wise), cold, sessionable (you can drink a lot of it without destroying your palate and/or your liver) beers to temporarily ward off the seasonal vampirism.  So in this post, I shall fulfill my patriotic duty by compiling some of my favorite grill-out beers to beat the heat and wash down beef composite products.  Keep in mind, these aren't necessarily the best beers in the world, but they serve as great hot weather/dogs beverages. The order of beers means nothing, as they're all special winners in my "I can read" book. HERE WE GO!

21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon (Watermelon Wheat)

It seems this offering from San Francisco-area 21st Amendment Brewing was purposely designed to be the drink of choice for patriotic Summer grill-outs.  The packaging features the eternal welcomer of the down-trodden, Lady Liberty, taking a respite (or a poo) on one of the nation's most recognizable and celebrated landmarks, the Golden Gate Bridge.  The beer itself combines a light wheat style perfect for high Fahrenheits with the flavor of Summer's unofficial mascot fruit, the watermelon.  I'll admit, when I first heard about this beer I was skeptical as I'm apt to be with gimmicky fruit beers.  However, the execution of this one is excellent, and the watermelon flavor achieves a perfect median between too faint and overpowering.  In addition to all of the above, 21st Amendment cans all of their goodies, so feel free to bring a 6-pack to the pool or lake along with your SpongeBob swimmies.  Oh, and the seeds have been removed so don't worry about spitting out half the beer.

Sierra Nevada American Pale Ale

For those of you who can read and have actually perused some of my previous Pulitzer-worthy posts, you know by now that I am a fanboy of one of American's first modern craft breweries, Sierra Nevada.  If you want to truly celebrate America and it's beer, you have to include Sierra's flagship American Pale Ale.  I love me a nice SN pale, because it's one of the most well-balanced, sessionable APAs on the block.  In addition to being an excellent eponym of an entire style, SN's APA also comes in cans now so your beers and your aquatic floaty-noodles can be the envy of the pool party.

Genesee Cream Ale

I can hear it from here: "But WAT, Genny is the swill I used to buy under-age when I was growing up in New York.  How could you add this to any respectable beer list!?"  Shut up, you.  I'm adding Genny, as its affectionately called, to the list for several reasons.  Even though it's now owned by a Costa Rican company, Genesee Brewing, founded in 1878, was a rare American brewery that managed to survive evil Prohibition and still brews its classic Cream Ale to this day.  Don't be confused by the name "cream ale" as there are definitely no dairy products in the beer.  At one time I might have known how the style got its name, but it escapes me now.  However, cream ales, or "golden ale" as Terrapin renamed theirs to avoid grossing people out, are light, crisp ales almost identical to a pale lager.  This is the type of sessionable, canned, cheap, cold, light beer you can drink in every situation with any type of food and explosive.  It's perfect for Summer vampirization and July 4th celebrations.  An American classic.

Reissdorf Kolsch

In all our jingoistic furor, let's take a timeout to give props to the Prussian general who trained the Continental Army in Redback-crushing military tactics and discipline.  I, of course, speak of our German friend and ally, Baron von Steuben.  In honor of him, it's only appropriate that I include my favorite German summer beer, Reissdorf Kolsch.  Similar to cream ales, kolsches are crisp, light ales, but unlike cream ales, kolsches have much more of a pleasant bready aroma and taste.  Reissdorf, which is an official kolsch since it's brewed in the German city of Koln (Cologne), is a bit more sophisticated and expensive choice for your grill out, but it's worth it IMHO.  Unfortunately, Reissdorf only comes in bottles, but Baron von Steuben wouldn't tactically have it any other way.

Prost, Herr Steuben!

Alltech's Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

What can be more American than soaking ale in barrels used to produce our country's only native liquor, bourbon (I'm grouping Sour Mash and bourbon into the same category: American whiskey. This is a beer blog, so I can play dumb when it comes to liquor.)?  Some of our forefathers including George Washington made their own whiskey, so naturally Alltech's barrel aged ale not only tastes great, but it's also well-in tuned with the holiday.  For those of you who really like to to go big on your July 4th parties, try pairing this with your favorite bourbon for a truly powerful patriotic punch in the palate.  Innis & Gunn's Original (Scottish ale aged in bourbon barrels for 77 days) makes a great, albeit slightly less American alternative.  I really like both these brews, because the bourbon doesn't overwhelm the beer as it does in some of the other barrel aged ales. 

THIS JUST IN!  Apparently, it's going to rain all day July 4th in Atlanta this year.  Accordingly, I feel inclined to offer a great rainy Independence Day selection.

Victory Hop Devil American IPA

I'm choosing a great American IPA, because like we did in the Revolutionary War, this beer style takes something originally British and smacks it with a freedom-loving America stick.  In the beer's case, this Americanization means adding copious amounts of U.S.-grown hops for a much higher IBU product than its oppressive British counterpart.  If your 4th is outdoors in the blistering heat, you may want to avoid such a highly hopped ale for something a bit more sessionable.  If however a deluge will  force you indoors with the lovely A/C, a nice AIPA would more than suffice for the occasion.  In addition to Hop Devil being a great, well-balanced AIPA, Victory Brewing is located in Downing, PA just roughly 30 miles from the cradle city of America's independence, Philadelphia.  Taste the freedom with every sip, and pat yourself on the back for being so patriotic. 

Thanks for reading.  Enjoy your beers, and have a great Independence Day!