There’s a dizzying number of breweries and brewpubs now open or planning to open around Atlanta

Breweries and brewpubs have become big business around Atlanta since former Governor Nathan Deal signed Senate Bill 85 into law in 2017. The law now allows the state’s breweries and distilleries to sell their beer and spirits directly to consumers without going through a distributor first.

For many new breweries opening around Atlanta, the taproom is where the majority of consumer-based beer sales take place, whether it be via full pours on draft at the bar or people swinging in for a six-pack. Both were prohibited by law prior to 2017 or severely limited, barring special exceptions or exemptions.

In a 2017 interview with Eater Atlanta, Second Self Beer Company co-owner Jason Santamaria called SB85 necessary for Georgia’s breweries to compete in an already crowded and competitive national beer market. Santamaria stated the new law would “change the brewing and beer culture of the whole state.”

By the end of 2018, the Brewer’s Association counted 82 breweries operating in Georgia, with 13 new breweries opening since 2017.

Eater Atlanta rounded up the new breweries now open, opening over the next year, or planning expansions around Atlanta from January 2018 to the present.

Halfway Crooks Beer
60 Georgia Avenue
The long-awaited Summerhill brewery just opened on Georgia Avenue. The brewery, owned by electrical engineer Shawn Bainbridge, Tim Kilic, and Belgium-born brewer Joran Van Ginderachte, includes a ten-barrel brewhouse, scattered table seating running the length of the tasting room, and two bars. Expect ales and lagers, barrel-aged beers, and New Zealand meat pies and fries created by Jake Harvey of Heaps ATL.

For the complete list and the rest of the Eater article, click here.

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Written by Beth McKibben, Eater Atlanta