Sweetwater moving to big new brewery - Weekly Specialty Beer Report - Sweetwater Brewing Co - Brief Article

Modern Brewery Age, March 1, 2004

Sweetwater Brewing Co. of Atlanta, GA, one of the south's premier micro-breweries, will move into a new home on April 1st. The new brewery will be located right in the heart of midtown Atlanta.

"We needed a new location," said Fredrick Bensch, co-founder of the brewery, "so that we could be right in the middle of our hometown, and more accessible to the folks who are drinking our beer."

Bensch and co-founder Kevin McNerney, former University of Colorado roommates, said that the new 25,000 square foot brewery will have the capacity to brew up to 30,000 barrels of beer.

"Sweetwater Brewing Co. will be expanding pretty aggressively within the Southeast, once our capacity can keep up with the current demand," McNerney reported.

That will be something of a challenge, according to Steve Farace, SweetWater's sales manager "Once the new brewery gets cranking, I'll have my work cut out for me."

Farace said that SweetWater's 2004 plans include product launches in Birmingham, Chattanooga, Augusta, Macon, and the Pan Handle of Florida.

"Our goal is to be the best beer available anywhere in the Southeast," Farace said.

SweetWater's product line up, featuring the 420 Extra Pale Ale and Sweet Georgia Brown as the two flagships, has so far only been available in Atlanta, Athens, Savannah, and in Western North Carolina.