Athens Breast Fest just one Terrapin Event

With live music, tours every half hour, and free flowing samples, the Terrapin Beer Company feels more like a party than a regional brewery. But a brewery it is, and a good one, too.

In 2002, friends and coworkers at a microbrewery in Atlanta, John Cochran and Brian “Spike” Buckowski, decided they could make better beer than their employers.

So they cooked up a batch of their own Rye Pale Ale and listened for comments at the Classic City Brew Fest. Six months later, they were off to Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. They returned with the American Pale Ale Gold Medal and a vision for a brewery specializing in unique and interesting beer.

And Terrapin Beer Company was born.

The brewery produces four year-round beers and enough side projects and seasonal selections to keep customers happy. True to their innovative vision, Terrapin’s 14 special projects include beer made with chocolate, Tupelo honey and even pumpkin. And the garden beside the brewery is growing several varieties of hops, just to satisfy their innovation lust.

Named for the Grateful Dead song, Terrapin Station, Terrapin Beer Company now produces about 19,000 barrels of beer a year and distributes its products to nine states. They expanded in 2007 when they bought the 40,000 square foot Jordache Jeans building on Newton Bridge Road. Fans of anything Grateful Dead, John and Spike partnered with Richard Biffle, Grateful Dead poster artist, to produce the logos and artwork that make each special project that much more special. 

In true Athens style, Terrapin Beer Company is active in the community. The brewery recycles everything possible and supports charities. Local farmers arrive daily to truck off the spent grain to use as animal feed and fertilizer. Luna Bakery’s Spent Grain Bread is an offshoot of Terrapin’s donations. And the foundation of the stage for that live music you’re listening to while tasting a sample? It was once the brewery’s concrete floor.  Nothing wasted here.

Breast Fest will be at Terrapin Beer Company this Saturday, March 26. Terrapin supplies the venue, the beer and the stage.

The next weekend, on April 2, is Terrapin’s Anniversary Carnival. On the agenda are family-friendly face painting, Frisbee throwing, and your favorite brewer perched above a dunk-tank full of beer. You can choose to dunk any of the three founders: John Cochran, President; Spike Buckowski, Brew Master; or Irina, Purchasing Manager. They’ll also offer up the residual stock of seasonal favorites stored in the warehouse.

In the fall, we’ll see The Hops Harvest. Terrapin employees will harvest the hops from their own garden and ‘fresh hop’ several casks of beer. Don’t forget the live music on top of the recycled stage.