Beer Hunting in and Around Douglasville

You hear a lot about craft beer these days, but where do you find it?  To start, it’s as near as your local supermarket. Grocery chains including Publix, Kroger, Ingles, and Food Lion, all carry craft beer.  You’ll find beer from great craft breweries including Terrapin, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada and Magic Hat. Craft beer found at the grocery store will be regular releases from these breweries, be it year round or regular seasonal brews.  Personally, I love being able to pick up New Belgium 1554 Black Ale or Red Brick Brown Ale at my grocery store.

However, what really pulls at the heart strings of a beer enthusiast are the more limited edition brews: the not-so-regular-releases and “one-off” limited editions.  Knowing where to look for these sometimes elusive brews is the key to a successful beer hunt. 

Ask at your favorite restaurant.  Dining spots in Douglasville, including Taco Mac and The Irish Bred Pub, keep a regularly rotating selection of craft brew on hand.  Taco Mac keeps a very extensive selection of year-round, seasonal and one-off brews. It also has a beer club, called Brewniversity, which is sure to please craft beer fans. (Be sure to check out Lindsay Millett’s recent blog “” for full details)

If you’re looking for craft beer to take home, find package stores that carry a good selection of craft brew.  We certainly have a few of these in and around Douglasville.  Arbor Place Beverage Depot keeps a pretty good selection which includes rotating seasonal releases and one-off beers (Sweetwater’s Dank Tank series, Terrapin’s Side Project series, and Stone’s Vertical Epic series, among others).  A new place in town, Mike’s Package Store, on Fairburn Road, has a good start on its craft beer inventory.  Conversations with the manager promise more craft beer in the future–drop in and express your interest in seeing more craft beer in the shop.

Beyond our city limits, Highland Beverage in Hiram carries an impressive selection of craft beer and the owner has been known to take special orders.  East of town, Camp Creek World of Beverage keeps an extensive stock of craft brews.  Going in the other direction, Cheers is the place to find craft beer in Carrollton.

While there are great beer retail outlets inside the Perimeter, like Hop City, Green’s Beverages and Tower Spirits, there’s still an incredible selection of craft beer to be found in our area as well.  Keep in mind that each shop will not carry the exact same selection and some of the limited editions are more limited than others.  Many of the places mentioned above have Facebook pages and Twitter feeds so you can keep up with the newest arrivals.  So now that you know where to find craft beer, I wish you the best on your beer hunt!

Limited releases available now:
Southern Tier Crème Brulee Imperial Stout:  This annual release hit the shelves last week.  There is an amazing sweet vanilla-caramel flavor to this potent 9% brew.  Share this with friends-it's a great dessert beverage.  For a summer treat, pour 8 to 12 ounces of this ale over a large scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Sweetwater Dank Tank Browneyed Buckeye:  The latest of the Sweetwater Dank Tank series, a set of one-off brews, this is a Brown IPA. The series is usually packaged in painted 22 oz. bottles, however, this Dank Tank edition is draft only.  It’s been spotted recently at the Douglasville Taco Mac and if you like hoppy browns, this one may be to your liking.  Hurry though, this is a very limited beer, when it’s gone, it’s gone!

Upcoming limited edition releases: 
Sweetwater Crank Tank Rye’d Ale:  Benefiting Camp Twin Lakes through sales and raising awareness about the camp's work with kids, this rye beer is dry hopped for aroma and taste. This ale is only available for two months starting in mid-August, so look for it in 22 oz. bottles or on tap.

Terrapin/Left Hand Peaotch:  These two breweries collaborate annually for the Midnight Project series, which has produced some outstanding limited edition brews.  This year’s project is an ale with peaches added.  It’s one that’s bound to sell out fast.