A Little Sav. Craft Brew History

I first must apologize about the length between blog posts.  The problem is there is only one of me and with a full time job, three kids, dog, and a husband that works a full time and is also trying to keep up with the growth of Coastal Empire Beer (CEB) I have very limited me time (aka blog time).  My duties as brewers wife has seemed to double thanks to Kevin’s “free” time going to equipment and building layout designs, brewing demands, and tis the season for beer festivals.  Did I forget to mention we finally have a real brewery home in Savannah now?    Anyway.  If  I am not dealing with kids and dirty laundry I am helping out with t-shirt sales and orders.   Even though I have a mountain of laundry and totally exhausted from wrestling the kids into bed, since Kevin was out at a beer event, I took some time to read up on articles about the Savannah craft beer scene.   I thought I would report a little bit of  the history of craft brew in Savannah, at least in this century, and clear up some misconceptions that CEB is new area start up Brewery .

Moon River Brewing Company opened in 1999 and took over the former Oglethorpe Brewing Company .   Moon River (and former Oglethorpe Brewing Co.)   brewpubs were/are not considered to be “true production” breweries  in the articles.   The reason is due to Georgia law that only allows them to distribute their beer in kegs, and only recently did the limit of off premise sales get raised to 5,000 BBL.   Owner John Pinkerton, as president of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild, has been working to get the laws changed in Georgia to be more in line with the states that surround us.   Pinkerton has also won a gold medal at the GABF for his beer, the GABF is the considered by most to be the second most prestigious US Beer Competition behind the bi-annual World Beer Cup.

The first craft production brewery (in this century)  was Old Savannah Brewing Company.   They operated from around 2004 to 2006.   The true first production brewery took four years to finally open due to all the red tape, permits, and ordinances they had to navigate as a first timer.  They also had to learn to try and sell beer in a town that hadn’t fully embraced craft beer at the time. The brewery produced award winning beers and had great reviews initially. but The brewery shut down in 2006.  They won a World Beer Cup Bronze medal in the English Extra Special Bitter category.  It is rumored that they shutdown due to partner fighting.

Then in 2011 along comes  Coastal Empire Beer Company.  We are a contract brewery.   The difference between us and the recently opened South Bound Brewery comes down to business models.   When Kevin decided to open the brewery with his brother Chris the biggest concern they both had, given the economy, was taking on such a huge financial  risks.  It came down to how to best keep their families financially safe.  Chris and Kevin interviewed and met with several breweries that had extra capacity to brew the beer.   

The misconception that many have is that Kevin just simply handed them a beer recipe to brew brew or even worse that he didn't even come up with the recipe on his own and just said hey I want you to brew a beer for us so we can sell it.   That is so far from what happens.  Kevin being the brewmaster is very involved and travels over to the contract brewery on brew days.   That attention to detail has won Kevin 2012 and 2013 medals from the US Open Beer Championship and CEBC has held title of People’s Choice for Best Beer at Savannah Craft Beer Festival three years running. 

Thanks to Kevin’s and Chris’s smart financial plan of starting out as a contract brewer, they now have a solid base as they move the production of the beer to their new Savannah location.

Savannah  welcomed South Bound Brewery that opened up earlier this year on E. Lathrope Ave.  Savannah will also be the future home to Service Brewing brewery.   Service Brewing is a veteran run business and I have to admit with a retired uncle and brother from the Air Force and a niece in the Army, I think it’s pretty cool. 

Now you know a little of the most recent (at least discoverable in my time restricted research)  and the history of  craft brew in Savannah .   Even if this is just on my blog that not many people read I wanted people to know about the true area visionaries and production brewery that paved the way.

Old Savannah  Brewing Co. even though your gone you are not forgotten.  

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Thank you  to John Pinkerton  for working to help get law reform in Georgia when it comes to craft brew!

On a side note Kevin and I will be going to the GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL in Colorado this weekend.   I can’t remember the last time Kevin and I had a weekend alone with no kids. I will try to keep you posted, but I may not be any condition to blog..but find me on twitter.   I may not be the biggest fan of beer and for the life of me I can’t remember the difference between all the different types,  but I am a huge fan of the ciders.    I know I am the worst brewer’s wife ever.