ON MYAJC.COM
To see the earlier brewpubs package online, go to http://on-ajc.com/georgia-brewpubs.
But what’s it like to be the brewer at a brewpub? As it turns out, it’s a pretty great job. Though, as you might suspect, it’s often hard work. And some of Georgia’s laws have made the challenge of running this sort of small business more difficult here than in most other places.
John “JR” Roberts is the brewmaster and managing partner at Max Lager’s Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery in downtown Atlanta, a business he helped found in 1998.
“The great thing about a brewpub is that you can come in and get the freshest beer possible,” Roberts says. “My Hopsplosion IPA is never older than two or three weeks.
“The other great thing is that you can kind of brew on a whim and see what happens. If a new ingredient becomes available, you can try it out. I just brewed a beer with a brand-new experimental hop, and that beer will be ready to pour in a few weeks.”
Making a wide variety of styles with all sorts of different ingredients ties into the culinary side of brewpubs, says Roberts, who’s also a talented home cook with a penchant for Asian dishes.
“I think most of us became brewpub brewers because we love that marriage of food and beer,” Roberts says. “It’s the whole atmosphere of being in a pub and being able to interact with the people around you who are enjoying your beer. And it’s being able to work with your chef to match food and beer or use your beer as an ingredient in a dish or a special.
“Of course, that’s the bad part, too. You have to run a restaurant. It takes a certain kind of crazy to do it. The restaurant business is a difficult business.”
Crawford Moran is the co-owner and brewmaster at three metro brewpubs, Five Seasons Westside, Five Seasons North in Alpharetta and Slice & Pint in Emory Village.
“The best thing right now is that people are just so much more aware of craft beer,” Moran says. “As someone who’s been doing it for 20 years in Atlanta, it’s amazing to see the change. When I started, nobody knew what craft beer was, and you really couldn’t go to a good restaurant and get a good beer.
“When my kids started school, people would ask me what I did. When I said I made beer, a lot of them would get nervous and walk away. Now, everybody is aware of it. People talk to me about it constantly, and they’re all craft beer drinkers, and nobody is scared of me anymore.”
Like Roberts, Moran appreciates the atmosphere that surrounds working in a brewpub, and he agrees that one of the most rewarding aspects is the freedom that comes with the job.
“The beauty of the brewpub world is the ability to explore and create new things all the time,” Moran says. “The options are almost limitless and I’m blessed to have two partners that encourage me to go for it. I call it the snowflake theory, which is let’s always make something different.
“Just last week, I did six IPAs that I’d never brewed before. Last year, we probably did 300 to 400 distinct beers, if you include special cask ales.”
Chase Medlin, who is younger and less experienced than Roberts or Moran, but no less creative, has been the head brewer at Twain’s Brewpub & Billiards in Decatur since late 2012.
Medlin echoes Roberts and Moran in his love of the brewpub atmosphere, where creativity is a big part of the job, and brewers and customers can easily interact.
“If I’m at a place in the brewing cycle and I have 20 minutes downtime, I can go out and talk to somebody or taste somebody on a new beer,” Medlin says. “And we have regulars who love certain beers, like our Criminal Sin IPA, and they can be very vocal if it’s not on draft.
“Last year, I did 67 different recipes. It’s nice with the local community and having close friends that are in the culinary world to find what’s fresh or in season to incorporate into our beers. We’ve done summer seasonal with infusions of fruit and spicy peppers and all sorts of other things. But what I love about our brewpub is that we have something for everybody, from a session amber to a crazy hopped-up imperial red.”
