Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2022, and “certainly before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve,” Atlanta Brewing Company will open a new, state-of-the-art brewery in a yet-to-be-disclosed location, CEO Alton Shields Wednesday told What Now Atlanta in a telephone interview.
The craft beer purveyor is also planning to open two satellite taprooms that will “bookend the Atlanta BeltLine,” Shields said.
As Atlanta Brewing Company gears up to begin construction on its new brewery and taproom, the company’s existing location, at 2323 Defoor Hills Rd NW., will close its doors to the public come July 3, 2022. Atlanta Brewing’s lease doesn’t expire on its current space of 15 years until January 31, 2023, but the landlord is letting the tenant leave early, according to Shields. “Our new landlord wanted to double the rent,” Shields said. “When you consider the increase in rent and a nearly million dollar investment that would be needed to upgrade our brewing systems if we stayed, relocating is a no-brainer.”
In its new home, which Shields said would be revealed in the next few weeks, Atlanta Brewing Company will operate out of nearly half the space at 9,000 square feet with a renewed focus on the customer. “To be competitive in the ever-growing craft beer market, we needed to move some place that is more fitting to a new type of consumer,” Shields said. “The craft beer customer is very sophisticated.”
In addition to streamlining its products to focus on its core beers, the new location will offer a kitchen affording Atlanta Brewing Company to play host to chefs and culinary pop-ups. “We’re never going to be a brewpub but we need kitchen facilities for visiting chefs and pop-ups,” Shields said.
As for the location, which Shields said is in the central business district, staying in Atlanta was the only option. “We’re Atlanta brewing,” Shields said. “We need to be in Atlanta and in Fulton County. We’re doubling down and going into the city.”
