A new brewery, distillery and restaurant aims to bring community, beer and good food to Olde Town Conyers.
Husband-and-wife duo Amy and Tom Johnson are bringing their vision for a beer-driven community spot into focus, with B-Side the Tracks Brewing Co. in the works now.
“I’ve always wanted to open a place like ‘Cheers,’ where everybody knows your name,” Amy told What Now Atlanta. “It’s always been a dream in the back of my mind.”
Variety is the name of the game at B-Side the Tracks. Visitors will be able to find six house beers on tap, along with seasonal beers, hard seltzers and craft cocktails. Artisan pizza will take center stage of the food program, along with cheeseburgers, weekend brunch, and other rotating menu items.
“The variety’s there, but the quality stays the same,” Tom said.
Engagement with the community is a large part of the mission of B-Side the Tracks. There will be tours to teach visitors about the brewing equipment, as well as tastings to teach about different types of beer.
“What we want to do is have pairings to teach people about beer,” Amy said. “We’ll have food pairings to say ‘This is the best beer for dessert or appetizers,’ so it will give people the opportunity to actually learn.”
And there’s a lot people can learn. Amy participated in the American Brewers Guild science and engineering program, an intensive and comprehensive course on all things brewing. (The exam took 12 hours.)
The couple also got hands-on experience through an immersion course at Colorado Boy Pizzeria & Brewery in Montrose, Colorado, to prepare for opening their own brewery.
“We got to meet a bunch of really cool people,” Tom said. “Amy learned the brewing side, I learned the front-of-house side and hospitality part. After that, we were hooked.”
The Johnsons purchased the two-story building for the brewery last November. The structure at 909 Commercial Street NE was built in the 1800s, so a lot of extra work and due diligence is needed to make sure it’s structurally sound.
But the age of the building also makes for some rich history and architectural and design details that captivated the Johnsons. The building was formerly a hardware store, and the floor still has numbers carved into it that were used to measure out rope and chain.
“That’s really cool stuff. That’s why we fell in love with the building,” Tom said.
They are leaning into the railroad theme for the business that faces Railroad Street and is literally beside the tracks. The name is also a musical nod to the B-side of a vinyl or tape.
“All the cool songs were on the B-side,” Tom said.
This is the Johnsons’ first time opening a brick-and-mortar business. In addition to extensive brewing knowledge, they aim to bring an emphasis on quality service to B-Side the Tracks.
“We want to train our employees well, treat our employees well, and we want all our customers to have a great experience every time they come, whether they’re sitting at the bar watching the Bulldogs game or bringing their family with their kids and sitting upstairs,” Amy said.
B-Side the Tracks Brewing Co. is expected to open in early 2025.
