E43: Georgia Beer History with Rom Smith and Mary Boyle

A little history for you this week. 

Ron Smith and Mary O. Boyle are with us today. Not only are they craft beer fans, they are the authors of “Atlanta Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the South” as well as “Prohibition in Atlanta: Temperance, Tiger Kings and White Lightning.”

Atlanta and the south have had a love/hate relationship with alcohol over the past 250 or so years. 

From the Whitehall Tavern opening on the West End in 1835 (back when Atlanta was called Terminus), to the mayoral election of Moses Frumwalt (of the awesomely named "Free and Rowdy" party) over Jonathan Norcross (of the "Moral Party), the early years of the region were quite...interesting. 

Then, with the Civil War, reconstruction, and the abolitionist movement, the region underwent many, many changes. 

The opening of Atlantic Brewing in 1935 (it was located on the current site of the downtown Hilton) marked a turn in Atlanta's brewing history. After its closing in the 50s, Atlanta's only brewery was a branch of Canadian beer maker Carling (now made by Molson/Coors). And when it closed in 1973, Atlanta went nearly 4 decades without a brewery until Atlanta Brewing Company (now Red Brick) opened its doors in 1993. 

We really needed 3 hours to get in-depth with this topic, and we definitely plan on having Mary and Ron on the show in the future. In the meantime, we highly recommend picking up their two books: 

• “Atlanta Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the South"
• “Prohibition in Atlanta: Temperance, Tiger Kings and White Lightning”

Truck and Tap's Beers of the week: 

In keeping with the historical theme, we went with a couple from the vault, including:

• Red Brick 20th anniversary (2013)
• SweetWater 17th anniversary (2014)
• Terrapin Tiramisu Hoo (2015)
• And a newer one, Monday Night Brewing Blood Orange Blind Pirate IPA

Headlines (sponsored by Your Pie Perimeter)

• Damien Schaefer, a stalwart in Georgia's craft beer scene, has passed away. (source: Ale Sharpton)

Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from Becky Smalls.

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