The New Red Brick Brewing (25-Years)

Exciting updates from Red Brick Brewing in Atlanta, GA:

ATLANTA, GA  (November 20, 2017) – It has been just less than 25 years since Red Brick Brewing Co opened their doors as the first craft brewery in Atlanta, and a lot has changed. Breweries have come and gone, beer styles have become popular and fallen off. Red Brick has hung on as a mainstay in the Atlanta craft beer scene, and going into year 25 it looks to make changes that will bring them back to the craft brewery of choice in the local market.

One change over the past year was hiring a new Director of Brewing Operations. Gavin McKenna started with Red Brick in June of 2017 and hit the ground running making changes to the brewing processes, starting with the water chemistry and recipe development. “It’s very hard to know what a beer tastes like until you have the right water to support the flavor it expresses. So that was the first thing I did,” says McKenna “After that there was a lot of work with recipe development. There has been a learning curve with how to best use the system to create quality beers.” The focus has become beer quality control and always bringing the best product to the consumer.

McKenna has made some impactful changes to the beer quality at Red Brick and is excited for three new beer releases over the next month. The first will take place on Friday, November 24, with the 2017 release of Hype Whale Imperial Stout. This batch of Hype Whale was aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrels. The event will take place on Black Friday at the brewery from 4pm-10pm, and will feature live music, food by local chef Chip English, and the Drawn and Disorderly local art market.

In addition to a focus on quality control, Red Brick has also made a concerted effort to give back to their community. One of these partnerships has been with Georgia Aquarium, in the form of a collaboration beer series whose proceeds go to research and conservation efforts. The newest beer in this series is Sea Otter Stout, a roasty and full bodied stout, releasing for the first time at Red Brick Brewing Co on December 1.

“We are proud to be in partnership with Red Brick Brewing Co. for a third craft beer to bring awareness to another endangered species in our care, the sea otter,” said Gina Fisher, associate curator, mammals and birds. “This collaboration is so unique and a great way to bring awareness to this animal and to inspire others to help.”

The event on December 1 is a “Holiday Morning” theme party: guests can wear their best Christmas pajamas, enjoy holiday variants of Sea Otter Stout, and are encouraged to bring a gift to donate to Toys for Tots (and will receive a $5 gift card in exchange for donation).

The final release of the year is a new direction for Red Brick, Journey Without Maps DIPA. Five pounds per barrel of Eukanot, Citra and Denali hops lend huge tropical fruit and citrus notes to the beer. Journey Without Maps will release on Thursday, December 7 at Red Brick, and will be available in 16oz cans at the brewery only.

As the brewery moves into their 25^th year it is committed to continually releasing new, fresh and innovative styles, with a constant commitment to quality control. Red Brick Brewing Co is excited to see what 2018 will bring for the Atlanta craft beer scene.