The Boys Behind the Brew
Sweetwater is a 49,000-barrel microbrewery (located at 195 Ottley Drive in Atlanta, GA 30324) that specializes in producing aggressive West Coast style beers to be enjoyed in the Southeast US.

After six years of brewing up the best beer in the Southeast, the upstarts from Georgia gained the national attention they worked so hard to achieve. SweetWater Brewery was awarded the title "Small Brewery of the Year" at the Great American Beer Festival, also giving them the distinction of being the first and only brewery east of the Mississippi to win the big one at this 25 year old Super Bowl of brewing. SweetWater is located in midtown Atlanta and offers tours and tastings Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons. Remember SweetWater's mission statement "You're not here for a long time, you're here for a good time!" See you at the brewery for a coldie.

So how did Sweetwater begin to flow?
The SweetWater Brewing Company began as a pipe dream for two roommates attending school at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Freddy Bensch and Kevin McNerney realized they had more of a hankering for beers than books. The boys spent the next few years at the school of hard knocks learning the business of brewing, and perfecting their style of aggressive finger dipping beers.

Setting out to make a name for themselves they cruised around the Southeast looking for a place to set up shop. The truck broke down in Atlanta leaving the boys high and dry. With some down time, as with all good road trips, they went with the flow and sampled the Atlanta scene. After six days of 'sampling' some southern culture they knew they found their honey hole. Deciding Atlanta was the spot they called up their family and friends and good old Uncle Sam to kick start the dream - drink free beer until their dying day and make enough dough to feed the dog. On February 17, 1997, SweetWater enjoyed their first brew.

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