Chance Meeting?

Today was the kind of day that makes you go hmmm. My work plans included a lunch review of our just received preliminary architectural drawings with 5 Seasons' brewmaster Kevin McNerney, our brewery consultant formerly of Sweetwater fame. The drawings were received from our architect yesterday and provided both excitement from the emerging possibilities, and also challenges from the limited space to fit them into. So today's meeting with Kevin was to review and work out necessary adjustments and edits to these early space drawings. We wrapped up the meeting with a review of our new ad for the Three Taverns head brewer position only posted this morning. As we discussed the ad and the job description, Kevin asked how my efforts to advertise in Belgium were coming. You see, I've had a growing vision of finding a trained brewer from Belgium to come to America and help build our new Belgian-inspired brewery.  But I shared with Kevin that I'd had little luck discovering the avenues to look for brewers in Belgium. And suddenly Kevin remembered that New Belgium's brewmaster, Peter Brouckaert, was next door at Taco Mac. A quick call to Fred resulted in a walk next door and a surprise meeting with Peter where he shared invaluable information about Belgian brewers and where to find them, including some personal referrals. After a special bottle of Malheur from Adam and sample tastes of a new Mikkeller, we wrapped up the "chance" meeting at 5 Seasons with  a glass of Kevin's amazingly delicious Saison aged in wine barrels (a must try while it lasts). Surprises such as this are happening frequently enough to make one wonder if they should be surprises at all. No way to know yet where today's discovery will take us, but our search for a head brewer just got more interesting. Stay tuned.

A Silver Medal for A Night In Brussels IPA

As my beer nears commercial launch in 2013, I decided to enter what is likely my last official homebrewers competition. The 10th annual Brewmaster Open, sponsered by the Brewmasters of Alpharetta homebrew club, is one of the states largest and most formidable competitions. And I was most interested to see how our launch recipe, A Night In Brussels IPA, would fare in the always competitive Belgian Specialty category. A silver medal and the judges comments gave further affirmation of the market possibilities of this uniquely crafted American/Belgian-style IPA. While not a part of our launch New Monastic series of beers, Hoplicity, my American imperial IPA took home a silver as well in it's category. It too has a future with Three Taverns, but not in the early seasons while I focus on perfecting our Belgian-style (albeit with a twist) series of beers. I hope this news further wets your appetite for the launch of Three Taverns in May of 2013. Keep checking our posts and facebook updates as the design and build-out of the brewery accelerates in the next few months. Cheers and Transcendo Mediocris!

Three Taverns Design Begins

After several weeks of consideration, we finally made the difficult decision of choosing one from a small group of talented architects to begin the work of designing our brewery. The decision was bittersweet as all the proposals were compelling and any of the group could have designed a wonderful space. But we could only work with one and so last Friday we officially awarded the project to our Decatur neighbor only 2 blocks away, Jeff Wren of Earthstation Architecture. We are excited to begin the work of designing a space that provides for both our employees and customers an experience as inviting and unique as the one we expect our beers to deliver. The timeline is aggressive and we hit the ground running hard this Monday, October 1. Most of the work over the next 2 months will include design, preliminary demolition of all non-structural elements, engineering, and final permitting. Our plans optimistically forecast official Building Permits the end of November with construction starting December. We will continue to post updates and pictures as we experience progress. Over 2,000 years ago, Three Taverns (Tres Tabernae) was a real place about 30 miles outside of Rome along the ancient Via Appia. It was a travelers rest for weary sojourners making their way to or from Rome, a place of replenishment. Please join us as we journey toward our vision for a new Three Taverns and invite your friends to come along. Cheers!

121 New Street

Activity keeps getting busier over at 121 New Street as we are now immersed in architect interviews and proposal reviews. I've met with some wonderful and talented craft beer loving architects over the last couple of weeks and a difficult decision looms ahead. I wish I could hire them all. Whatever our decision, I'll look forward to growing some great new relationships over many a glass of Three Taverns beer in the years ahead. I've included in this post some additional pictures of our brewery building so you can imagine the possibilities as we are. Just click on the image for full size view. We hope the emerging reality of our brewery vision will be a gift to the community of Decatur, the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia. Cheers![gallery link="file"]  

Brewhouse on Order

After weeks of research and negotiations, today we finally and officially signed the production order for our brand spankin' new NSI 30bbl brewhouse custom designed and manufactured to our specifications (see pictured model). Made in North America and coming to Decatur via the west coast, our scheduled ship date is set for February 22nd. So late Feb 2013, fold out a lawn chair and grab a beer and be on the lookout  for a team of tractor trailers making their way through Decatur with a large delivery scheduled for drop off at our brewery location in East Decatur Station. With hop contracts in place and grain on order, we anticipate brewing and shipping beer to your favorite local establishment by early May next year. Please keep checking in for more updates as our build-out plans accelerate. We can't wait to crank out production and join the community of Georgia brewers in early 2013. Cheers!

Our Brewery Location Is Official!

After months of searches and negotiations, Three Taverns is ready to announce our official brewery location at New Street off College Avenue in East Decatur Station. From the beginning my vision has been to locate in my home community of the city of Decatur, and I couldn't be more excited to bring this vision to fruition. We have much work ahead before transforming this building into the unique and distinct style that will always define Three Taverns, but the foundation is now set for the raising of Decatur's first full scale production brewery. We hope you'll join us as our brewery dream emerges and takes shape. Look for many updates in the months ahead as we race for a first semester 2013 launch. Cheers All!  

Brew Day

While planning is accelerating for our brewery design and build-out, today is devoted to the reason for this pursuit in the first place, brewing beer. Friday's free sampling at the Big Pop Up depleted my supply of A Night In Brussels IPA, so bright and early this morning I'll be heating up the hot liquor tank and will soon be mashing the grains for another batch. Though there may be a slight tweak to the finishing hops with this one. Days like this ground me in the heart and soul of why I am building this brewery, the love of making something from scratch with my hands, the art of craftsmanship.

Serendipity

Serendipitously on the same day we achieved our funding goal for the brewery, we were scheduled to pour free samples of our 2 launch beers at the Big Pop Up event at East Decatur Station where I've been brewing my test batches for 4 years now. My partner Chet (right) and I happily spent the evening serving samples of Single Intent, a 5.5% Belgian-style single ale and A Night In Brussels IPA, a 7.5% American/Belgian-style IPA to a delighted and enthusiastic crowd. It was quite a day for us and one we'll savor for years to come. And the next morning surprised us with a glowing review of our beers and brewery vision at; http://www.decaturmetro.com/2012/06/22/decatur-based-brewery-three-taverns-brewery-secures-funding/#comments Thanks to all who came out and helped make the Big Pop Up a success for all the artists on display. Looking forward to many satisfying years ahead of brewing and serving you our beers. Cheers! Brian Purcell

Three Taverns achieves complete funding!

After 10 months of presenting our vision for Atlanta's newest production brewery, after many nights of sharing our beer and stories of Georgia's possible brewing future to prospective investors, after batch after batch of test brews, after 4 years of tireless research and planning, we have finally achieved our goal and are now fully funded to begin the intensive work of building our dream. Be prepared for updates as we move forward with our build-out plans. Many long days and nights of arduous work to execute our vision await, but for a short moment the Three Taverns team is taking time to pause and reflect and raise a glass in gratitude and celebration. We plan to bring you a home town brewery to satisfy your soul and make you proud. We won't quit till we do. Cheers, and as we are oft to say here at Three Taverns, Transcendo Mediocris!

Really Big News

Stay tuned over the next few days for important updates on our progress. Fresh off an inspiring trip to Belgium where visions of lolly hops still dance through my head, Three Taverns has made surprising and unexpected progress in our pursuit of Atlanta's next world class brewery. We are almost ready to release the news but you'll have to hold tight a tad bit longer.