Local Breweries Are Having A Moment

By Katie Anderson

With almost 10,000 craft breweries in the US, Newnan-Coweta has become well represented. Younger drinkers might be right in saying that craft brew ain’t their granddaddy’s beer, but to be fair, local breweries have become the place to hang out for all ages – from granddaddies to grandbabies.

On any given evening, the brewery scene is full of young families with their kids, Gen Xers with their adult kids, and Boomers filling up large tables with family and friends. Dogs are always present. It’s like the old neighborhood block party, but at a brewery, with better beer.

The brewery furor has hit our area and based on the crowds showing up, we are here for it. All offer a fun assortment of events, from trivia nights and corn hole tournaments to live music and food trucks. Here’s a rundown of our thriving local spots.

*Volunteer, self-appointed-expert taste testers assisted in giving notes, on multiple evenings. (We thank them for their sacrifice.)

Abide Brewing Company

These guys walked so the others could run. We salute Newnan’s oldest brewery for paving the way.

Co-founders Evan Scanian, Phillip Leonard, and Matt Kapusta started as hobby brewers, and opened Abide in 2015. Being the first, they had to deal with squaring away legal issues, on top of making great beer and running a business.

Fast forward to today: the Wertz Industrial Boulevard brewery has a taproom, an indoor game area, a stage area, and an outdoor space for games and food trucks. High on our testers’ list were Riverfest IPA, “a smoother IPA”, Asian Persuasion, “clean”, “ginger notes”, continued on page 2

LOCAL BREWERIES continued from page 1 and Jalapeno Riverfest IPA, “great for Mexican food”, “just a hint of jalapeno.” The Watermelon Sour also received high marks as “refreshing for summer.”

Cochran Mill Brewing Company

Father and son duo Ed and Jett Hattaway, from Chattahoochee Hills, started out brewing in a basement speakeasy. They decided to make it official in Fairburn: not too far from Atlanta, but still with rural vibes.

be that brewery where you walk in and instantly feel like you’re at home. We have had proposals, weddings, family reunions, and all sorts of pivotal events happen here. It’s great when a place becomes more than just what it sells.”

Line Creek Brewing Company – The Reserve

When naming their brewery, co-founders Paul Costick, Brian Messer, Matt Ramsey, and Paul Schwinne were inspired by the creek in their backyard. Line Creek Brewing Company/The Reserve had their Grand Opening in June 2023 in downtown Newnan, with the goal to “serve the community, simply and naturally.”

They offer certain beers all year round, adding seasonal picks and limited editions to rotate on a weekly basis. At the Grand Opening, they released their Newnan Light Lager, rated “an easy-drinking summer beer” by our testers. Other tester favorites were the Hazy’s Galaxy Quest IPA, “juicy and fruity”, and for non-beer drinkers, the Peach Seltzer was “light and fresh.”

Savor your selections inside the taproom, or catch the live music from the large covered patio, the biergarten, or the kid-(and cornhole) friendly astroturf field.

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Head Brewer Mark Warner said, “We specialize in malt forward beers that are well balanced. Our best seller by far is our Dick ‘N the Dirt English IPA. Next to that our Wampus Kat Belgian Triple, and Zombie Harambe New England IPA are always wildly popular whenever they are on.” Our testers agreed, and also loved the margarita seltzer, a nice option for non-beer drinkers.

So what’s the best part of running a brewery? According to Warner, “The best part is bringing the community together. We want to