“You know how your mom would buy you cleats that were two sizes too big, when you were a kid? It didn’t make sense at the time, you were always tripping over your own feet, but eventually you grew into them. Well our brewery is kind of the same way; we’re finally too big for our own feet and it allows us to expand into new places, like Ohio!” – BJ, Columbus representative for Sweetwater Brewery.

It’s an exciting time for Ohioans as Atlanta-based brewery Sweetwater brings its unique and distinctive flavor profile to the Buckeye state. Ron and I were invited by the great people at Treu House of Much in Toledo to attend the release party at Hollywood Casino. Since Ron is on his honeymoon, I decided to take a friend of mine, Drew, who is a huge craft beer fan. They put out an awesome spread of food, had a lot of great people show up, and kicked off Sweetwater’s Toledo distribution with a bang!

If you don’t live in their distribution area, you probably know Sweetwater for their flagship beer 420 Extra Pale Ale. 420 is actually the third most popular Extra Pale Ale in America, behind only Sierra Nevada and Deschute’s Mirror Pond.

Sweetwater started out 1997, when the craft beer movement was still very young, in a rough neighborhood in Atlanta, GA. They started off, like many breweries at the time, by peddling beer just to stay afloat, but by 2002, they were named the best small brewery in America. In 2004, they started to expand and haven’t looked back since. They are now able to brew 500,000 barrels of beer a year, and aren’t running at full capacity. Like BJ said, their feet are still growing, they are going to be in 5 more states in the near future. In fact, their goal is to be a top 15 brewery in the US by 2015, and with their product, I don’t see that being out of the realm of possibility.

So when can you get Sweetwater in Ohio? Technically, some of their beers are already being sold in the southern and southeastern parts of the state, but in the Northwestern area (our part of town) you can pick up some delicious brews on NOVEMBER 10TH. If you can’t wait that long, head on down to Cincy, Dayton, or Columbus and pick up a brew for yourself.

The Beers:

Whiplash Belgian IPA – Unfortunately, this will not be sold in Ohio, but we were fortunate enough to get our hands on this at the release party. It’s a unique take on an IPA with a great peppery background and notes of coriander, but the hops are the star here. At only 55 IBUs, the hoppy brightness and citrus notes pair perfectly with the phenolic yeast making this an outstanding brew.

Georgia Brown – This brown ale is unlike a lot of browns I’ve had before. It smells and tastes like roasted malts and milk chocolate. The chocolate sweetness makes this a beer that can appeal to many people, but it’s toasted bite adds balance to this beer.

Blue – Fun fact: this was actually the second beer the brewery ever made. The first? An ESB that has since been retired. Blue is a blueberry ale that smells like blueberry pancake mix, and tastes like a blueberry muffin. BJ made a good point saying that this is a very indicative beer to their portfolio because the smell is much more intense than the taste. It smells like it would be nothing more than blueberry juice, but the taste is beer with hints of blueberry — a really great balancing act.

420 – As I said, 420 is their flagship beer, a west coast style extra pale ale. It’s a blend of bold citrus hops, and sweet yet light malt. It’s a beer that you can drink all day long and never tire of.

IPA – If you can’t tell, Sweetwater beers have one thing in common — balance. This is a great IPA that has sweetness and bitterness and finishes extremely clean. There’s almost no lingering flavor on the back end. The full of grapefruit and herbal resinous notes, this beer will appeal to hop heads and non hop heads alike. One of our favorite offerings from them.

Take Two Pils – Take Two is a pilsner with attitude. They call this a “west-coast style pilsner”, and it’s actually their second attempt at the style. Pilsners can be clean but somewhat uninteresting, not Take Two. The flavor is slightly hoppy, but more or less tastes earthy, spicy, and rustic. Definitely a great representation of a “Craft Pilsner”.

If you can’t tell, I’m very impressed with Sweetwater. They are a fun brewery who likes to think differently. It’s a shame that they won’t be selling all of their varieties in Ohio, like their unique “Hop Hash” series, but their one of a few breweries that seemingly doesn’t have a bad beer in their portfolio. Everything is clean, everything is in balance, and everything is worth drinking. If you see a tacklebox at your local shop soon, do yourself a favor and pick it up!