Brian Whitley and Richie Jones opened Piedmont Brewery and Kitchen in Macon in 2017, offering smoked meats, craft beer and a family-friendly environment.
More recently, they have opened a second location and debuted a beer collaboration with Georgia country music singer-songwriter Brent Cobb.
Whitley recently took me on a tour of the brewery, which is below the original restaurant.
Credit: Lisa Love
Credit: Lisa Love
“We just turned 8 on March 27 in the same underground location,” said Whitley, 52. “It’s always been difficult, and I’m not getting any younger carrying grain up and down the stairs and getting the spent grain out of here.”
On the brighter side, he noted that Piedmont opened its other location in Griffin last August — with brewer and partner David Fountain at the helm.
Credit: Lisa Love
Credit: Lisa Love
“It’s a much different vibe than here. It’s much more hip,” Whitley said. “David is younger and he had a very clear vision in mind. Compared to here, it’s almost like culture shock. It’s a really cool space right on the edge of town. We’ve got an outdoor patio and a retractable roof, and we think it’s going to drive a lot of business to Griffin.”
On the beverage side, Satisfied local lager and Sunshine Daydream tropical IPA are the only beers common to both locations. The new site also has a full bar with wine, cocktails, whiskey and tequila selections.
The Piedmont menu is known for smoked wings and features small plates, such as smoked pulled pork and poutine fries topped with beef gravy and cheese curds.
Sandwiches available include Buffalo chicken, pulled pork and French dip with smoked sirloin and provolone cheese. And the PBK Platter includes pulled pork, beef brisket and smoked chicken and turkey.
The food menu at the Griffin location is similar, but with fewer options.
Looking ahead, Whitley said that, rather than a big brewery, he would like to have five locations in what he called underserved areas.
“The next one might be in Perry, then we’ll go down I-75,” he said. “I really think that downtown Griffin will be totally different in the next five years, and I think it’s going to be because of us. These places that have a really cool downtown that’s trying to come back is our model. It works with barbecue and beer.”
As for the Macon location, Whitley talked about some of the changes over the past eight years. “The whole goal was to be a family-friendly environment,” he said. “We had little kids at the time we opened. We knew we wanted an arcade. And we knew we wanted a small brewery to be able turn beers quickly.
“The whole trick was to offer a new beer every week, and we’ve been able to do that. It’s insane but it’s fun.”
Billed as cold, crisp and crushable, the Satisfied lager always is on tap. “We developed Satisfied as an American lager beer,” Whitley said. “My grandmother drank Schlitz beer. She would stop at the grocery store on Fridays on the way home from work and buy a six-pack of tall boys. Satisfied was my homage to my grandma. It kind of looks like an old Schlitz can.”
Credit: Lisa Love
Credit: Lisa Love
Making Shade Tree American light lager in collaboration with Cobb was another idea of Whitley’s. A portion of the proceeds go to the Georgia Music Foundation, and the beer release helped promote Cobb’s South of Atlanta music festival, held in Macon in mid-April.
“When we first talked about it, I said, ‘I’m your Miller sort of person,’” Cobb said. “I just like regular old light beer. Originally, we were going to name it Southern Star, but it didn’t quite feel right. It felt more like Shade Tree, which is a song that I wrote with my wife and my sister. That’s how it all came to be.”
Piedmont Brewery and Kitchen
450-B Third St., Macon. 478-254-233, piedmontbrewery.com.
129 Sixth St., Griffin. 678-603-2648, piedmontbrewerygriffin.com.
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