Arches Brewing announced in early March that it will close its Hapeville brewery after nearly nine years, with plans to move to another space with a food partner.
I met up recently with co-owner and brewmaster Jamey Adams at the Arches taproom, where we sipped a few beers and talked about what’s next.
Adams said the company recently made a deal with an existing restaurant and will reveal the name — as well as the timing of the move — May 18, at the Arches going-away party.
By day, Adams is a biochemist, with degrees in both biology and chemistry.
“I spent about six years getting both,” he said. “They do play off each other quite well, and then I found biochemistry. Brewing beer is biology and chemistry. “
Credit: Bob Townsend
Credit: Bob Townsend
He said he works at a crime lab for the U.S. Army in Forest Park, “and that sort of keeps me fine-tuned.”
From the beginning, Arches focused on lagers, including bestsellers Mexican Empire Vienna lager and Lloyds light lager. It’s a style that takes longer and can be more expensive to make, but nowadays Adams is contract-brewing with Bevana Partners, which helps save money.
“They make all of our large-batch stuff,” he said. “I personally wanted to get out of the distribution game. We were already on shelves, and we already had a footprint, so why not continue to do that, but not try to do it ourselves?”
The last batch of Lloyds was made at New Sarum Brewing in Salisbury, North Carolina, he said. “They have capacity that they’re not using, and Arches is jumping in on some of that capacity. My goal, and Bevana’s goal, is to have a brewery in Georgia that can be that partner.”
Credit: Bob Townsend
Credit: Bob Townsend
Asked about the number of Georgia breweries that have closed in the past few years, Adams shook his head.
“I can only speak for ourselves, but the reason we’re still in business is because of the way we opened,” he said. “I’m an electrician. I’m a plumber. We built the tables here. We put the taproom together. I brought the cooler from an old job. We did it ourselves, and our debt load is extremely low. It was DIY and sweat equity.
“We’re all competing for the same shelf space, and the same customers and the same entertainment, and really the same product. I still believe in beers that have been around for 300 years.”
As for the move, Georgia law will make things more difficult, but Adams believes he has dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s.
“We are going to be in a location where we can license our products to them to make, and therefore they can sell it in their taproom,” he said. “It’s the only way, because Georgia will never allow a brewery and a brewpub to operate out of the same location. We have an arrangement where our products will be made on-site under my supervision. They have food. They have music. They have all the stuff that we wanted to do here.”
Arches Brewing. 3361 Dogwood Drive, Hapeville. 678-973-0252, archesbrewing.com
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