The Athens area is home to nine local breweries, a winery and two distilleries offering finely-crafted cocktails, high-quality spirits and a huge variety of microbrews and other offerings. You can sample their work on site in their tasting rooms or purchase bottles, cans or crowlers (aluminum growlers) to go. Native brews are available in bars and restaurants across town, and there’s also the Athens Beer Fest, on Apr. 6, 2025, which brings beer lovers into Athens from all over.
1818 Brewing
71 State St., Commerce · 678-725-2184 · 1818brewing.com
Located in a historic building that once housed a sewing factory, 1818 is Commerce’s newest brewery. This local landmark has a large outdoor patio where you can relax, listen to live music or play some cornhole. Indoors, it has a variety of offerings including hard seltzers in a variety of flavors. Its American blonde ale and Angry Vulture IPA are some of its best brews, but there is also an English porter and Irish red ale, as well as pilsners and a hefeweizen. The food menu is catered by nearby restaurants like Bryson’s BBQ and Baddie’s Burgers on a rotating schedule. 1818 is open Thursday through Sunday.
Akademia Brewing Company
150 Crane Dr. · 678-726-2288 · akademiabc.com
Situated on Atlanta Highway, Akademia stands out among Athens’ local breweries by offering a full food menu six days a week, including brunch. It has ample indoor and outdoor patio seating as well as rentable event spaces for large gatherings. Akademia hosts a variety of events, including a monthly Classic City Car Show and weekly happenings like Trivia Tuesday, Wing Wednesday and Poker Thursdays. The extensive beer selection includes a wide range of options from traditional Mexican lagers to rich pastry stouts, authentic German-style beers and fan-favorite IPAs.
Athentic Brewing Company
108 Park Ave. · 706-206-2074 · athenticbrewing.com
Located in the historic Boulevard neighborhood, Athentic regularly hosts live music on its spacious patio and indoor stage along with other events like the Normaltown Music Festival, drag shows and trivia nights. Depending on availability, you’ll be able to pick from a variety of brews, including Escape Button, a tropical IPA; Floodgate, a Japanese rice lager; and Upright Hermit, a dry stout. Athentic was the first brewery in Athens to create a line of hard seltzers, and it regularly offers a variety of seltzer slushies..
Boutier Winery
4506 Hudson River Church Road, Danielsville · 706-789-0059 · boutierwinery.com
The landscaped grounds and interior of Boutier Winery also operate as an event space and inn. There are nearly 32 acres planted in Vinifera and French American grape varietals from which the winery crafts some of its offerings, which include Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Viognier, Syrah, Corot Noir and Cynthiana. Enjoy a wine tasting or one of its many events, including line dancing lessons, ladies night and a variety of live music.
Creature Comforts Brewing Company
271 W. Hancock Ave. · 706-410-1043 · creaturecomfortsbeer.com
If you’re a beer connoisseur in Athens, you already know that Creature Comforts has a convenient downtown location, a spacious patio and some of the most popular beers in town. Offerings include its ever-popular Tropicália IPA, Classic City Lager and Bigger Dreams hazy IPA, as well as a large selection of limited releases. The brewery is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2024, and it regularly hosts food trucks, along with art and live music. The Athens Farmers Market is on site every Wednesday from March through November. Creature Comforts has a family-friendly atmosphere and is home to the official craft beer and official taproom of the Georgia Bulldogs.
Normaltown Brewing Company
425 Barber St. · 706-850-8996 · facebook.com/Normaltownbrewingco
Normaltown Brewing has moved out of the Chase Street Warehouses into the old Jittery Joe's location on Barber Street. The move allows visitors the chance to enjoy a much larger space complete with food trucks, games and live music while still offering a high-quality, continuously rotating selection of craft beers. Usually, you’ll find one of its SunTan sours on tap, along with a mix of IPAs, ales and stouts. Elder Masters, a 9% ABV west coast IPA, has become a crowd favorite along with Summon the Fog, a hazy New England style IPA. Normaltown offers the majority of its beers on tap at the brewery, and you can purchase 32 oz crowlers to go.
Oak House Distillery
1015 Macon Hwy · 706-850-5474 · oakhousedistillery.com
Located on Macon Highway in a historic house built in 1864, Oak House Distillery specializes in high-end cocktails made with small-batch spirits. It’s a little hard to find, but definitely worth the trip for artisan spirit connoisseurs and anyone looking for a relaxing and intimate venue. Its gin has won awards both internationally and right here in Georgia. The most popular gin cocktail remains “The Best G&T You’ve Ever Had,” which lives up to its name. The distillery also makes Jamaican-style, barrel-aged rum and has recently added organic vodka to the menu as well. There’s plenty of space inside the tasting rooms or outside on its 2.5 acre lot shaded by huge oak trees. Get a tour of the production facility any Sunday, then stay for the live music out on the patio.
Soldier of the Sea Distillery
22 E. South Avenue, Comer, GA · 706-783-2523 · soswhiskey.com
Founded in 2022 by a marine veteran, Soldier of the Sea uses locally-sourced honey and grain to produce small batch whiskey and bourbon. It also offers rum made from regional sugarcane. At the distillery’s pub, The Hive, you can sample the spirits and try a handcrafted cocktail with fresh simples and syrups made in house. Music and events are ongoing, so check out the website for dates and happenings. Comer may seem distant to some, but it’s only 17 miles from downtown Athens and is a quick trip along GA-72.
South Main Brewing
1725 Electric Avenue, Watkinsville, GA · 706-705-6067 · southmainbrewing.com
Located in Wire Park near downtown Watkinsville, South Main Brewing is known for its wide selection of beverages from IPAs, lagers and stouts to sours, seltzers and local craft sodas from New Creation. You can enjoy them in the taproom or take a six-pack or 25 oz crowler to go. South Main is next door to diverse dining spots like Mama’s Boy, Gekko Kitchen, Lalo’s and Southern Prospect. South Main is a kid- and pet-friendly brewery, and it hosts weekly events including cornhole, bocce, darts, trivia, music bingo and live music Fridays.
Strange Duck Brewing
26 Old Allen Road, Commerce · 706-201-5094 · strangeduckbrewing.com
Strange Duck Brewing is a family-friendly experience offering the unusual combination of craft beer and mini-golf. Just 16 miles from downtown Athens, Strange Duck is off the beaten path but offers a full 18-hole mini golf course, an electric scooter track, live music, a large outdoor stage and delicious craft beer. It has a wide range of brews from pastry sours to IPAs, coffee stouts, traditional lagers and brown ales. The Belgian Dubbel is a highlight, and it also offers a hard seltzer and even a pickle beer.
Terrapin Beer Company
265 Newton Bridge Road · 706-549-3377 · terrapinbeer.com
In a warehouse on Newton Bridge Road with an indoor tasting room and a huge lawn, Athens’ OG brewery hosts live music regularly and lots of annual events, weather permitting. Sample old favorites like the sessionable Recreation Ale, Hopsecutioner IPA, Wake-n-Bake coffee oatmeal stout or their newest beer Coastal Daydream, a west coast-style IPA with citrus, pine and floral notes. It also has seasonal offerings like its Watermelon Gose sour and Oktoberfest lager, most of which are available in cans to take home with you.
