 |
| Sweetwater Banner |
Like any normal beer nerd, I can clearly remember my first craft beer
romance. That beer was
Sweetwater 420. It was the fall of 2006, and I
had moved to Atlanta, Georgia to attend Emory University. I had just
received my student loan check, giving me disposable income for the first time in my life. Being a responsible student I decided to cash the check, and meet some of my new friends
at a restaurant named
Taco Mac. Taco Mac has amazing bar food and had
over 80 beers on draft, which was almost unheard of at the time. They are a regional chain in the Atlanta area, so if you are ever in Georgia make sure to check out their food and beer. All
the people wanted to talk about is this Sweetwater stuff, so I decided
to give it a try and it was amazing. I soon started collecting
Sweetwater beer signs, banners, pint glasses, and anything else I could
find. After I moved back to Kansas City, I was broken hearted that I
could not find it locally, but still got my fix from the occasional
visit to their distribution areas of Georgia, Tennessee, or Chicago.
Now, thanks to a press release from
KSDK in St. Louis, their beer is
arriving in Missouri on August 6th. Sweetwater is first appearing in
the St. Louis metro area, with the rest of the state to follow.
 |
| The logo for the legendary Sweetwater 420 |
Sweetwater
has an extra pale ale as their flagship named 420, after the birthday
of one of the founder’s mother. They were also one of the first
breweries in the Southwest to have a year-round blueberry ale. In 2017
they were the 15th largest craft brewery in the United States, just
ahead of New Glarus. The founders are active in the outdoors, and do a
lot of fundraising to protect and preserve the environment and
wilderness habitats, hence the jumping trout on their logo. Another
thing you will notice, is their very catchy names for beer past and
present such as: Donkey Punch, Hummer, Motor Boat, Happy Ending,
Grass Monkey, Sch'wheat, Sweet Georgia Brown, Take 2 Pils, and their Dank
Tank series.
I've also added some pictures of the
Sweetwater beer signs, proudly on display at the Myces household, so you can familiarize yourselves with their logos and signage. As
one of their numerous slogans goes, "Cheers to heady beers!"
Now that Sweetwater and Dogfish Head are in Missouri, that makes two-thirds of the Myces beer trinity. Hopefully Yuengling will arrive soon and the trinity will be complete. What is the craft beer trinity for some of the other beer nerds out there?
 |
| A few of their Dank Tank bottles |
 |
| Some framed Sweetwater labels |
