USA, GA: Southbound Brewing Co. to open later this year

Smith Mathews and Carly Wiggins will open Southbound Brewing Co. later this year in a 13,000-square-foot facility in Savannah, savannahnow.com reported on September, 16.

They’re due to take delivery of their custom-built brewing equipment in October and they hope to have their first batch ready for distribution — and their brewery open for tours and tastings — in early 2013.

The duo hopes to capitalize on Savannah’s burgeoning craft beer scene. Long-standing microbrewery Moon River has been joined by craft brew pubs The Distillery and World of Beer in recent years, and a handful of homebrewers also call the city home.

“Savannah is a food city on the verge of being a beer city,” Wiggins said. “We want to be a part of that.”

Mathews and Wiggins started the business last fall. They raised $750,000 in four days from family and friends, secured a Small Business Association loan, found and leased their brewing plant, ordered their equipment and secured the necessary permits and a distributor.

Mathews perfected his recipes for his three signature beers — an IPA, a pale ale and a Belgian White — while Wiggins worked on the branding.

They moved to Savannah in July to oversee start-up operations.

“We’ve learned a lot along the way,” Mathews said.

They intend to establish Southbound’s reputation locally, brewing five 1,000-gallon batches — the three signature brews plus two rotating varieties — at a time. They envision their three-person operation producing 3,000 kegs in the first year.

Their facility will have a 12,000-keg capacity, enough to take Southbound statewide and eventually into South Carolina and Florida.

“I don’t ever see us getting on Samuel Adams level, but we do want to have a strong regional presence,” Mathews said. “Our specialty beers, our barrel-aged brews, will put us on the map and we may distribute that nationally, but quality control will always be the first priority.”

19 September, 2012