USA, GA: Three Rangers Brewing Co. to hold its grand opening on September 11

Art Attaway is channelling his support of fellow U.S. Army Ranger veterans by starting a brewery in Dahlonega, the Gainesville Times reported on September 10.

Nestled in the North Georgia mountains, Three Rangers Brewing Co. set its grand opening for Friday, Sept. 11. The brewery, located at 3003 Morrison Moore East Parkway, shares a space with Etowah Meadery, which will celebrate its third year in business this October. Attaway co-owns the brewery with Blair Housley, who runs Etowah Meadery.

Three Rangers will launch with a lineup of six brews including a porter, IPA, pale ale, double IPA, wheat ale and lager. Attaway said each beer has an Army Ranger-inspired name like “Path Finder,” “Jump Master” or “Door Kicker.”

To give back to the Ranger community, Attaway said the brewery intends to redirect 20% of its profits to several Army Ranger-supporting organizations like the Three Rangers Foundation, Darby Project and GallantFew, all of which help veterans transition from military service to civilian life.

“Three Rangers represents U.S. Army Rangers’ past, present and future,” he said.” We honor the past, support the present and assure the legacy for future Rangers.”

Both co-owners of the brewery are veterans. Attaway served as a U.S. Army Ranger for 12 years and Housley served in the U.S. Air Force for six years. The two said they met during Veterans Appreciation Day in downtown Dahlonega in 2019. Attaway said they spent hours talking and getting to know one another. He eventually shared with Housley the idea of opening a brewery to better serve Army Ranger veterans.

“It was my intent to open Three Rangers Brewing Co. in the area because of the Ranger community,” he said. “There are 10 operating (Army Ranger) units, and eight are in Georgia. Rangers are a Georgia story. This is sort of the nucleus of Rangers.”

Housley said when Attaway mentioned his dreams for Three Rangers, he had been in the works of opening The Dahlonega Brewery, which will brew craft braggots — a combination of mead and beer —inside Etowah Meadery.

“When you’re developing the recipe, instead of using all grain to make a beer or all honey to make a mead, it’s usually 50-50,” he said. “It will also have hops like beer does.”

The Dahlonega Brewery is set to open Sunday, Oct. 17. Housley has taken on the role as brewmaster for both Three Rangers and The Dahlonega Brewery.

“It was easy to start it (Three Rangers) here,” he said. “We were already in the process of starting another brewery, so I had tanks ordered and was already prepping. I said, ‘Let’s just do it here.’”
Housley has added bars outside the facility and more seating to increase its 112-person capacity by 50. To accommodate the growing beer production, he plans to expand the brewing operation this November into a gray building, which sits across from Etowah Meadery’s taproom.

Attaway said Three Rangers will soon begin distributing its beer in Georgia, then grow its reach throughout the Southeast.

For now, he welcomes people to pop by the brewery and support Army Ranger veterans by drinking tasty beer.

“Helping the Ranger veteran community, that’s my swan song,” Attaway said.

Three Rangers is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

11 September, 2020