Try the Sampler

Having a hard time what is your favorite beer? Try a taste of all of them! Our Beer Sampler gives you a 4 oz. sample of each and every one of our cold delites, including our root beer. After you've sampled them all, you might still have a problem picking out your favorite, but the buzz lessens your anxiety.

Stout:

Modern day stout is the good-natured, demure honor student offspring of the cranky, bare-chested old style porter. During the early heady days of the Industrial Revolution, with all the advancements in science and technology, it only made sense to cast our inquisitive gaze down to our mugs and think, “What if?” The same experiment that would later yield “Snakebites” and “Half and Halves” was conducted on a grand scale in the early 18th century when people concocted a “suicide”-like drink that required a pint of unhopped sweet ale, a light hopped beer, and a “two penny” strong beer.

Known either as “Three Threads” or an “Entire Butt,” it became all the rage, much to the chagrin of bartenders everywhere who were now forced to visit three barrels to fill a single mug. Then, to the rescue, came Ralph Harwood, who in 1722 brewed an imitation “butt,” dubbed a porter, a dark, heavy, strong beer with a creamy head. And how the Brits did rejoice. And then, shortly after, fall down.

India Pale Ale:

By all accounts, the British ex-pats in India during the Raj were as temperate and polite as a Liverpool football hooligan at a soccer riot. Which is to say, not. A typical day consisted of getting magnificently bladdered and acting as though the free world was one’s water closet.

Of course, demand for ale from home was higher than British tariffs on exported goods, but a typical ale took the long voyage about as well as John Keats, so intrepid brewers slammed their ales with hops to preserve them en route to India, inadvertently ratcheting up the alcohol content exponentially, turning the ex-pat wankers into full-on tosspots. What the brewers didn’t know was that ales with extra hops cause the mouth to pucker, producing the desire to drink more. And faster. Well done, old chap. All of India thanks you. And so do we.

Red Jacket:

In 1834, the Legislature of Georgia granted a charter to the Columbus Guard, and then promptly sent them off to the Indian War to fight on behalf of all Georgians and Floridians. Apparently, they were pretty good.

So, when the U.S. government sought out volunteers for the Mexican War, Columbus’ Own were first responders, throwing their caps in with the 1st GA Regiment Volunteers. Years later, a company from Chicago challenged any other company in the Union to a duel of drills. Of course, Columbus’ own accepted the challenge and began gearing up to open the proverbial can. Apparently, the Chicago Zouaves weren’t the only ones looking for a scuffle, as the Civil War broke out shortly after the gauntlet had been thrown.

And so, in honor of their many battles, in 1861, a brass salute gun was bestowed to the Columbus Guard, which they quickly dubbed “The Red Jacket.”

It is said that on certain nights in downtown Columbus, you can still hear the report from the Red Jacket. Or at least from a replica built in 1997, specifically for said report.

Why City Mills Wheat?

Columbus was born by the Hootch in 1828 to a proud and beaming Georgia Legislature. The river was its cradle and the banks were its home. To celebrate its infancy, it was promptly given a mill and immediately put to work, this being before child labor laws.

The City Mills built was responsible for producing the flour, corn meal, and livestock feed necessary for the care and feeding of a town still teething. As the little baby-faced town grew into a handsome young city, it started turning heads from Louisiana to Liverpool, all because its chiseled frame was earned from years of working in the mills. In honor of the backs bent in building our home, we offer this light American Wheat Beer to refresh and replenish, no matter how heavy your load.

Why Golden’s Ale?

Our town was at one point the place to be and be seen. Unfortunately, this was during the Civil War. You would have been in the textile mill, the iron works, or the shipyard, and you would have been seen working the skin off your hands.

After the war ended (well, the day after actually: the Union attacked Columbus the day after Lee surrendered at Appomattox, ironically burning our industry buildings; apparently, our reputation preceded us) and Reconstruction got on with its lurching, drunken progress, Columbus flourished. We did, of course, need some new industrial buildings. Enter children of the Reconstruction “Porter” and “Theo” Golden, who in 1882 opened Golden’s Foundry, a facility that is still in operation today. Our Golden’s Ale is in honor of this long-standing Columbus industrial institution.

Can Root Beer Cure the Common Cold?

No, but a cold glass of root beer can be refreshing. However, the root of a sarsaparilla vine was once used to treat that nasty little bug but advancements, in both medicine and soft drink technology, has put root beer firmly in the vending machine. First produced, bottled, and sold by Charles E. Hires in 1893, it became wildly popular, even more so, and not surprisingly, during those dark and tempered days of Prohibition.

Once the king of pop, root beer was knocked from its throne by one of Columbus’s own when John Pemberton whipped up the first batch of Coca-Cola. A quick glance around the world will show which soda currently wears the crown. As a consolation prize for Mr. Hires, we offer our humble home-brewed take on his once mighty root beer.