JailHouse Brewing Company in Hampton, Georgia

I'm always on the lookout for new things to do and places to see on the weekends. I also love a good beer, especially one lovingly made by a small brewery somewhere. JailHouse Brewing Company, located in Hampton, Georgia, fulfilled my wishes this past Saturday, when my husband Bill and I stopped by for an afternoon tour and beer tasting.

I never would have known that I could get such good beer so close to home if one of my friends on Epinions.com hadn't written such a glowing review of JailHouse Brewing Company's Breakout Stout. My Epinions friend made that stout sound so good that I just had to try it. When I learned that Hampton, Georgia was only about a half hour's drive from our home in Fayetteville, I started making big plans to check out the facility.

Our experience

JailHouse Brewing company's Web site noted that tours were offered on Wednesdays from 5-7pm and Saturdays from 2-6pm. Each tour/tasting session costs $8. For that, you get a twelve ounce souvenir glass to take home with you and four poker chips that can be redeemed for tastes of the JailHouse Brewing Company's three beers on tap. One poker chip gets you a half glass, while two chips get a full glass. While you're sipping your brew, you'll hear the story of how Glenn Golden got his brewery started and how he makes his brews. If you're a home brewer yourself, you'll also find the tour is a great place to score some tips on making beer and getting supplies.

Bill and I arrived at around 2:00 on Saturday, July 30th, 2010. There's not a whole lot to the town of Hampton, so we had no problem finding a parking spot. I took a look at the building, which was once the town's jail, and imagined the people it had seen over the years. Since October of 2009, this building has been housing JailHouse Brewing Company, though there are not yet any big signs advertising that fact.

We stepped inside. There was already one couple there, happily drinking some fresh Slammer Wheat Beer and talking to Glenn Golden. A young woman behind the counter took Bill's credit card and explained how the tasting and tour works. I took note of the large unisex bathroom across from the counter, since a beer tasting was bound to make me need the facilities.

I started with a glass of Slammer Wheat Beer, while Bill tasted the India Pale Ale. We both saved the magnifcent Breakout Stout for last.

A few minutes later, more people arrived and we ventured into the actual brewing area and took a look around. When about ten people had arrived, Golden started our tour, explaining a little bit about the building's illustrious history as a jailhouse. Indeed, the windows in the back room still have bars on them; that was where the cells were located. Apparently, there was also a public restroom there that locals could pay to use. Nowadays, the room holds bags of barley and a new label machine.

As Golden explained the process of making beer, he passed around cups of the different grains he uses to make the three types of beer that JailHouse Brewing Company currently offers. Tour-goers were having a great time sniffing these grains.

We moved into the brewing room, which was really only separated from the back room by an open arch. Most of the brewing equipment, which Golden acquired from the now defunct Buckhead Brewery, takes up space in one large room. Golden talked more about the process he uses to make his beer as well as his plans to expand his business. JailHouse beers are currently offered only on draft at a growing list of local restaurants. This month, it will be offered at eight Taco Mac locations in the Atlanta area. Golden explained that his beers will also be bottled starting sometime this month.

Apparently, it's not easy to get a liquor license in Georgia. Golden told us that his quest to have the legal right to brew and sell his beer in Georgia was delayed by the several months it took for the state to give him a license. But, on October 23, 2009, Golden was finally legal and he said his first batch of beer was in the fermenter by midnight that night.

Having grown up near the Anheuser-Busch brewery in James City County, Virginia, I know well about the distinctive smell that comes from the process of brewing beer. Golden told his beer tourists that local farmers pick up the sour mash from his brewery, which cuts down on the smell and gives the farmer some valuable grains for their cows. Speaking of smells, Golden also passed around some very pungent hops that just about cleared out my sinuses. He explained that some people said the hops smelled a lot like marijuana. I wouldn't know about that, but smelling them did help me appreciate where the distinctive bitter taste of a good India Pale Ale comes from.

Beer makes for a friendly crowd

By the time our tour was half finished, there were about fifteen people standing around mingling and sipping some excellent brews. I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and noticed that the beer seemed to make people friendly and talkative. Bill even ended up meeting a woman who works at the same place he does. Another couple, who had arrived on motorcycles, tried to give back their souvenir glasses because they didn't have saddlebags for carrying them. Glenn Golden very helpfully offered to mail the glasses to them.

As I traded in my last poker chip for a little more of that fabulous Breakout Stout, I was wishing we could take some home with us. Ever since we left Germany last fall, I've been pining away for high quality beer. I was heartened to hear that pretty soon, bottled JailHouse brews will be sold in some local liquor stores. I pictured myself enjoying them both as beverages and in some recipes. The Breakout Stout would be particularly well suited for marinades and making beer bread.

When we were finished with our tour, Bill and I decided to take a stroll around the block to come down a bit before we attempted to drive. We would have stopped for a bite to eat, but didn't see much in the way of food offered on the main drag in Hampton. There was a Chinese restaurant and the Wing Ranch, but for some reason neither of those places appealed to us. We ended up going for barbecue in Griffin, which is located about ten minutes from Hampton.

Overall

Bill and I had an excellent time at the JailHouse Brewing Company and would definitely recommend it to beer lovers who happen to be hanging out south of Atlanta. Do check out JailHouse Brewing Company's official Web site for more information.

Sources:

http://jailhousebrewing.ning.com/
http://www.epinions.com/review/Jailhouse_Brewing_Breakout_Stout_epi/content_514471857796
Personal experience