I did an interview with Spike Buckowski, co-founder and head brewer at Terrapin Brewing Co for my last article at Dineandcook.com.
I live about 2 hours from Athens GA, so I have a ready supply of Terrapin brews. They are a great brewery and do a lot for the community, which is why I decided to spotlight them. Here is the article:
I live about 2 hours from Athens GA, so I have a ready supply of Terrapin brews. They are a great brewery and do a lot for the community, which is why I decided to spotlight them. Here is the article:
Homebrewer to craft brewer: The story of Terrapin
TUESDAY, 10 AUGUST 2010 14:01 ED STRUBLE
If you are from, or have visited the Southeast, and like beer, you surely have had the pleasure to try some of the offerings from the Terrapin Beer Company. Their first beer, the Rye Pale Ale was an instant success, winning Gold at the 2002 Great American Beer Festival.
Like the animal they are named after, Terrapin Brewing Co did not spring up overnight. Spike Buckowski, brewmaster and co-founder of Terrapin got his start early on with homebrewing. Shortly after college Buckowski moved to Atlanta and got into homebrewing. In the early 90s he really got the brewing bug and won several awards in homebrewing competitions-- he was doing this all while working as an audio visual tech in a hotel.
When the company was bought out by a larger corporation in 1996, Buckowski had the opportunity to take a leave of absence. He left the hotel to attend brewing school and landed his first brewing job at Atlanta Brewing Company a year later.1997 where he met John Cochran, his future business partner.
In 1999, Buckowski and co-worker John Cochran started working on their brewing business plan. They came up with the Grateful Dead inspired name “Terrapin” from the album and song “Terrapin Station.” Buckowski followed The Dead through the 80s and thought the name was an appropriate tribute to the spirit of the music and the future brewery. Plus, as Buckowski jovially put it, “who doesn't like turtles?”
With a name in hand, the two tried hard to find start up capital, but nobody was biting.
“Unless you were an internet company or didn't have a computer in your basement looking for 30 or 40 million, nobody would talk to you,” remembers Buckowski. “The capital just wasn't there for a brick and mortar operation.”
With no available funding, Cochran left Atlanta Brewing Company, and Spike followed shortly after. Buckowski then began helping build Black Bear Brewing Company in Atlanta with the intentions to contract brew Terrapin on their equipment. Black Bear ran out of funding though, which meant Buckowski and Cochran had to go back to the drawing board.
As soon as they were ready to start looking for more funding in 2001, the events of September 11 happened and funding dried up.
The two finally had their success in 2002 when they started contract brewing Terrapin's first beer, the Rye Pale Ale at Dogwood Brewing Company in Atlanta. Six months later, they entered it in the Great American Beer Festival, winning gold in the pale ale category. In 2002, this was no small feat. That year saw 93 entries from craft breweries all over the country.
Since then, the pale ale category has been split into American style pale ale and American style strong pale ale. Terrapin contract brewed out of Dogwood for five years until they were able to open the doors at their current facility in Athens, an hour and a half out of Atlanta.
Terrapin offers five year round beers and they are also involved in a huge number of other brewing projects. The Monster Beer Tour features extreme beers clocking in with 8.5 ABV or greater and are sold in six packs. They are rotated seasonally and include such beers as Rye Squared, a doubled up version of the Rye Pale Ale.
My personal favorite is Wake N' Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout. This monster of a stout features a special coffee blend created by Buckowski with the help of a local coffee roaster “Jittery Joes.”
Terrapin also produces several side project beers a year, which are available in 22oz bottles. These limited edition beers showcase creative brewing at its best. The first of the series, Hop Shortage IPA, shook a defiant fist at the industry wide hop shortage of 2008.
Terrapin also does a yearly collaboration brew with Left Hand. The Reunion series, available locally, raises money for The Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research. Finally, the Georgia Theatre Sessions, only available locally, are helping raise money to rebuild the historic Georgia Theatre.
Terrapin is available throughout Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. It is also available selectively in Florida, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Alabama.
