It’s late December and I’m currently on PTO so let’s get back to our Savannah Georgia beerventure. We last left off with our stay in Hilton Head Island and now it is time to head to Savannah, GA for the sights, some baseball, a wild 4th of July celebration and of course the beer.
Savannah, while being a fun little city, is probably not thought of as a traditional beer destination. With only six breweries in and around the city, we were actually able to square away Savannah in a day; which isn’t a bad thing. This gave us time to see the Savannah Bananas Baseball Team and visit an awesome tree grove and a graveyard.
Service Brewing Co.
Immediately across the Talmadge Memorial Bridge and just on the outskirts of Savannah’s downtown is the veteran owned brewery – Service Brewing Co. The large and spacious brewery boasts fun weekly events such as trivia nights, bluegrass Fridays, Yoga Saturdays and a personal favorite – a running club! Looking for a wedding venue? Service Brewing also has you covered if a brewery wedding is for you.
Unfortunately, the perpetual problem of the Beerventurer is that we rarely get to partake in these awesome weekly events. But we did help ourselves to a flight of four! My favorite of the flight was the Disco Crush NEIPA while Melissa opted for the sweeter “Raspberry Jelly Donut Pastry Sour.” Disco, like most of the southern NEIPAs we had on our trip, was a nice ode to New England and generally hit the spot.
Their Raspberry Jelly Donut, while a bit too sweet for me, was the showstopper of the flight. This small R&D batch out of Service is a kettle soured ale conditioned on a little batch of fluffy raspberry jelly donuts with heaps of additional raspberry puree. Thing tasted like a liquid donut.
Baseball
If you’re not aware, the city of Savannah has a college summer league baseball team called the Savannah Bananas. Previously featured on ESPN and Sports Illustrated is one of, if not the most interesting take on baseball. The stadium is non-stop entertainment right when you walk in the gates, not to mention it’s all you can eat! So do yourself a favor and procure tickets super early as the entire season sells out when tickets release. If you are able to find tickets, give Melissa’s guide on how to properly attend the game – Click Here – a read because this will help come game day.
Southbound Brewing Company
On the other side of the Talmadge Bridge and a bit further down Bay street headed away from Savannah’s downtown is Southbound Brewing Company. If you’re looking for a more down and dirty brewery that feels like a dive bar, or want to throw some hatchets, SbBC is your must stop in Savannah.
And yes, I said hatchets. Just walk through the taproom and into Blade & Bull Axe Throwing with your beers in hand.
Established in 2013, the 20 tap system serves a wide array of styles. Unfortunately for us, we have a busy day ahead and only get to try a flight of four. I’d like to pretend that the Seoul Shine, a West Coast DIPA, was the best in show. But I have to put aside my biases to tell you about Berry Superstitious and Plum Together. Berry Superstitious is another kettle soured ale, but with a huge addition of plum and blackberries that lead to a sweet and only mildly tart pour. Frankly Berry Superstitious is perfect for a July afternoon down south even if you’re not the biggest sour fan.
If you’re not looking for tart, see if you can get your hands on their Plum Together. This smooth, smoked plum porter is something rather unusual. The plum, both jammy and sweet, balanced well with the smoke from the porter in a way that I can’t really describe.
Moon River Brewing Company
In the heart of downtown Savannah is Moon River Brewing Company, which is everyone’s favorite “local haunt” according to their website. The brewery was established in 1999 in one of the oldest, and most historic/genuinely haunted buildings in Savannah. Originally built in 1821, the building was home to Savannah’s first hotel, the first branch of the USPS in Savannah, the first Bank in Savannah, and a bar all under one roof! Give this a read if you want to learn more about what goes bump in the night.
We may have slightly strayed off course during our lunch here by opting for the Super Moon flight – which was all 10 of their beers on two crescent moon flight paddles. Whoops. Unfortunately for us, the flight beers were all pretty average with nothing really standing out. One exception however is Give Me That Rye! I’m always a fan of rye beers, so any chance that I get to taste a malty, rye flavored beer it just always hit the spot.
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