Suddenly, it seems, Atlanta has become a mecca for the greatest beers in the world. That was the consensus of a group of beer sellers, writers and connoisseurs who recently gathered in the loftlike Belgian Bar at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur.

The official occasion was the American reintroduction of the Belgian beers of Abbaye St.-Rémy, Rochefort, by Merchant du Vin, a Seattle-based specialty beer importer. But the unofficial topic of conversation was how far Atlanta had come since July 1, 2004, when it became legal to make, sell and purchase beer over 6 percent alcohol by volume in Georgia, and world-class ales like Trappistes Rochefort 8 (9.2 percent abv) and Trappistes Rochefort 10 (11.3 percent abv) could finally come into the state.

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Gumer Santos, a small, cheerful man whose background is chemical engineering, brews alongside the Trappist monks at the abbey in Rochefort, Belgium. He shook his head in amazement at the thought that the historic and much sought after brown ales that he helps make there would ever be illegal anywhere.

"It is very rare for visitors to come to the brewery," Santos said, "because first and foremost it's an abbey. And the monks want to maintain a monastic atmosphere. There is no shop, no pub, nothing. Tourists come all the time to try to visit, and we always say no."

Among the notables who joined Santos to toast Rochefort at the Brick Store: Jan Verbeeck, consul of Belgium, Atlanta; Daniel Bradford, publisher of All About Beer magazine, Durham, N.C.; Jason & Todd Alström, founders of beeradvocate.com, Boston; and Stephen Beaumont, international beer writer and founder of worldofbeer.com, Toronto.

All were thrilled to taste the plentiful samples of Rochefort 8 and 10 provided by Merchant du Vin. The Brick Store quickly became a buzzing hive of beer talk. But a few of the travelers from other cities were slightly taken aback that Atlanta was chosen as the location for the Rochefort/Merchant du Vin rollout.

"So what is this Atlanta phenomena?" asked Catherine Lemin, advertising director for All About Beer, "because we were surprised that this was happening here."

"Since last July, Atlanta has become one of the top three markets for many of our beers," answered Joe Lipa, Merchant du Vin national sales manager. "And it's beyond belief that most of the beers that have become so big here are the darker, stronger beers. In December, we sold more Celebrator Dopplebock in this market than we sold in the rest of the entire United States combined."

Adam Tolsma, beer buyer for Green's Beverage Stores, remembered what he went through in July 2004 just trying to keep up with the pent-up demand for Belgian ales and other strong beers.

"When I was ordering for last July," Tolsma said, "I was a little nervous, thinking I'd gone overboard. However, I was way under. Most of that first order was gone in two days. We sold a phenomenal amount of beer. I'd been working at Green's since 1996, and I'd never seen anything like it — a demand that was so broad-based and unexpected. And these are expensive, gourmet beers. That first month was the most significant in sales. But it wasn't a blip. We've been selling huge numbers of Belgian ales and other strong beers every month since."

Merchant du Vin marketing manager Craig Hartinger summed up the experience of the past year in Atlanta as a truly exciting time for beer lovers. And he singled out the Brick Store and Green's as two places that he thinks are as good as or better than any in the United States to drink or buy beer.

"When we decided to introduce Rochefort, Atlanta was the first city I thought of," Hartinger said. "This is such a great place for beer now, and it's all the more remarkable that it's developed into such a great place so quickly. It takes brave retailers to run a Brick Store or a Green's, but it's the consumers here that are making it happen. There's a wonderful joy of discovering beer styles that people here didn't have the chance to try a year ago."