Gwinnett County’s first brewery will allow Wrecking Bar Brewpub to expand its distribution and begin canning beer.
The Atlanta brewpub will build a brewery on 65 acres near Loganville, and Wrecking Bar owner Bob Sandage said he expects to be selling four to six beer styles in stores in a year and a half.
Wrecking Bar already distributes to restaurants, but its capacity is limited by its Little Five Points location. The new brewery will start with a capacity of 5,000 barrels — there are 31 gallons to a barrel — and Sandage said he expects to eventually be canning and kegging 20,000 barrels annually.
“We’ll be fighting for shelf space at Kroger,” he said.
The new space, known as the Wrecking Barn, will be available for events and will offer brewery tours. It will be on the existing Dillwood Farms, at Old Loganville and Brushy Fork roads, and will continue to be a working farm, growing organic produce for the brewpub and other restaurants.
“It’s nice to be the first one to do it in an area,” Sandage said.
Gwinnett County commissioners unanimously approved rezoning the farmland for the brewery Tuesday evening.
“I think this is a pretty exciting venture that’s going on here,” Commissioner Tommy Hunter said.
In a 4-1 vote, commissioners also decided not to allow a check-cashing facility near Gwinnett Place Mall at their Tuesday meeting. Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash was the lone vote in favor of the business. C.H. Andy Kim, who represented the owners, said they wanted to relocate from another location near Pleasantdale Road in order to be closer to their largely Korean clientele. The first location was closed when a QuikTrip gas station expanded in the area.
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