Hop City Beer and Wine Opens in Midtown

Atlanta’s first craft beer store will open April 2 in the revitalized West Midtown area. Hop City Craft Beer & Wine carries nearly 1,000 unique beer brands, including hard-to-find craft beer, and more than 600 varieties of wine. The store also offers home brewing books, ingredients and equipment; Hop City-branded merchandise, drink and stemware; and gift packaging for both wine and beer purchases.

Hop City is located in the Brickworks on Marietta Street near the intersection of Howell Mill Rd. and is the latest opening in the city’s revitalized West Midtown area. The area includes restaurants like Food Studio and 5 Seasons Westside, coffee shops such as Octane, art galleries, and other popular retail.

The store opens at a time when craft beer sales are growing. While overall beer sales have been flat in the United States over the past decade, the craft beer industry has grown 12 percent per year, on average. In 2000, there were fewer than 800 microbreweries in the United States. In 2007 there were 463, including three in the Atlanta area (Sweetwater, Atlanta Brewing Company and Terrapin Brewing). In 2007, craft beer sales totaled $5.7 billion and accounted for 5.9% of the total domestic beer sales.

To celebrate its launch, Hop City is hosting a Grand Opening party next door to the store at 5 Seasons Westside on Thursday, April 2, from 6-9 pm. More than 10 national and local brewers are slated to be on-hand to debut their seasonal beers or to talk to guests about their beer and home-brewing questions.

For more information about Hop City Craft Beer & Wine, please visit www.hopcitybeer.com