Bottoms up: Carrollton’s first brewery set to open

Carrollton’s first craft brewery, Printers Ale Manufacturing Company, is set to open next month. Located on Columbia Drive, the Brewery shares a building with Printed Specialties Inc, a company that has been in Carrollton since the early 1980’s.

30 years ago, when his business started, owner Greg Smith was focused on his print company and enjoyed home brewing on the side. Printed Specialties has two separate facilities on Columbia Drive, but the second building was hardly ever utilized. It was more so a storage and overstock warehouse for the main building of Printed Specialties. It dawned on Greg one day that part of his building was the perfect setup for a brewery; it has a good water supply, trench drains in the floor and a natural gas supply that all aids the brewing process. Printer’s Ale followed soon after that. “A couple years ago Greg came to me and said, ‘I’m starting a brewery, would you like to get involved?’ and my answer was immediately yes,” said Managing Partner Elliott Hall.

 One thing led to another and Smith soon asked Hall to help him build and manage the brewery. “About a year ago we started construction on the back third of the building and have been working ever since” said Hall. “More than half of the building is still used to house print equipment and do some printing, but we have plenty of space in our third of the building.”

The Smith Family has been in the print industry for four generations. The family business started in Scranton, Pennsylvania as Keystone Print Company. Greg and his family made the move to Carrollton in the 1980’s and started Printed Specialties. Coincidentally, Smith’s Great Great Grandfather was a brewer in Germany; so brewing is in their blood.

When opened for business, Printer’s Ale will be the only brewery for 30 miles in any direction.

The local brewery is unique for many reasons. Not only does the ambiance of an old fashioned print shop make for a great drinking atmosphere, not only do you get the ‘business in the front, party in the back’ vibe with the print shop on the other side, but also there will be plenty to do while visitors taste the unique brews. A large patio is being built along the side of the building, which will have cornhole boards, a bocce court as well as Frisbee. “There is going to be all kinds of things to do aside from the tour,” said Elliot.

Printer’s will also feature a brand new tasting room where guests can enjoy the different kinds of beers the brewmasters are concocting. Behind the bar, there is a large mural across the wall that shows the original Keystone Print Company in Pennsylvania. There will also be a lounge room and merchandise shop. They also grow their own hops, which is very unique for a craft brewery, especially in Georgia due to the dry climate. “We don’t harvest enough to use it in all our beer,” said Elliot. “Our goal is to have at least one beer a year that features the locally grown ingredients.”

Head Brewer Brian Quinn is the mastermind hophead behind all the unique flavors in each new brew. He and Assistant Brewer Nick Moran have been racking their brains with recipes trying to get a unique flavor that people will like. “ We will be rolling with four core brews and always be coming out with seasonal beers and one-offs,” said Quinn. “People like variety.”

The brewmasters are currently working on a one-off brew that should pique the curiosity of beginning and advanced beer drinkers. “It’s going to be a Gose beer with hibiscus tea,” said Quinn.

The four core beers will consist of a Porter, Amber Ale, Golden ale, and “The IPA, of course,” said Hall. Ideally we would like to release a new seasonal beer or one-off once a month on top of the core brews.”

Smith and Hall plan to have a soft opening to the public on Mar. 9 with the grand opening on April 8. “We wanted to make sure we go ahead and open our tasting room to the public to start trying out our beers and showing our brewery to the community.” Said Hall.

Hours for the tasting room will be Thursday and Friday 4:30 pm-8:00 pm, and Saturdays 1:00 pm-6:00 pm. You can find them on Facebook at facebook.com/printersbeer. They can also be found on Twitter @Printersbeer. Show your excitement by using the hashtag #PickPrinters on Twitter.