There are few things that coincide more pleasurably with hiking than cold beer. The two go together so well gear has been designed to tote brews along paths. While effective and enjoyable most of the time, leakage occurs, gear is damaged, and beer gets wasted.
Why not wait until after the hike; after the trail?
You’ll be able to do just that soon in Stone Mountain at Outrun Brewing Company.
Josh Miller, one of the brewery's co-founders along with Ryan Silva, expects that by spring or early summer of 2020, if everything goes according to plan, once people visiting Stone Mountain finish with their hiking they’ll be able to enjoy a local craft brew without venturing too far from their parking spot.
“From our building you can walk to the walk-up part of the park,” Miller said. “I think it’s like half a mile.”
The Stone Mountain location suits the pair well. Far from hustle of Atlanta, but close enough to draw huge excursionist numbers who Miller hopes will stop in for a brewery experience.
“It’s nice, it’s quaint and the mountain has such a huge draw for tourism,” Miller said. “We kind of thought that would be really cool to pair up with [Stone Mountain] and potentially have some good tourist business.”
Once you’re ready for that beer, Miller promises a unique craft beer experience.
Outrun Brewing Company will feel unlike breweries that are scattered around Atlanta. Sans reclaimed wood, barrels and the echoing warehouse space, their approximately 2,300 square foot locale will have a “little more of a vibrant, Miami feel to it.”
The owners will not only make the beer, but serve it too, Mom & Pop style. And they’ll direct patrons to a large outdoor area with communal seating and even a small 250 square foot tap station in front of the property.
While the feel may be vibrant and Miami, the theme will scream nostalgia. Miller and Silva are self-proclaimed culture nuts from the 80s and 90s with the loud and crazy and colorful and individualistic trends from their youth. The name Outrun comes from a 1986 road racing video game with the same name. And yes, that video game, along with Outrun II will be in the taproom.
“We want to play off that feeling you get when you smell something that reminds you of a summer day when you were 15, or the mall food court getting an Orange Julius,” said Miller. “You know things like that. Having beers that reflect that nostalgia, in a way. We’re going to harken back to those kind of memories. We like to tie a lot of memories and things like that into the beer.”
While nostalgia will be a theme, Outrun’s mission will be to “get people into craft beer and make craft beer more approachable,” says Miller. If you love beer and want to talk ABV, BJCP styles and geek out, the guys can do that. But Outrun is looking to cater to the beer crowd that wants to have fun, that’s not worried about proper glassware, that wants to enjoy these two experienced brewers expand on their craft while making folks smile.
Miller and Silva haven’t finalized their beer list yet, but Miller did say they’ll feature balanced beers that are lower on the ABV (Alcohol by Volume) side. The beers will also thematically tie in to memories.
Outrun will have a Hawaiian POG Sour. They’ll have an IPA, a stout, they’ll feature table beers, and even some seltzers. But don’t expect many core beers, if any at all. Miller and Silver want to flex their creative muscles.
“If it’s the winter and we feel like brewing a bunch of smoked beers, we might just have a couple of smoked beers on and a bunch of high-ABV stouts,” said Miller. “It’s really just dependent on what we’re creatively feeling and what ingredients are in season. We’re pretty flexible and we like all kinds of beer. But we tend to make our beers a little easier to drink and lower alcohol so they’re more easily enjoyed.”
They’ll rotate plenty of brews from their 5-barrel system on 10 taps. And if they do find a beer guests like, they may re-visit it frequently, but with twists and tweaks. The only thing constraining the pair is their imagination, and that’s not an obstacle they expect to hinder them at all.
“We’re working on an Orange Julius-like sour and potentially even a seltzer so we can so we can get something for those with gluten allergies,” said Miller. “We like to work on those kind of nostalgic flavors. If I can make an Ecto Cooler Hi-C beer, I’m going to do it. It’s not something we have in the books as one of our first beers, but it’s on our radar.”
So put Stone Mountain on your radar over the next month or two. When the brewery opens, Miller says they’ll launch with five beers. And while they won’t do food on site, they will have food trucks on occasion and will welcome outside food. There’s pizza across the street and BBQ ready to open around the corner.
Bring your hiking shoes and appetite for adventurous brews.
