Baseball is back and that's a good thing for the Terrapin Taproom... they think.
Of course it's good. The Taproom – located right outside Truist Park on The Battery – has been open since mid-June. And now that Atlanta's season is starting, business has to pick up. Just how much? That's the question.
The Braves will start their abbreviated 60-game season Friday on the road in New York versus the Mets. On Wednesday the team returns home to host the Rays in the Braves' home opener. That usually packs in a huge crowd for Terrapin. Except now, with zero fans allowed inside Truist Park, no one's sure what crowds will be like in The Battery.
The Terrapin Taproom will be following CDC guidelines to maintain service is provided safely. With no one allowed inside to watch, all the TVs inside will be turned to the Braves. And Terrapin will use this road trip to gauge what kind of turnout they may get once the team returns home next week.
And while Terrapin's marketing manager Leah Keggi said they're going to welcome everyone who can safely fit inside the Taproom, the brewery is also making it easy to enjoy Terrapin beers away from the ballpark.
"We’re doing a lot of encouraging people to grab their Terrapin and recreate baseball," Keggi said. "The experience at home. With drinking Los Bravos and other Terrapin beers at home if they don’t feel it’s safe to come out."
That's a huge reason Terrapin made Los Bravos, their crisp Mexican-Style lager which has become their most popular baseball-themed beer, available in cans.
Originally, Los Bravos was brewed just for the baseball stadium. It became so popular, though, the brewery decided in March to can it and send it into distribution. But then the baseball season was delayed.
No problem for Terrapin. Keggi said people have been grabbing Los Bravos in cans even without there being a baseball season. Sales have been so good the brewery added Los Bravos to it's year-round offerings.
This baseball beer will have no offseason.
So, enjoy a Los Bravos at home or grab one when hanging out (socially distanced, of course) at The Battery and inside the Terrapin Taproom. When you're there, look for other baseball-themed beer.
Frenchy's Blues (a blueberry Berliner Weiss made with blueberries from former Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur's farm) is a crowd favorite, according to Keggi. There's also Full Count, an India Pale Lager, and Chopsecutioner, which held the title for most popular stadium beer from Terrapin until Los Bravos took over.
But, we need to talk about Chopsecutioner for a second.
I asked Keggi to dispel, or confirm, a rumor that Chopsecutioner was aged over baseball bats. While an interesting notion, and a fantastic piece of marketing, it's time to tell the whole story.
Don't think of this beer sitting in tanks on top of baseball bats in their current form. There's no way Terrapin grabbed bats from the Braves clubhouse to help flavor their beer.
They did, however, work out a deal with Mizuno to get wood from the bat maker.
"It is actually brewed with Mizuno baseball bat chips," said Keggi. "So we get bat chips shipped from a factory that haven’t been lacquered or anything. And so it's the wood that comes from Mizuno. Everyone asks if we’re pulling your leg. And we’re not."
The chips come from the leftovers that remain when Mizuno shapes a bat on their lathes. Think: A bat starts as a hunk of wood that gets shaped into form like you see major leaguers use. The leftover chips get sent to Terrapin to use in the making of Chopsecutioner. Then a different shape of baseball bat wood is used in the aging process.
Now that baseball is back and Terrapin is ready to serve beers in the Terrapin Taproom, here's the tap list for this the Braves' home opener Wednesday in Atlanta:
Cream City German Pilsner
Los Bravos
Brew Lab Helles
Vienna Lager
Bravator Doppelbock
Golden
Frenchy’s Blues
Luau Krunkles POG IPA
Hopsecutioner IPA
Black is Beautiful Collaboration
Fox Brews Texas Style Lager
Full Count IPL
High & Hazy IPA
Strawberry Dreamsicle IPA
Watermelon Gose
RecreationAle LoCal IPA
Chopsecutioner