Patrons played games and sipped on craft brews at Monday Nights first public tours.
Their story:
A small Bible study group was trying to find ways to get to know each other a little better. When a member of the group received a home brew beer kit as a gift, they thought cooking up some beer might make for good bonding.
“Monday nights typically suck and there is nothing going on, so we brewed a batch of beer that Monday night,” said founder and marketing director Jonathan Baker during one of the first tours of Monday Night’s Atlanta brewing facility. “And we loved it… and we decided to do it the next Monday night, and again the next Monday night and we realized that we were brewing far too much beer for one bible study to consume.”
Jonathan Baker left his day job to pursue his real passion: beer.
Neighbors, friends and strangers were recruited to help the group drink all the beer but it continued to stack up. Monday nights became party nights for the Bible study group.
“Not only did we like the process of brewing beer, but we really liked the communal aspect of beer,” Baker said. “It’s a lot easier to talk to someone with a beer in your hand.”
The group developed a three-year plan to turn their hobby into a day job. After getting the recipes down for their first two rounds of beer, (tasty Drafty Kilt and Eye Patch have been circulating around Atlanta bars long enough to get some attention), Monday Night outsourced their production and had kegs brought to Atlanta bars. Many local watering holes, including Anatolia’s on Georgia State campus, feature Monday Night Beers.
After generating a good buzz, Monday Night found a warehouse on Atlanta’s Westside and now produces all of their beers in-house.
“We want to create that garage feel,” Baker said of Monday Night’s new Atlanta home.
The brewery, which just started its open to the public tours last week, feels a bit more like a buddy’s cozy man-cave than the newest brewery in Atlanta. The landmark-scattered mural on the wall still smells like fresh paint, and they are still seeking collections for their wall of ties next to the shiny new bar.
Since their beers are only available in keg form, Baker said the brewery is excited to experiment with new ways to package their beer.
“We are not bottling yet,” Baker said of the new bottling line at the Atlanta facility. “We don’t know how to work it yet.”
He said deciding between bottles and cans was an easy decision because, for the cost, it is easy to get a quality bottled beer and bottling equipment.
Baker also said the brewery plans on putting out small-batch specialty brews, including a double IPA, (dubbed the ‘Blind Pirate’), and beer that has been casted in Jim Bean and Four Roses whiskey barrels.
The little details, like sending the beer’s spent grain to local cow farmers and the neck tie decals on the brew pots, reflect Monday Night’s easy going, working-man personality.
“After all,” Baker said at the tour, “It’s just beer.”
Their brews:
Fu Manbrew Belgian-Style Wit
A crispy wit with a spicy finish. Ginger is thrown in at the end of the brewing process to give the beer a spicy twang. It is light, easy drinking with a modest body. Monday Night picked up the name for the brew from Scoutmob.
Alcohol by volume: 5.2 percent International bittering units: 15 Hallertau hops
Eye Patch Ale
Their American IPA packs the punch of malt and hops with a citrusy and almost caramel finish. It drinks like a pale ale with the ease of a sessions beer. Although it is easy to swallow, it still leaves a bite in your mouth.
Alcohol by volume: 6.2 percent International bittering units: 46 Columbus, Cascade and Magnum Hops
Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale
The full body ale is sweet, but also smoky from the smoked malts used in the brewing process. The result is a smoky, full-bodied brew with hints of cherry and chocolate buried in each sip.
Alcohol by volume: 7.2 percent International bittering units: 26 Columbus and Willamette hops
Their way:
There are five ingredients to the basic brew, according to Monday Night.
Water:
The basic building block to good beer. Monday Night manipulates the qualities of their water, like mineral content and hardness, to change the flavor of their beer.
Malt:
Malting is a process. Many things, (including barley and wheat) can be malted. A malted grain is one that is tricked into germinating and then destroy it at a high temperatures to change qualities in the beer.
Hops:
These flowering vines drink up water and sun all over the world. Hops bring bitterness to the party when it comes to beer making. Hops are also a natural preser- vative. Many beers are made with hops in pellet form.
Yeast:
This living organism is found everywhere. In beer talk yeast eats the sugar in beer and turns it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Again, different yeasts will change the qualities of your brew to yield a different tasting beer.
Love:
That’s right. “You don’t hear about it often because some breweries don’t brew with love,” Baker said. “It doesn’t cost money—it costs time.”
