Another Brewery announces plans to open in Monroe

Southern Brewery out of Athens has just made its formal announcement on plans to open a location in Monroe, Ga.

“We’ve got big things in the works, y’all,” Southern Brewing Company shared on its Athens location Facebook Page. It followed up by launching the Southern Brewing Company Monroe Facebook page with a photograph of founders Rick Goddard and Brian Roth in front of the soon to be completed build out at 123 N. Lumpkin Street, next to the Rinse Warehouse.

This is the first expansion announced by the Southern Brewing Company that opened up in Athen’s Ga. less than four years ago. Its success is documented on its website, noting an expansion from less than 10 employees on opening day in May 2015 to more than 30 employees now. It has created more than 50 unique beers and boasts of its use of local ingredients in doing so. Based on the cornerstone of its business model of being “focused on its relationships within the brewing industry and our community,” it looks like another good fit for the direction that Monroe is headed. Founder and CFO, Roth, said they are very excited about this new venture and plan on opening up, “just as soon as we can get the licensing completed.”

Roth said his wife, Jennifer Roth, has been a teacher in Walton County for a while, first in Loganville and now at Monroe Area High School, so Monroe feels like home to them.

“I’ve always liked Monroe so when Sadie (Krawczyk – economic development specialist for Monroe) and them reached out and said they were seeking another established brewery, and the more we found out about what’s happening here in Monroe, we decided to do it,” Roth said, adding that they’ve been working on the space for a while already and should be ready to go as soon as the licensing process is complete. He is hoping for that to be late spring or summer, but in the meantime, they will be introducing themselves to the community through some of the upcoming events.

“We will pair up with LR Burger and also do something with the concert series, but the second we complete that licensing, we will be open,” he said.

In the meantime, to follow its progress and find out about the events it will be participating in – and that big opening day announcement when it comes – you can like the Southern Brewing Company Monroe’s Facebook page.

This announcement is just the most recent in a series of new businesses that have announced plans to open in Monroe in 2019. It comes on the heels of the announcements of the Downtown Green, Major Humphrey’s Brewery Company and L.R. Burger, technically expanding Monroe’s downtown food and entertainment district one block east of Broad Street.

“Actually, we’re moving north, south, east and west in our town. Monroe is becoming the place to be – especially for young entrepreneurs,” Monroe Mayor John Howard said. “If you want to get excited about our future, just look at what the young people are bringing to Monroe.” He went on to name a few, such as Ross Bradley (Your Pie and the Silver Queen), the Musics (Melvin and Melissa – The Story Shop,) The Bilslands and Berubes (Sailor Studio’s Lily and David Bilsland and now their partnership with Shaun and Brittany Berube that is bringing Major Humphrey’s Brewery). There are also small business workspaces to encourage young startups, such as Cowork at the Monroe Metro recently opened by J.T. Anderson adjacent to the Green with similar plans for another cowork space planned by Brian and Sadie Krawczyk.