Oconee Brewing celebrates 5 years
In case you are wondering where you can grab a nice cold beer and sample a rotating offering of award-winning brews, you need not look further than Oconee Brewing Company on 202 North West Street in downtown Greensboro. Owned and managed by Taylor Lamm, who is a certified brewmaster, the brewery just celebrated its five-year mark serving up the best in brewskis this side of the Mississippi.
Lamm attended the University of Georgia and upon graduation thought his career would take a financial track into banking. Instead, he found himself studying home brewing and starting to make his own brews in his parents’ garage. Tempted by the unique flavors he concocted, Lamm knew he could probably make a career out of transforming blends of hops and grain in just the precise measurements, but he needed to locate a school that would teach this alchemy. He found it first in Chicago.
“Chicago’s Siebel Institute of Technology has been educating brewers about beer from around the world since 1872,” said Lamm. “More than learning the brewing process, it gave me knowledge about the dynamics of the business to operate an independent brewery. Brewing is indeed a science.”
From Chicago, a trip across the pond took Lamm to Munich, Germany, the modern birthplace of beer, starting in the year 1,000 after its earliest origins in the Middle East. It was there at Doemen’s Academy in the city that Lamm completed his certificate and came home to Augusta to begin looking for a property to start a brewery. Greensboro was a hot market on the lake, and its nearest competition was in Athens.
Lamm and a partner discovered the old Chero Cola bottling plant, a 100-year-old brick building that was also a cotton storage facility in its day. Soon, shiny stainless beer stills were installed, water lines run, supplies brought in, ladders hoisted and lagers, porters, ales, stouts and hefeweizens appeared. And, so did greater Greensboro. Greensboro had its very own brewery, but it was lacking food.
“One thing that kept coming up was food,” Lamm said. “Our customers continually asked if we were going to add a food menu. We knew we needed to complete the package with some type of food package, but we did not have a kitchen of any type.”
A call went out to find a chef. Casey Burchfield answered the call and soon was working on a custom designed food truck special to the brewery, which is called “The Burch at Oconee.” It’s soft opening at last Saturday’s celebratory five-year anniversary saw it parked on its special deck with patio tables and umbrellas. The Burch offers up delicious sandwiches, appetizers, salads, desserts and Burchfield’s signature “smash” burgers. Plans are to have the food truck open Thursday through Sunday during regular business hours.
Oconee Brewing also has an event center attached to its brewery and routinely serves as the event space for a number of fundraisers. Recent events included “Motown on Main,” which supports Greene County Family Connection and a soon-to-be-scheduled summer concert for the Boys and Girls club.
Oconee Brewing Company Brews are now packaged and sold in retailers throughout Georgia. Its best seller continues to be its Germany style Kolsch. Its winning success proves that, if you build it, they will come.