Beer Bars – Trappeze Pub in Athens, Georgia

As I left my hotel on foot, I was worried that this sleepy little town had already fallen asleep for the night.  I waded through the thick humidity and cicada buzz until I turned on Washington, which appears to be Athens' downtown drag.  It wasn't exactly packed, but I was relieved so see some signs of life.  In Athens' defense, it was 11pm on a Monday. 

When found my destination and walked in the front door I was immediately enveloped in the smell of a very old building.  Must and dampness lay like a thick fog in this place.  The hardwood floors are deeply stained and above are a combination of black and white ceiling tiles.  The bar is a glorious piece of art.   The top is shiny lacquered wood, the sides are covered with a beautiful aluminum paneling, and the draft handles appear to have randomly sprouted up over the years like wildflowers in a meadow.  Behind the bar is wooden shelving covered in old tap handles and glassware.   High backed booths surround the outside facing walls and brewery propaganda adorns the wall.  Underground hip hop and rock I've never heard plays on the overhead and the lights are dim.  A chalkboard lets me know what's fresh on tap, and three different refrigerators show me what bottles are available.  A couple of marionettes hang from ceiling for visual punctuation.  It looks like there is more space available here, but the rest of it is closed for the evening. 

Trappeze features 31 draft handles and a wonderful bottle selection.  Most of the full pours run from $4 to $6, which I consider extremely reasonable.   The nice young man behind the bar provided me with the recommendation of Cherry Street's Dirty Frenchman's Saison which apparently comes from a homeless little co-op out of southern Georgia.   It was nice, so I decided to try their Hoppy Balboa vs Apollo Double IPA (the brewery recently hosted a tap takeover).  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the glassware changed with my order. 

The rest of the local draft list tonight starts and stops with a lot of Terrapin beers.   For the east coast they've got a little Brooklyn and Dogfish Head.  There's some New Belgium and Boulevard from the middle of the country.   California is represented with Stone, North Coast, Anderson Valley, and Sierra Nevada.   They've also got a couple draft ciders. 

They serve food, but unfortunately the kitchen closed before I got there.  I guess I'll have to eat like a fasting monk tonight.

Overall I'm extremely impressed.   This is a business that truly values good beer and doesn’t believe in gouging their customers for them.  I wish I could have seen the entire building and gotten something to eat, but this is my fault for coming in late on a Monday.  The bartender recommended a couple bottle shops for me and even wrote down what to look for.  I wish more beer bars were this friendly.

In the unlikely scenario I’m ever back in Athens, I will definitely set up camp here again.

-Matt