A Brewery Replaces a Planned Rum Distillery at the Beacon in Grant Park

Rum distillery Atlantica Distilling Company and Ateliea House of Rum, owned by Ronford Howell, no longer plan to open at the Beacon in Grant Park due to lack of funding, according to a statement on the distillery’s website.

Atlantica was to make amber and black spiced rums at the Beacon and include a tasting room and a members only club called the Wing Society next to local market Third Street Goods at the complex. The space is now slated to become Elsewhere Brewing, owned by Samuel Kazmer and Sara Kazmer. The brewery should open next June.

A request for Atlantica’s liquor application to be withdrawn was submitted to the city of Atlanta license review board for consideration during its March 12 meeting.

In the statement, Howell says he has spent three years working to bring the rum distillery to fruition. However, he realized earlier this year funding had “come up short” and he was unable to “secure the capital that would allow this project to proceed.”

“I had some really exciting products that I would of loved for Atlanta to taste. Thank you to everyone who reached out to me and was truly excited about this project, to be honest I was surprised,” Howell says in the statement. “I thought this was Bourbon country, but there is an excitement about Rum in Atlanta.”

Howell still hopes to bring his rum distillery to life, only on a much “smaller scale,” and continues to work with the city of Atlanta. The distillery takes its name from the original Atlantica-Pacifica terminus point where the two railroads met in Atlanta, then known as “Marthasville”.

Eater Atlanta reached out to Howell for more details.

As for the newly-formed Elsewhere Brewing, a June Facebook post offers a tour of the rough space, which will eventually house a 10 BBL brewing system and horizontal lagering tanks for fermenting and conditioning.

Samuel Kamzer tells Eater Atlanta they plan to brew “lower-gravity, sessionable classics inspired by the beers of Continental Europe” such as a Bohemian pilsner, dark Czech lager, Belgian saison, Bavarian hefeweizen, German alt, and a gose as well as an IPA and lambic styles.

Elsewhere will also include a “unique food program inspired by” the Kazmer’s travels throughout Argentina. The couple is working with Patagonian chef Richard Oyarzun to create a menu of street foods for the brewery’s counter service restaurant component.

“After spending countless hours in Belgian cafes, Bavarian beer gardens, and English Pubs we started to notice a trend: comfortable spaces make you want to hang around longer,” Samuel Kamzer says in an email. “Whether it’s a comfortable bar stool (back and cushion included), good acoustics, aesthetic lighting, good food, engaging events, or knowledgeable service we believe that a brewery taproom needs to be more than just beer.”

Update, October 8, 3 p.m.: This story has been updated to include information from Elsewhere Brewing on the opening date, beers, and food.

1039 Grant Street SE, Suite B34, Atlanta.

• A Rum Distillery Opens Later This Year in Atlanta’s Grant Park Neighborhood [EATL]
• All Grant Park coverage [EATL]
• All the Beacon coverage [EATL]