FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — NoFo Brew Co. held its grand opening on Friday. Locals stood out front waiting for the doors to open, so they could try the new brews.
“We launched with four beers,” co-founder Joe Garcia said. “We have a lager on draft called 'Diversion,' we have a Saison that's called 'Apres Vous,' we have an IPA called 'On Belay', and we also have a porter made with coffee from a local coffee roaster here called 'My Porter Boy.'”
NoFo is short for North Forsyth, which Garcia says was a carefully selected area.
“Hyper locality is really important when naming breweries, so if you call yourself ABC Brewing Company, it could be anything for anyone. We wanted to be really specific in how we named this brewery,” he said. “We really built this brewery for anyone and everyone that lives within a 10-minute drive from here. Now anybody is welcome, obviously, but when we were looking at where people live and the population and things like that, and who's the group of people in the community that's going to call this place home, it's for the people of North Forsyth.”
From the moment you walk in, there’s a noticeable theme – outdoor adventures. In fact, Garcia says the company’s trademark is Tap Your Adventurous Side.
“My partners and I are huge adventure fans, whether it's mountaineering, hiking, skiing, fly fishing, and we've had a chance to go to some really cool places all over the world,” he said. “We just wanted to bring that essence and theme to the space and just make people feel welcome and maybe get a little sense of that adventure.”
The adventure continues when you walk outside onto the massive fenced-in patio which includes a large fire pit and a grassy area complete with cornhole and a disc golf basket.
“There’s some great seating out there for everybody to enjoy,” Garcia said. “We just really hope it's a place where people feel comfortable and can hang out with friends and family.”
Tucked away behind the main bar, there’s a members-only lounge that Garcia describes as “speakeasy meets craft beer.”
“We created a group of founding members, and that's just really people that we thought would be regular customers, people that believed in us and just were big fans of us.” He said. “[Memberships] are for sale to the general public as well, and we’re keeping that at 200 members. We created an exclusive lounge where people can go and enjoy if they need a quiet place to sit or take a phone call. In addition, we have three taps back there, and we will do some specialty releases and small releases for beers that are not available in the main taproom.”
As for food, NoFo Brew Co. is offering more than just pretzels and peanuts from behind the bar.
“We have an ongoing partnership with a rotation of food trucks in the community,” Garcia said. “We plan to have them Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, possibly also Wednesday and Thursday. If not, we will be partnering with a local restaurant on Wednesday and Thursday to where we will have a food option available for every day we’re open.”
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