In seven years, Liquid Nation Brewing launched Gainesville’s first brewery, survived the shockwaves of the COVID-19 pandemic, changed its name and brought home the Best Beer award from the 2023 Suwanee American Craft Beer Fest’s Georgia Brew Battle — the No. 1 beer festival in the U.S., according to USA Today.
Secured days before the seventh anniversary of the brewery’s first production batch on March 21, the winning brew is a seasonal passion fruit raspberry sour ale coined Razzmanian Devil.
According to Suwanee Beer Fest event director Tiffany Belflower, thousands of festival attendees spend a few hours each year sampling craft brews from upwards of 70 Georgia breweries to determine the brewery and beer most deserving of the coveted title of “best beer in Georgia.” The top five breweries then select one beer to send to a panel of judges for the final word.
“This year, LNB took home the prized trophy for their Razzmanian Devil. This delicious brew won based on the complexity of the beer, robust raspberry taste and smooth finish,” Belflower said.
The win, according to LNB President and Founder Pap Datta, “showcases the fact that our brewers are top-notch. They’re the ones that dream up the recipes.”
While the brewery experimented with the sour ale for the better part of the last year, the responsibility for the recipe rests upon the shoulders of brewmaster Patrick McCormac, who’s reveling in the feat on paternity leave with his newborn son.
“He’s celebrating in many ways,” Datta said.
The brew will formally join the taproom’s draft list this weekend, just in time for LNB’s seventh anniversary celebration Saturday, March 25.
Cans are slated to release late next week at package and grocery stores across the Atlanta metro area, including Trader Joe’s.
The award, then, according to Datta, is icing on the cake.
“The planets lined up on this one,” he said. “I hope this isn’t the pinnacle, but the start of more pinnacles to come.”
Transitioning from the eyebrow-raising moniker “Left Nut Brewing” last spring, the new title was chosen very carefully, Datta said, symbolizing adaptability and resilience, particularly the brewery’s own “as the landscape has changed and we’ve competed to move and flow forward … working together for a common purpose.”
“We have epitomized that brand name,” Datta said. “It’s not just a name to keep LNB as an initial. It does mean something to us as we move forward. We have epitomized that name as we have persevered through everything.”