First Draft with Chris Bivins

“The learning curve is very steep,” says Chris Bivins, the 28-year-old brewmaster at Torched Hop Brewing Company, located in the former Old Spaghetti Factory building on Ponce. Bivins wants to brew beer for a living, but running a brewpub involves much more than that. Like hiring dozens of people over a few days so you can open. Like one of those people threatening to “cut” another one on opening night. Fun stuff like that.“We made quite a few hires that were terrible, quite honestly,” Bivins laughs. “Trying to wrangle 60 employees is a challenge. It’s like herding cats.”But as Torched Hop approaches its six-month anniversary (which they’ll celebrate by serving their first to-go growlers, thanks to recent regulatory changes), two things are clear: they’re making it — and Bivins is making great beer. His roster of cleverly named draughts includes Hops-De-Leon IPA, Nightmare on Penn St. American Black Ale, and Miss Scarlett’s Guilty Pleasure, brewed with 200 pounds of strawberries. Having worked for places like White Street Brewing Co. in Raleigh, NC and 5 Seasons here in Atlanta, Bivins knows the industry. So does his brother and business partner, Stephen, who worked in restaurants while getting his degree at Auburn and at Ford Fry’s El Felix in Alpharetta after graduation. Still, the pair are learning some hard lessons now, the kind that any small business owner in the early days knows all too well.“We’re getting there,” Bivins says. “We’re seeing a growth pattern. Mondays and Tuesdays are slow, but on Fridays, we’re on an hour wait. There are only so many hours in the week, but this is the American dream.” Beside the bocce court inside his expansive brewpub, Creative Loafing sat down with Bivins to talk about Torched Hop’s past, present, and future. Describe your first beer.Mine was a Natural Light. I didn’t drink before college. I was at a party, someone handed me a Natty Light, and I almost threw up after my first sip. After about a year and a half of binge drinking, I ventured into craft.Tell me how you got started working with beer.I graduated from Auburn in 2011, came back to Atlanta, and lived in my parents’ basement in Roswell for about six months. I tried to find a job in the finance world but couldn’t. So I told my parents I wanted to pursue a career in brewing, and that’s when I saw my mom cry for the first time. laughs But they were supportive at the end of the day. I started interning at 5 Seasons in January 2012. I was there for eight months and learned the ropes. After that, I moved to Raleigh for White Street.How did Torched Hop come about?I was working in Raleigh, brewing Kolsch 10 times a week for White Street, and decided that wasn’t my idea of a good time. My brother was in his last year at Auburn, and we talked about it a few times. He had to do a business plan for an entrepreneurship class, so he made one for a brewpub. Eventually, we looked at a few locations in Atlanta — one in Decatur, one in Roswell, where Gate City Brewing Company currently is. Then Stephen discovered this place, and the lease rate was in our wheelhouse. The insane thing is, it had sat vacant for five years.You’re in an interesting area of town that’s going through some big changes. What’s your clientele like?The craft beer community is one of the most welcoming communities out there. There are people having their first craft pint here, a lot of Tech students, so we’re explaining that this beer isn’t made with rice. There’s a responsibility to educate the newbie.And you’ve got Stone Brewing’s former brewmaster opening up down the street.

Right. People have asked me if I’m nervous about that. No! We make good beer. He makes really good beer. This city could become the Asheville of the Southeast soon. Mitch Steele is one of the first people from outside the region to realize that the Atlanta market is untapped. Why would Wicked Weed pinpoint Atlanta as their first distributed market? Breweries are targeting Atlanta because people here appreciate good beer. Bring it on.
BEER EVENTSWrecking Bar Brewpub Wood-Aged WednesdaysWhen: Every Wednesday, until the barrel runs dryWhere: Wrecking Bar BrewpubEach week, the Little Five Points brewpub serves up a special small batch beer that's been aged in a wood barrel.
5 Seasons Cask NightWhen: Every Thursday, 5:55-7:55 p.m.Where: 5 Seasons North and WestsideEach week, a different guest taps a different keg of "real cask ale."