Six Bridges Brewing - Johns Creek Atlanta Georgia

You can find Six Bridges Brewing at 11455 Lakefield Dr STE 300, Duluth, GA 30097 at the end of a small industrial park across from the Atlanta State Farm Operations Center - basically the southeast quadrant made up from the intersection of McGinnis Ferry and Hwy 141. I think it's along the northern edge of John's Creek and to the east of Alpharetta, but fairly close to both. Parking is in front next to the patio, along the front edge and wraps around to the left facing the front door - there seems to be plenty but you may need to walk around the building.

I've been aware of the creation of Six Bridges for some time as there have been several posts about it on the Atlanta Beer Community Facebook group - that's a good source for local brewery happenings. The good folks at Six Bridges also have a FB page where they post updates frequently so you may consider following them - also a fairly new website. Tyler is their social media guy and is quite active. They did their soft opening over Christmas 2018 week and have had limited hours since though they seem to be settling in - currently open from 3:00 or 4:00 to about 9:00 with extended hours on Saturday and as with most Atlanta breweries, closed on Monday.

 

The interior of Six Bridges has a in industrial modern vibe with tall ceilings and concrete floors. There's some lounge seating as you enter that opens to long tables, a few tall smaller round tables around the edges and the taproom/bar along the back edge - some windows allow you to see the operational tanks in the room beyond. It's not as noisy as many similar industrial setups so you can still carry a conversation. There's a large mural right when you walk in that shows the locations of John's Creek's 6 bridges (thus the name - some explanation on the website). I immediately liked the vibe of this place and felt quite comfortable there. You can see the large patio with tables out front - so far a bit too cold to enjoy but I'm sure it will be filled to the gills once they get cranked up.

I've since visited twice - the first time about a week after the soft opening and the second time a couple of days ago - they aren't that convenient to me but when traffic is really bad it's sometimes worth it to go east then south from my work in Alpharetta to my home near Doraville. On the first day business was brisk with about 20 customers in the taproom - I ordered two flights, tasting all 8 of their initial offerings. They've since added another IPA with a new sour scheduled for next week. Here are my initial impressions, recorded while drinking into the Untapp app:

* Shelby Golden Ale 4.8%ABV - 3.75/5 Super light, crisp golden ale, more like a session with good mouthfeel and a touch of hops, nice lacing plus a dry finish. 

* Newtown Pale Ale 5%ABV - 4/5 Lightweight, citrus nose and initial, nice lacing. A well rounded pale ale. 

*  Read 'em and Wheap Wheat Beer 5.6% ABV - 4/5 Easy drinking comes to mind - mouthful of wheat, tropical notes and fairly juicy. Well balanced and very slammable. 

*  Sour Continuum with Boysenberry Cream Berliner Weisse 4.3% - 4/5 Delicious, more sour than tart with great mouthfeel. Amazing hazy beer red color with berry throughout and a dry finish. 

* Medlock Chapter 2 (Amarillo, El Dorado, Citra) NEIPA 6.2% ABV - 3.75/5 Fairly classic NEIPA with citrus and some initial hops bitterness. More dry than juicy. Hazy with great lacing, still a bit green. 

* Hardcore Parkour Porter 6.4% ABV - 4/5 Coffee initial, nice smoky malts, full bodied with cocoa and a dry finish. Nice lacing, you’ll be happy. 


*  State Bridge Stout 5.8% ABV - 4/5 Awesome stout with all the best features, creamy, smooth and full of oaty goodness. Opaque with great lacing, be great nitrode. 

* A Silent Accord Imperial Stout 7.8% ABV - 4.5/5 Boozy, almost BA in flavor and consistency. Great mouth feel and raisiny flavor - an instant winner with coconut and vanilla notes. 

* Medlock Chapter 3 (Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe) 5.5% ABV - 3.5/5 Easy drinking tropical with some decent citrus notes. Quite slammable. 

A few notes:
* The above reflect my own personal preferences of stronger, darker beers. I can appreciate beer with lower ABV but since that's not my preference I tend to lose some of the subtlety. 
* When I've noted that the beer is green it means that there needs to be just a bit of aging on the beer to clarify out some of the esthers and produce more mellowing - a bit more conditioning. For an operation like this, once they get into the groove of production the beer will become liquid gold. 
* My favorite was the Imperial Stout - unexpectedly quite good. I also liked the Boysenberry Cream and have had it since the initial tasting - I like it better every time I've had it.

Service here is quite good - they have a good mix of new pourers and a couple of old-hands. I think they'll work into the most efficient mechanics of taking orders and serving beers. Prices range from a couple of bucks for a taster pour to around 6 for a full pour with flights of 4 glasses available - quite reasonable. Both times I was there I recognized several faces in the crowd from other beer or brewery events. 


In closing this is a great addition to John's Creek and the Atlanta beer community - great taproom, service and beer. I'm looking forward to see what they grow up to be.

(also posted to Yelp)
 

Maji Tea Bar - Johns Creek - Atlanta Georgia

You can find Maji Tea Bar at 5725 State Bridge Rd Ste 110, Johns Creek, GA 30022 between the Pike Nursery and John's Creek High School. The entry is a bit weird - you sort of pull into Pike and swing left into the shopping center (it's almost hidden and the street sign is short and difficult to see - Google Maps shows "Upscale Resale" as the top sign in street view so I'm not sure of the shopping center's name) which hosts a number of businesses. Maji is on the corner and there's plenty of parking.

I was invited with a small group of people to sample what the recently opened Maji Tea Bar has to offer and listen to the owners talk about their products and business. The interior is spacious with your usual small tables and chairs and a counter towards the back-left. There's a counter extending to the right against the wall for singles or quick-snackers and the WIFI was exceptionally fast. I found the sound level to be pleasing with only some noise reflection as the place opened and regulars started to pour in - fortunately we were allowed entry prior to the opening time (12:00 noon) which provided us room to focus on what was being said and presented to sample. Frankly the space could hold many more people than there are tables to support them so it's very open. The place is immaculate, even the restrooms.

Maji has a trio of friend-partners with an idea of bringing Taiwanese products into the US, providing subtleties in teas not typically found through normal restaurant suppliers. First let me say that I found the base teas used at Maji to be exceptional - if you like unadulterated teas, you'll find these traditional Taiwanese-sourced teas to be amazing and flavorful. This is great quality tea and not the bitter-crap typically used to fill tea-bags. It's very aromatic and really deserves to be sampled prior to any flavorings added - it just doesn't need to be adulterated. Their base-teas (served iced) include the following:

* Jasmine Tea - green tea flavored with jasmine - highly fragrant
* Taiwanese Tea - oolong tea varietal, very floral and delicous
* Oolong Tea - another semi-fermented teal with strong fruity accents
* Breakfast Tea - the traditional black-tea familiar with most Americans - bold with hints of citrus

After tasting the base-teas we were shown the various flavorings available for the team - fruit, gels and boba - and given two flavored teas and two fruit teas to taste:

* Lychee Oolong Tea - I love this sweet and citrusy tea
* Peach Jasmine Tea - I can see a lot of people liking this one
* Passion Fruit Taiwanese Tea - This was delicious and probably my favorite
* Mango Fruit Jasmine Tea - real fruit in this teal, also delicious

We were then presented with three Milk Teas - I honestly liked all of these for slightly different reasons, but would have been happy with any of them (they can also do these using non-dairy milk). These were all sweetened but not so sweet that they seemed like desserts:

* Maji Brown Sugar Latte
* Honey Oolong Milk Tea
* Rooibos Milk Tea

At the end we were given a Waffle Ice Cream and some of the hot snacks they're recently begun to offer:

* Maji Waffle Ice Cream - Instead of a waffle cone, this dessert is presented inside an actual waffle - awesome idea and delicious.
* Maji Snacks - Popcorn Chicken - I thought these really good, really more of a chicken finger except made with real chicken. The crust is light with a hint of spice and salt/pepper.
* Maji Noodles - these are simple noodle bowls - the one I tried had a bit of sambal chili paste and steamed broccoli - something to break the food craving without getting you too full.

The owner who spoke to us indicated that he and his family lives in John's Creek and that his children attend the local schools. Along with the proximity to John's Creek High School, many students visit in the afternoons after classes. Maji also supports local athletic teams so they appear to be heavily invested in the local community - kudos to them for this and also providing a safe kid-friendly space. I liked Maji quite a bit, the concept, the products, the owners and their desire to make a go with this business all speak to me. I think you'd like it too!

(Also posted to Yelp)