Future of downtown Albany brewery to be decided in January

ALBANY – When the Albany City Commission convenes next year, one decision it will face will involve the former Pretoria Fields Brewing facility and whether to go warp speed ahead or back to the drawing board.

The city has been seeking to take control of the brewery and taproom, which were closed in late 2024 after the primary lender foreclosed on the property.

As of Thursday, the deal was not yet completed, but Albany City Manager Terrell Jacobs said that the city expects the deal to acquire primary interest, which would bring full control, in the next few days.

After that, it will be up to commissioners to decide how to proceed, he said.

“I don’t think much has changed,” Commissioner Chad Warbington said. “From what I’ve been told, we might have one more little thing and then we’ll have the bank purchase (from Southwest Georgia Farm Credit).

“In January, the decision point is do we take the current bid that’s on the table. (Mayor) Bo (Dorough) is the only one who clearly stated he wants to put it on the table again.”

Earlier this year, the city asked for proposals from companies to determine if any had interest in re-opening the brewery and taproom.

One company, Socius Beer Collective, based in Lawrenceville, submitted a proposal, and in July company partner and COO John Reynolds made a pitch to commissioners.

Reynolds has met with several commissioners and also with Glenn Singfield, owner of The Flint restaurant a short distance down the block on Pine Avenue from the brewery, Warbington said. 

During his presentation, Reynolds said that adding a food element to the taproom, working with established restaurateurs, was a key piece of the puzzle.

The company’s proposal included replacing the 30-gallon brew tanks with smaller ones and shipping beer made at other locations to Albany and some made locally to the other sites and not focusing on wider distribution.

For Warbington, accepting the bid from the interested company is both the fair thing to do and will mean a quick r-opening. When he appeared in July, Reynolds was looking at having it open by Christmas, and his interactions with local people indicates he is looking to move forward.

“If we rebid, it could be another year,” the commissioner said. “They’re ready to go. If we can vote on this in January, I guarantee you they could  be here in March and have the brewery back open.”

That’s if the company’s experience has not soured on Albany due to the delay and talk of opening bids up again, Warbington said. The addition of food to the menu, as it were, for the brewery is an element that was missing. 

Regular food offerings would make the brewery a destination for families and people looking to engage in other activities in addition to drinking beer, Warbington said.

“I just keep telling them the mayor is one of seven,” he said. “It’s unfortunate he has turned it so negative to them. I’m ready to look at the situation in regards to what we’re going to do next.

“The previous (model), in my opinion, didn’t materialize. It was built on brewing and distribution. We don’t need to do that again. We need a community brewery with food options, family nights, activities. You’ve got to have food to do all that.”

On Thursday, Dorough said that he “absolutely” would consider giving Pretoria Fields another shot. He has previously said that COVID-19 was a primary factor in the brewery’s failure.

The former tenant also brought significant activity downtown, including a monthly market and regular activities like Bingo, trivia nights and music.

The city needed to secure the first position on the foreclosed loans in order to protect its position as the lender who footed the cost of about $1.2 million for construction and the brewing equipment, both the mayor and Warbington said.

“We had to purchase this first position or we’d have lost our interest in the property,” he said.

Asking for bids prior to having a clear path to ownership was premature, the mayor said. There may have been other entities interested who were hesitant because of that circumstance.

“I made the argument before, but we shouldn’t have solicited bids until the ownership issue was resolved,” Dorough said. “Who’s going to spend their time putting together a proposal if it is in foreclosure and we didn’t even own the property? With the ownership issue resolved, I think we’re in a better position to solicit proposals.”