USA, GA: Hippin� Hops planning breweries in East Lake and Stone Mountain

Brewery and oyster bar Hippin’ Hops opened earlier this year in East Atlanta Village as one of the first permanent, Black-owned breweries in Georgia. Now, owners Clarence and Donnica Boston have their sights set on expansion, What Now Atlanta reported on May 27.

The brewery has two new locations in the works — one at the Hosea and 2nd complex in East Lake, and another in Stone Mountain that will double as a production facility.

The Hosea and 2nd location, at 2380 Hosea L Williams Drive, will offer lots of outdoor seating and will specialize in distilled liquors, including vodka, moonshine, whiskey, and brandy, in addition to their signature craft beer. And while the original Hippin’ Hops menu boasts oysters, seafood, and po’boys, the new spot has a more northern flare. It’s featured menu items? Cheesesteaks.

The spot in Stone Mountain, at 5644 Memorial Drive, was originally intended to be a funeral home, but Boston pivoted when he realized the need for a large production facility for the growing brewery. The Stone Mountain location will offer craft beer and soul food in an open, outdoor beer garden setting, complete with put-put golf and, if all goes according to plan, maybe even a ferris wheel.

Clarence and Donnica Boston also have plans to open a brewery in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood district, the site of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. When that spot opens, Boston says it will be the first Black-owned brewery to open in Tulsa since 1921.

Hippin’ Hops is expected to open in East Lake in July. The Stone Mountain location is on track to open in September.