Macon Magazine

Fall Line Brewing Co. FALL LINE BREWING CO., on Plum Street, was the third business venture for the entrepreneur husband and wife team of Nate and Kaitlynn Kressin. They started with the craft beer taproom, Just Tap'd, which Kaitlynn laughingly referred to as a Starbucks but with beer instead of coffee. After the success of Just Tap'd, the Kressins opened Ocmulgee Brewpub, which focused on good food and beer. Kaitlynn said other restaurants continually asked how they could carry beers from Ocmulgee Brewpub, but the Kressins weren't yet distributing. Seeing that need, the idea for Fall Line Brewing Co. was born. "Something that was really important to us was the local community and advertising Macon and having visitors come here and showing off all the great things Macon has to offer. In doing so and opening Fall Line, we are able to advertise for our city. We put 'Proudly Brewed in Macon, GA' on everything that we do, but we're also able to make really good beer that people can have in bars, restaurants, taprooms and package stores all across the state," Kaitlynn said. Fall Line broke ground in 2018 and was scheduled to open in fall 2019, but with construction delays, their doors didn't open until March 6, 2020. After a busy nine days, on day 10, they promptly shut their doors — along with most other restaurants in town. They quickly pivoted their business plan, reopening to curbside service. "Because we are not on a road that is super busy, we were able to set up a drive-thru in front of our business, so when customers wanted to order packaged beer to go, they could order it directly from us and pull up in the little drive-thru out front. They could load up and pay us while keeping their distance and still supporting us," Kaitlynn said. Fall Line also seized the opportunity to maximize their 12,000-square-foot event space to welcome customers while still operating within COVID-19 guidelines. "We couldn't have large gatherings, but we could have small gatherings and there was more than enough room for them to spread out," she said. One of their biggest challenges was getting materials they needed, but they were able to adapt in a crisis. "We were able to sign on pretty early with a can manufacturer, who works on a contract basis, who was able to get us shrink-sleeve cans, which meant we had to buy in larger quantities, but we were guaranteed to get those cans whenever we needed them. That was great because it meant we never ran out of cans, which was also great because during COVID you're not going to bars and restaurants, you're going to package stores where you're picking up your beer or you're paying click-list to deliver the beer to you," Kaitlynn said. "So, because we were a production facility, we were able to make as much of our product as we possibly could and send it out to all of the package stores so that customers could buy it to drink at home." Today, Fall Line is operating at full capacity with a large taproom where they sell the same beer that they distribute. They also have limited release and experimental beers available in the taproom. If you get hungry, they make gourmet sandwiches. "We have a 6,000-square-foot beer garden where we have a big fire pit and lots of comfortable seating where it's fun to bring the kids and hang out and get some fresh air," she said. NATE AND KAITLYNN KRESSIN 60 maconmagazine.com | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022

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