Macon Magazine

72 maconmagazine.com | February/March 2025 ABOVE Austin Sanderson examines the canning machine at Fall Line's home base on Plum Street in Downtown Macon. away and started spending full days there, five times a week. "One day it dawned on me that I have a job now," she laughed. She never left. Just Tap'd was originally founded by Jeff and Beth Kressin, but Smith said their son Nate and his wife Kaitlynn Kressin dreamed up Fall Line: "Nate wanted a brewery, Kaitlynn wanted an event space. When they found the location, they just took a leap of faith." That location was a 20,000 square foot 1918 downtown building on Plum Street, which once operated as a horse and mule shop, and later an automobile repair store. There was enough space for production facilities four times the size of their last operation, Ocmulgee Brewpub (now under new ownership), a taproom, a beer garden, plus a large private event space hosting everything from large wedding receptions to cornhole leagues to nonprofit fundraisers. Getting the brand out there for distribution was always the goal. With the small outpost of Ocmulgee Brewpub, "We were commonly asked where else people could purchase our products besides the taproom," said Kaitlynn. The full-scale production operation on Plum Street accomplished that. The identity of Fall Line, named for the geographic feature where the piedmont meets the plain that runs through Macon, was meant to feel local. "It was important to us to align our brand with the city we love and make a conscious effort to put 'Proudly brewed in Macon, GA' on everything we possibly could. It's a great way to start a conversation about our projects and encourage customers in other regions to visit Macon," Kaitlynn said. The brewery was set to open in March 2020, a fateful time. "We had already hired a full staff. We had already onboarded them, done a soft opening, done beer knowledge training, started working with Savannah Distributing," explained Smith about the moment the COVID-19 pandemic hit. "Then the whole business plan basically got thrown out the window when we got the phone call that we're shutting you down." Despite the steep challenge, Smith and their brewmasters kept going. Now they've begun to perfect the process over scores of brews. First, they nail down the concept. "We knew with our mainstays, we wanted to cover everyone's bases," noted Smith. Mainstays are brewed all year, as opposed to seasonals or experimental series. "We have three very popular and distinctive styles. A lager, a wheat ale, and an IPA. Coming to what recipe we used was honestly a lot more of experimentation, "It was imp or tant to us to align our brand with the city we love and make a conscious ef for t to put 'Proudly brewe d in Macon, GA' on every thing we p ossibly could."

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