Athens couple introduces wine slushies, craft alcohol to downtown square

Jul. 29—ATHENS — An Athens native and her retired Army husband are bringing wine slushies and self-serve alcoholic beverages to the downtown Athens square.

Lori and Ken Hill aim to open Athens Alehouse and Cellar in the first half of August, but the venture is a longtime labor of love and they dream of someday turning it into a craft brewery.

"I started out as a home-brewer ... and we've wanted to start a nanobrewery ever since," Ken said. "We knew that we were moving back to Athens once I got out of the military ... so we wanted to do something here on the square that featured craft beer because there's never been anything like this on the square."

Athens Alehouse will offer patrons a way to self-serve beers and wines through a smart beer tap system. Customers will receive a card from the cashier and can pay by the ounce for their beers and wines, which the Hills said will allow a better opportunity for sampling rather than committing to one beverage. A refrigerator in the business will also be stocked with cold beers.

"If you don't want a full beer and want to try a sample, you could pay for 2 ounces," Ken said. "If you don't like what's on draft you can ... pull something out of the (refrigerator) and we'll pour you a pint." — Craft alcohol oasis

The Hills hope their alehouse will be the oasis to what they said is Athens' craft alcohol desert. The alehouse will also act as a bottle shop for customers to purchase carryout wines or "mix six" and select up to six different beers in one six-pack.

They plan to offer over 60 different beers including products from Boston Brewing Co., Abita Brewing Co., Rogue Ales and Terrepin Beer Co. as well as from notable names in the craft brewing scene, according to Ken.

"Those are the names people know, but then there's Southern Tier, Evil Twin Brewing, Monday Night Brewing, fairly underground brands that we're going to get into as well," he said. "Those guys do a plethora of different styles, all the way from IPAs, lagers, porters, stouts (and) any type of ales you can imagine."

Later this year, Athens Alehouse is planning to host an Oktoberfest event that will allow customers to taste German Marzen-style lagers, Ken said, adding that other beer-oriented events could include homebrewer and periodic "mug club" beer sampling meetups.

The alehouse's food menu will be limited, offering charcuterie boards with various cheeses, meats and crackers, and the couple are interested in partnerships with local food trucks. — Starting small

The concept of Athens Alehouse evolved from Ken's interest in homebrewing, cultivated by a kit Lori's mother gave him about 10 years ago. While it was an entry-level product, he said it was a gateway to the craft brewing scene.

"It was one of those cheap little homebrew kits where the yeast is like a thousand years old, the barley is already stale," he said. "I brewed it and it turned out pretty good we thought for our first batch. I started sinking more money into homebrewing equipment and kept brewing and started to get a lot of great reviews on stuff."

Ken had been serving in the U.S. Army for 12 years as a combat engineer and was transferred to Redstone Arsenal for a 10-week course on explosive ordinance where he met Lori. After an additional stint overseas, he exited the armed forces in 2014 when the couple decided to settle in Athens and further their knowledge of brewing while simultaneously working in the aerospace industry.

Lori has lived in Athens all her life and said the Alehouse is the type of establishment she feels fellow residents have longed for since the city began allowing the sale of alcohol within city limits in 2003.

"Growing up here it was a (fully) dry county; we didn't have any alcohol around," she said. "We've definitely come around over the years. The city was dry but finally we went wet and finally we got Sunday sales."

She said they are grateful for help from her parents in getting the concept off the ground.

"My dad loves craft beer and he'll be the first one in here," Lori said with a laugh. "My mom ... will be back there helping me in the kitchen."

The Hills first toured the soon-to-be alehouse space about five years ago and knew they wanted it then, but it wasn't until April that they were able to lease the property after the previous barbershop closed its doors.

"We've looked at 30 buildings probably in the last five years all over Athens and it was never the right timing. When this place came online, it was ours," Ken said, snapping a finger. — Future prospects

As indicated by a barber pole outside Athens Alehouse's storefront, the space was previously home to two different barbershops for over 70 years, but the Hills have gutted the interior since they began renting the property and have hand-built new furnishings like a wine shelf and register stand. The "cellar" portion of the alehouse's name isn't just for style — the space features a cellar below the main floor the Hills want to make use of in the future.

"That's part of the reason why ... this place was special to us," Ken said. "We do plan to feature all sorts of cellar-aged product at one point in time. Down the line I'd like to do some cellar-aged wines, some different casks and some beers."

In addition, Ken said the alehouse could double as an event venue for wedding receptions and office gatherings as the couple intends to create a calm, casual drinking atmosphere.

"We want to make sure people know this is not a sports bar, it's an alehouse, so it's a nice, classy joint upscale here on the square," Ken said. "We're not promoting anything loud; this is a quiet place to hang out (and) family friendly."

Ken said the brewing end of the business could begin next year, as he already has bright tanks picked out — containers used to mature and carbonate beer that has been fermented and filtered. The brewing equipment will take up the back half of the section of the building the Hills are leasing.

"Short-term goals are to get a lot of people in here and sell a bunch of other products and announce in a year we'll start brewing," he said. "It's a long timeline (so) we don't want to get people too excited about stuff right away. It takes time. You can't rush these things."

Athens Alehouse and Cellar is preparing to open to the public by Aug. 13, operating Monday-Thursday from 4-9 p.m., Friday from 3-10 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., according to Lori, but hours are subject to change. It is located at 111 W. Washington St.

— tim.nail@decaturdaily.com or (256) 340-2437. Twitter @timmnail