Atlanta Film Festival Brews Craft Beer Entrepreneurs’ Stories

In Georgia, craft brewers and beer enthusiasts alike have been fighting for legal beer sales at breweries, instead of going through its current three-tiered distribution system.

The filmmaking duo of “Blood, Sweat, and Beer,” Alexis Irvin and Chip Hiden, conducted over 100 interviews with craft brewers around the country. The documentary takes on the colossal topic of the entire craft beer industry and also follows two specific breweries.

During the film, Danny Robinson, owner of Backshore Brewing Company on the Maryland coast, undergoes a grueling trademark lawsuit. A T-shirt company had trademarked the name previously.

The other brewery and taproom, The Brew Gentleman Beer Pub, opens in Braddock, a run-down town in Pennsylvania. It represents an effort to revive the area, where the population decreased from 20,000 to 2,000 after its steel market collapsed. 

“Blood, Sweat, and Beer” will be at the Plaza Theatre at 12 p.m. Sunday, as part of the Atlanta Film Festival. It starts before legal alcohol sales in Georgia, but there will be plenty of time to imbibe afterwards.