Savannah’s Southbound Brewing to close Lathrop Avenue facility – What’s next?

We’ve jokingly referred to Smith Matthews as a ‘pioneer’ on Savannah’s beer scene, but that isn’t a stretch. It was more than a decade ago that he and his business partner at the time, Carly Wiggins rolled up their sleeves and attempted to get local and state laws changed in an effort to open a tap room and sell beer. The eventual result was Southbound Brewing Company on Lathrop Avenue in Savannah. The taproom has been a locals favorite ever since.

All of that is now about to change. Southbound is selling the only building they’ve called home and moving their operations elsewhere in Savannah. They are not closing their doors, just moving. We’ll let Smith tell you the story in his own words. We caught up with him this week for a quick chat about their future and your final opportunities to grab some beers in the original building.

Jesse: You guys put out this word this week that it was ‘last call at Southbound Brewing’ because the only building Southbound has ever known in Savannah is no longer going to be part of Southbound. Is that accurate?

Smith Matthews: That is accurate. We have decided to sell our building and change our operation somewhat. We are going to continue to sell our Southbound brand, but no longer at that location.

JB: Is there a specific reason? Was it too big? Did the building’s value increase to the point where you thought you could do your thing elsewhere in a smaller space?

Smith: It was a lot of those things. We just don’t necessarily need that space and that building. In the post-covid scene, craft brewing has changed a lot. People aren’t drinking as much craft beer as they used to. In the post-covid world for Southbound, we think it would be more worth our time, we think it would best for us to work with someone else. It just gives us an opportunity to restructure some things internally and give us a little more freedom on making Southbound beer, keeping our inventories up and getting back to what we really love.

JB: So, my Mountain Jam isn’t going anywhere, right?

Smith: That’s right. No sir.

JB: So are you going to another tap room? I’m not sure if you can share yet. Is there going to be another place to enjoy them?

Smith: We are still working out those details now. We’ll be releasing soon. We have a handshake agreement, nothing in stone. The plan is to relocate our equipment and sell some equipment that we don’t need. We do plan to have a place where people can come by the brewery and enjoy the beer. We also plan on sending them to the distributor to get to your favorite bar or restaurant.

JB: Off the top, I called you a pioneer. People don’t realize that before you had Southbound you and your crew back then really did some leg work to get laws adjusted to be able to open, correct?

Smith: Absolutely, we did. My previous partner Carly Wiggins, we were all very instrumental. She helped lead the State legislature and get that changed. We worked together to get the laws changed in Savannah to even allow brewery tap rooms. So we had to work to get local laws changed, zoning and that kind of stuff. Then at the State level. They still aren’t where they need to be, I will say that, but they moved in the right direction back then, but it’s been stalled since. That’s going on almost 12 years ago.

JB: Real quick, before we go…you guys are having a little last call tap room party, right?

Smith: We are. Friday is our last tap room day at that location. So we are doing a little bit of a discount on beer as one last hurrah for everybody. This is the last week to enjoy a cold beer at the Lathrop Avenue location.

JB: Meanwhile, if everything goes your way, we can expect to enjoy Southbound beers in a taproom here in Savannah by Summer?

Smith: I think so. Highly likely. We should be in a good position to share some of that information next week.

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