Atlanta-based SweetWater Brewing Co. is seeking help from law enforcement and the craft beer community after nearly 3,300 cases of beer—approximately 78,500 bottles—was stolen from its brewery Tuesday.
SweetWater says two trailers scheduled for a morning pickup and loaded with cases of its summer variety packs went missing early Tuesday. The brewing company says both trailers were later tracked down via GPS, but were found empty.
About one-fourth of the beer was discovered Tuesday afternoon in a warehouse south of Atlanta, according to the Associated Press. SweetWater’s marketing representative Steve Farace told reporters the beer would be destroyed since the company cannot trust it still meets SweetWater’s quality standards.
The heist likely means a temporary shortage of SweetWater beer for Atlanta residents as the stolen cases were essentially region’s entire inventory.
Brewers are asking craft beer drinkers to report any sightings of unsorted (all one style) Summer Variety Packs dated 9/20 or 9/21 on store shelves. Sorted variety packs with the same dates, but found or sold in unusual places should also be reported.
