Every year on 4/20, or April 20, SweetWater Brewing Company prepares for its 420 Fest, the company’s weekend long festival held in Centennial Park, in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, where the provide live music, activities, food, and drinks.

SweetWater is more than a typical brewery that throws occasional shindigs. In fact, SweetWater’s rise to prominence from its humble beginnings is the story of a dream that came to fruition through hard-work, faith, and the love of ale.

Freddy Bensch and Kevin McNerney, the original founders of SweetWater, were roommates at the University of Colorado at Boulder in the early 1990s. The two decided to open their first brewery location off Interstate 20 on Fulton Industrial Boulevard in Atlanta after Bensch attended the 1996 Summer Olympics and felt it would be a great market for a west-coast style brewing company.

The name SweetWater is derived from the SweetWater Creek, a tributary of the Chattahoochee River, which Bensch once kayaked through.

Brewing began in 1997, and the first keg of SweetWater was sold on February 17, 1997. The company began with just two brews, SweetWater ESB and Blue. Now they house over 20 different brews, the most popular being SweetWater 420 Extra Pale Ale, which is named after the day it was created April 20, 1997, which is also the date of McNerny’s mother.

The SweetWater logo located at their Otley Drive Headquaters.

 Since its inception SweetWater has received awards such Small Brewery of the Year in 2002, and becoming one of the Brewer’s Association top 15 craft breweries by volume in 2015.

Upon outgrowing its initial brewing location on Fulton Industrial Boulevard, the company moved its headquarters to a 25,000 square-foot facility in Atlanta’s Armour Circle Industrial Park on Ottley Drive. The move coupled with an expansion project in 2012 increased capacity from 100,000 to 500,000 barrels per year.

The company prides itself for its environmental efforts as well as its crafts. The company recycled more than 9.5 million pounds of spent grain, 165,000-lbs of spent hops and 150,000-lbs of yeast for local farmers to feed livestock and use for compost in the year 2016, as well as, joining the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance to protect waterways.

SweetWater is currently in located in 21 states stretching from San Antonio, Texas to New York, and even some international markets like New Amsterdam.

While Bensch is still an active owner within the company, McNerny resigned in 2008 to spend more time with his family.