Skip to main content

Everything You Need to Know About Pretoria Fields Collective

The southwest Georgia town of Albany is known as “The Good Life City.” Home to legendary vocalist Ray Charles, baseball player Ray Knight, and country comedian Ray Stevens, Albany just might be able to boast the highest concentration of successful “Rays” in the country. To add another feather in the Good Life City’s hat, Albany recently gained its very own brewery: Pretoria Fields Collective.

Lee Heidel/The Manual

Pretoria Fields is a working farm brewery and blends in perfectly with its rural surroundings. It was founded by Dr. Tripp Morgan, a vascular surgery specialist who had a longstanding passion for craft beer and wanted to make a way for the local flavors of Albany (including those grown on his family’s own farm) shine for locals and travelers alike. Former Russian River brewer Eric Kirchner joined the local founders in 2015, and the beers are now hitting wider distribution throughout the state of Georgia. The brewery strives to grow as many of its ingredients as possible, from organic grains to its fruit additions. With a wide-ranging initial lineup, Pretoria Fields is out to prove that it can make solid beers in a variety of styles.

Related Videos

Lee Heidel/The Manual

Here are four of our favorites. All of these beers are available right now in cans and on draft throughout Pretoria Field’s distribution area.

Shoalie IPA

Pretoria Fields

In 2019, you’ve got to have a good IPA. Shoalie pours a beautiful golden orange with a thick white head. A sweet, floral, and resinous aroma paves the way for more of the same on the flavor. It’s a nice mix of citrus and pine with a considerable malt base.

Walkers Station Stout

Pretoria Fields

The presence of flaked oat gives Walkers Station its creamy mouthfeel. A bit on the dry side, hints of dark chocolate and toffee add complexity to this solid stout.

Flowing Well Gose

Pretoria Fields

Refreshment is key on hot summer days in the south. With low alcohol by volume percentage and a bright, bouncing carbonation profile, Flowing Well is perfectly suited for thirst quenching. Sea salt and coriander seeds dress up the malted wheat base for a perfect warm weather beer.

Skywater Golden Ale

Pretoria Fields

Crisp and smooth, Skywater is an extremely versatile beer. It’s ideal for a post-workout cooldown, relaxing with friends at baseball games or any time you want a good, easy drinking brew.

Visits to the tasting room promise samples of these beers as well as limited seasonal offerings. While there, you can also get a tour of the brewery, play games, and maybe catch some live music. Learn more at PretoriaFields.com.

Editors' Recommendations

This roaster’s $150 cup of coffee sold out in a single day
Would you shell out for a $150 cup of coffee? Turns out, many people would for one of the top-rated roasts
Person roasting coffee beans in a wok

Splurging is a habit we can't seem to kick. Amid a less-the-perfect economy, we still love to eat expensive caviar, collect wildly high-priced spirits bottles, and order drinks with actual gold in them. Creatures of habit, I suppose.

The latest development within the topic? A coffee cup with an asking price of $150. Yes, a Portland coffee roaster offered a rare and limited-run cup of coffee. It goes down as perhaps the most expensive cup of coffee ever. The real question begs: Is it worth it?

Read more
Oyster Blade: The delicious cut of steak you’ve never heard of
Oyster Blade: Get to know your new favorite steak cut
oyster blade steak cuts 13839614695 d08e418609 k

We love a lesser-known cut of beef. Tri-tip, for example — one of the most delicious of all steaks and a prized treasure to any Californian — away from the West coast, is often dismissed as a curious cut with no real culinary value (how dare they). Until the last few years, flank and skirt steaks were both scoffed at as cheap, tough cuts, hardly worthy of the time spent to prepare them. It's hard to believe this blasphemy, yet somehow, it's true. Underappreciated, shier types of steak often fly under the radar for decades without anyone pausing to appreciate their unique character and flavors. We say it's time to end this nonsense.
Enter the Oyster Blade. Commonly brushed aside due to its center vein of connective tissue, this flavorful piece of meat is one of the best steak cuts in town. Similar to the flat iron, the oyster blade differs only in the way it's butchered. A flat iron comes from the meat being cut along the long grain from the top and undersides of the gristle. When the meat is cut across its grain, the gristle line lies in the middle of the steak, and that is an oyster blade cut. Both cuts come from below the shoulder blade and are tremendously flavorful and savory.
Because of its signature line of gristle, oyster blades are too often overlooked. But if you know how to prepare this delicious cut of beef, your flavor reward will be immense. Like most lean cuts, the Oyster can be tough, but only when prepared incorrectly. While it can be deliciously pan-seared or grilled, our favorite preparation is a slow-cooked braise. Giving this flavorful cut of beef time to release its meaty flavor will give you one of the most savory stews or roasts you've ever prepared.

Oyster Blade braise recipe

Read more
Here’s what drinks pros have learned from Dry January
How do you extend Dry January all year long? We got some advice from the pros
A pair of mocktails.

A new year is upon us and for a lot of people, that means new healthy habits. It might mean a new diet, pre-bedtime sleep ritual, or cutting back on the booze. Often, the plusses of these lifestyle changes are so significant that you hope to continue them well beyond just January.

There are lots of sober curious people looking to take the merits of Dry January all the way through 2023. But it's not easy, especially with our favorite bars back open, friends always looking for an excuse to get out, and some really good cocktails in the mix. So we solicited some advice from drinks industry pros who've done the Dry January thing and learned from it. Here's some of that valuable wisdom, passed on to the new, 2023 version of you.

Read more