Beer 101: Tip Top Taps Offers A Variety of Craft Beer On Tap

Editor’s Note: Beer 101 is a series about craft beer in conjunction with the Aug. 21 Beerfest that at the James Brown Arena. The Aug. 15 story highlights the Beerfest. Aug. 17 – Meet area brewers Aug. 19 What’s in a Name? Learn the differences between an ale, an IPA, a lager and others. Aug. 23 – Where To Get Craft Beer in the Area.

Marty Koger had a problem.

What to do with an albatross piece of property he’d tried to sell for years?

His daughter had the solution.

Open a growler store and sell take-away craft beers.

But that presented another problem.

Koger had never been in a growler store. He was a Michelob Light kind of guy.

MORE: Beer 101: Know Your Brew

He didn’t really know what a growler story was, and he wasn’t sure about craft beers. He’d had to ask a friend to come down from North Carolina and help him learn how to drink Guinness before a trip to Ireland.

But he liked the idea, so he and his wife hopped in the car and headed to Atlanta where his daughter took them on a four-stop growler-shop tour.

“When I have an idea, I can’t sleep until I start on it,” Koger said. That’s why he and his wife didn’t wait to do the tour.

He was sold after the first stop, so he spent the rest of the tour collecting ideas for what his shop could be like. He came away that day with a vision that became Tip Top Taps, a craft beer nirvana on Washington Road in Evans.

One of the hardest aspects of starting up the shop was finding a name, Koger said.

“I’d come up with a name and run it past my wife,” he said. “She’d say no.”

After “about 10,000 tries,” Koger said he hit on the word “tippler.” He thought he might have a winner there if he could figure out something with that used that idea. Somewhere along the way, he considered Tip Top, but he didn’t want to use that.

“I was afraid people would think I was trying to steal from Squeaky’s Tip Top,” he said. “That’s where I learned to drink.”

His wife took that idea and suggested Tip Top Taps. He initially said no because it used Tip Top, but he checked online to see what the tiptoptaps.com domain might cost. It was only $500. He bought the name, and Tip Top Taps had its beginning.

Koger and his business partner John Butler, who had a background in carpentry, did all the renovations to the building. They built the front façade, the bar, and even had the idea to install the brass footrest.

“Because who doesn’t want a footrest when they go up to a bar?” Koger asked.

Today, six years on, Koger laughs about selling beer at a location where beer sales were prohibited for a decade or more. That was back when Tip Top Taps was a BP gasoline station and convenience store, and Evans Middle School was across the street. Georgia law prohibits alcohol sales near schools and churches. He couldn’t sell beer or any other kind of alcohol until after the school moved to its new location on Herford Farm Road.

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Tip Top Taps is the only devoted growler shop in Augusta, though there are other places where patrons can buy growlers. World of Beer’s 52 on-tap beers are available in 64-ounce growlers and 32-ounce crowlers, according to manager David Schultz. Growlers are also available for local brews at Riverwatch Brewery and Savannah River Brewing Co.

Tip Top Taps always has 20 beers available for carry out, according to bartender Scott McLaughlin.

Koger said he decided to limit the menu to 20 items after his experience owning a couple of Dairy Queens.

“I knew people didn’t do well with too many choices,” he said. “They’d debate the whole menu. That’s why Dairy Queen came up with its special value menu.”

The menu is divided into three sections: IPAs, foreign beers and miscellaneous. Some selections are standard, like Ace Pineapple Cider. If it’s ever not on the menu, it’s because the distributor  doesn’t have any available, Koger said. Most of the menu, though, rotates through what’s available, what’s popular and what’s seasonable, according to McLaughlin.

Initially, Koger didn’t want to carry ciders, but his wife told him he had to. And, once he’d tried the pineapple cider, which he first turned his nose up at, he decided it would have a permanent spot on the menu.

“It was so good, not at all what I thought it would be,” said Koger. “It’s been on the board ever since. I’ve bought out the distributor.”

In 2018, customers bought 40 barrels of a fall favorite, Pumpkin Jack cider. That also helped convince Koger that ciders would sell in a beer store. They’ve had Rekorderlig Strawberry-Lime cider on most of the summer, and it’s done well also.

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“Back when we had the Gurosik’s strawberry tent out front, I’d tell them my cider smelled even better than their strawberries,” he said, laughing.

The staff have a lot of control over what’s on tap at Tip Top Taps, Koger said.

“I hire passionate people to run it (the shop) who are passionate about beer,” said Koger.

McLaughlin said he wasn’t a craft beer aficionado until 2016 when a bunch of his friends started using an app called Untappd. The app allows users to critique and rate beers and to keep up with the different beers they’ve tried, McLaughlin said.

“I was a Yuengling drinker before that,” he said.

Once he learned about the variety of craft beers available, he got interested in a wider range of flavors and types.

“We try to keep a variety of beers,” McLaughlin said. “Something for everyone, including women.”

He added that women tend to like the sweeter lagers and stouts and men the more bitter IPAs. Sours have also been popular this summer because they’re lighter and usually have fruit flavors.

McLaughlin said if he has a suggestion for a beer to add to the menu, he tells store Manager Josh Szoka who oversees ordering and gets the last word in what makes the menu.

Koger says he’s learned to “fear no beer” from the guys – and occasional woman – who work in the store, though he still hasn’t developed a taste for the sweeter stouts and lagers that are heavy on the malt and lower on hops.

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Where to Find Craft Beer in Augusta

Craft beers are readily available from a variety of places in Augusta. Grocery stores carry the better-known brands that have wider distribution networks, but options exist to get the products of smaller breweries as well.

In addition to Tip Top Taps, World of Beer offer growlers as well as on-premises service. World of Beer has 52 taps that offer craft and national brands on draft, said Manager David Schultz, and it also has 300 additional bottled brands in its cases.

World of Beer offers a full food menu to go along with its extensive beer menu, and it also has a loyalty club, Schultz says.

The loyalty program pays patrons back $5 for every $75 spent, and it also offers badges, a local leaderboard and challenges, according to the corporate website.

MORE: Beer 101: Local Brewers Get Creative

The Augusta World of Beer leaderboard includes the names of those who have sampled at least 250 different beers, Schultz said, but some of his customers have hit 1,000 unique beers or more.

One thing that sets World of Beer apart from other restaurants with extensive beer menus is that its servers have to go to “beer school,” Schultz said. The in-house school is intended to educate employees about the different kinds of beers so they’re better able to answer customer questions and direct them to beers they’ll enjoy.

“The school used to be two weeks when we first opened,” Schultz said. It’s a bit shorter now.

For those just looking for someplace to drink craft beer, Stay. Social Tap and Table in Evans, The Draft Society Taproom in downtown Augusta and the Alley Downtown Taproom in Aiken offer walls of self-pour beer. Social Tap and Table also offers a complete menu, including keto-diet-friendly desserts.

Debbie Reddin van Tuyll is a writer for The Augusta Press. Reach her at debbie@theaugustapress.com.

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