Founders , a 1993 University of Georgia graduate, and a 1996 American Brewers Guild graduate - met in 1998 while working at Atlanta Brewing Company. Both men had been home brewing for years, and decided to partner with each other to start a craft brewing company in Athens, Georgia. Buckowski, a Grateful Dead fan, named the brewery after his favorite Grateful Dead album Terrapin Station. After creating a business plan, Buckowski and Cochran spent three unsuccessful years pitching investors to fund their startup costs for the Terrapin Brewing Company. In April 2002, they created and introduced Terrapin's Rye Pale Ale at the Classic City Brew Fest in Athens, Georgia - which quickly garnered praise by craft beer aficionados across the U.S. In October 2002, their Rye Pale Ale was awarded the American Pale Ale Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado - which helped garner Terrapin distribution opportunities across Atlanta. Terrapin began contract brewing with several breweries to produce their beer including; Frederick Brewing Company in Frederick, Maryland, and Zuma Brewing Company in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2006, Terrapin obtained an $800,000 investment from a pool of Athens' investors, which allowed them to buy brewing equipment and lease a small facility in Athens, Georgia where they began producing their own beer. In 2008, the brewery moved to a larger 45,000 square-foot facility at 265 Newton Bridge Road, Athens, Georgia, where it could produce up to 18,500 barrels per year. Terrapin Brewing Company offers tastings and tours and averages 30,000 visitors per year.
In 2011, Terrapin Beer Co. sold a minority interest of less than 25% to Miller Coors craft and import division Tenth and Blake Beer Company The minority ownership was given in exchange for reducing a loan made by Tenth and Blake Beer Company in December 2010 to buy out a group of Terrapin investors. However, according to a with co-founder John Cochran, Terrapin Beer Co. the financing agreement between Tenth and Blake Beer Company and Terrapin Beer Co did not include equity. Co-founders Cochran and Buckowski currently own more of the company than they had prior to the Tenth and Blake deal, and Terrapin Beer Co. remains an independent brewery. On July 20, 2016, they had taken a majority interest in Terrapin Beer Co. through their Tenth and Blake Beer Company division. The transaction is expected to be complete in August 2016.
