LOCAL
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8 -14, 2019 • Page 8
LITHONIA
Lynwood Park’s benches to be improved by September.
Lynwood Park’s walking path may soon get a makeover.
Current look of Lynwood Park’s basketball courts in Brookhaven.
Photos by Taylor Robins.
Hawks Foundation to make improvements to Lynwood Park
BY TAYLOR ROBINS
Taylor@dekalbchamp.com
During Brookhaven’s July 23
city council meeting, city council
members unanimously approved
Lynwood Park improvements to
be made by the Atlanta Hawks
Foundation and State Farm
insurance.
“The Atlanta Hawks have
already proven to be an invaluable
community partner in the short
time since they located their
practice facility in Brookhaven,”
said Brookhaven Mayor John
Ernst. “This investment in our
youth underscores the continuing
commitment of the Hawks and
State Farm to enhance healthy
recreational opportunities in
Brookhaven and beyond.”
Atlanta Hawks Foundation is
a nonprofit that benefits children
with an interest in basketball. One
way the foundation helps children
is through the renovation and
construction of basketball courts
and recreation facilities.
During the July city council
meeting, officials approved a site
improvement donation from the
foundation, valued at $165,000.
Improvements will include
renovations to Lynwood Park’s
existing basketball courts, park’s
building and upgraded furnishings
and technology
According to city documents,
city officials and the Atlanta Hawks
Foundation will take part in a
community celebration to unveil the
renovations at an unspecified date.
Improvements at Lynwood
Park are expected to be complete in
September.
TUCKER
Brewery brings German-style beer to Georgia
BY KATHY MITCHELL
FREELANCE REPORTER
Ryan Chapman says he’s never
used his degree in German to make
a living. The statement is not totally
true. As an exchange student living
in Germany, Chapman developed
what he describes as “a passion” for
the beers he tasted there. Years later
in 2017, he and his sister, Ashley
Chapman Hubbard, founded Tucker
Brewing Company, producing and
selling pilsners, lagers and ales
inspired by those he sampled in
Germany. Their brother Gabriel
Chapman heads marketing and
community development for the
company.
“One big difference between
us and other small local breweries
is most have an IPA [India pale
ale] as their signature product. We
don’t do an IPA at all,” Chapman
said, adding that many of Tucker
Brewing Company’s ingredients
are imported from Germany. “Our
flagship beer is a pilsner, but there
are lots of other options as well.
Our beers are perfect for a hot
summer day because the alcohol
content is only 4 A to 5 percent,
compared to the 6 A to 10 percent
in beers made by many other
independent breweries. You can
drink it and still keep your wits
about you.”
He said there was a family
interest in beer brewing when he
was in high school and his father
bought a kit, started brewing beer
in the basement and became active
in a local brewer’s club. On South
Bibb Road in an industrial area of
Tucker, the Chapman family now
has a facility that includes 20 tanks
that turn out approximately 10,000
barrels—20,000 kegs—of beer each
year.
“That seemed a bit like overkill
when we first set up, but we didn’t
want to build a smaller brewery and
have to expand in a year or two. It
turned out to be a good decision.
We’ve been popular from the start.
The day we opened the line was
out the door. There were more
than 2,500 people here,” Chapman
recalled.
The building, erected as a
commercial bakery in the early
1970s, was renovated and is now
also the site of a building products
company owned by Chapman’s
father where Ryan Chapman and
other family members are still on
staff.
Chapman said he and his
siblings gained much of their
business expertise working at the
building products company before
the brewery was conceived. “My
sister Ashley does a lot of the day-
to-day work at the brewery so I can
give adequate attention to both jobs.
Also, Ashely has a background in
the culinary arts, so she’s good at
pairing food with beers.”
The tasting room will soon offer
food in addition to a wide variety
of beers, most of which aren’t
available elsewhere. Three of the
beers are packaged and sold retail
through a distributor. “It will be
high-end bar food with a Southern
flair,” Chapman explained.
Chapman said he enjoys
his work at the building supply
company but added that it’s “really
cool” to produce a produce that
he can watch the consumer enjoy.
“Building supply is a business-to-
SEE BREWERY ON PAGE 11
Ryan Chapman says Tucker Brewing Company’s tasting room, which includes an outdoor area, features live
entertainment in addition to a wide variety of beers, most of which aren’t available elsewhere. It will soon
offer food as well.
