Two Decades.
One Taproom.

Meander Brewing Co. has been a dream of the two owners, Mike Branam and Paul Bushell, for almost two decades.

From countless awards at beer festivals to late nights in each other's home bars, the two have had a clear goal: create some of the best craft beer around. They built the recipes on kitchen scales, stress-tested them on friends, and kept the ones that earned a second pour.

When the time finally came to open the doors, Buford was the natural home. It's where their families had rooted, where the local supply chain is short enough to know every grain and every hop by name, and where a neighborhood taproom could actually mean something. Meander opened in 2024 with the same philosophy that got them there: use the freshest ingredients, respect the styles, and keep pouring what you'd want to drink.

The result is a range wide enough for the craft beer diehard and the casual light-beer drinker to sit at the same table and each be happy with what's in front of them. A pilsner and a tropical double IPA. A cream ale and a farmhouse saison. A root beer for the kids. The name says it: wander through the list.

We didn't just open a brewery in Buford. We helped open Buford to breweries.

Why The Name Meander

Like a lot of good stories, the name came about somewhat accidentally. While rebuilding a koi pond waterfall, Mike wasn't satisfied with the way the water flowed. It traveled too directly from one point to another and to him looked too manmade not natural. So what did he do completely rip it apart and rebuilt it from scratch. When asked by family and friends why did you do it Mike’s reply was it did not Meander enough. After searching for hundreds of names while drinking a beer looking at the Koi pond Paul suggested Meander for the brewery. Mike initially suspected Paul might be giving him a little grief about the waterfall. Either way, the name stuck. And it turned out to describe exactly the kind of brewery we wanted to create. A place where you don't have to be in a hurry. Where you can wander through different beer styles instead of drinking the same thing every visit. Where conversations last a little longer than expected and take the long way around can lead to something pretty good.

Before Meander Brewing Company opened its doors, founders Mike Branam and Paul Bushell recognized that Buford's existing ordinances didn't provide the framework needed for the kind of local craft brewery they wanted to create. So they went to work. Paul and Mike drafted proposed legal language, met directly with City of Buford officials and advocated for changes that would allow breweries to manufacture and serve their beer in the city. They attend the city council meeting to advocate for breweries in Buford and the vote was unanimous. Those efforts helped establish the legal path that made Meander possible — and helped open the door for Buford's growing brewery community.We're proud of that history because our connection to craft brewing in Buford didn't begin when our doors opened.