Meet Travis Irions | President & Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Travis Irions and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Travis, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
After a trip to Asheville, North Carolina, I realized that we needed a way to inform visitors about our great breweries and how to find them. Asheville has lots of breweries you can walk to, but Atlanta needed a bus. In the process of researching the business, I found several breweries I had never heard of. This only reinforced the need for someone to bridge the gap with locals and visitors. Creating a HOP-on/HOP-off service was a great way to recreate the walking tour in Asheville.

What should our readers know about your business?
The other brewery tour companies in town strictly offer Guided Tours where the itinerary is preset. Offering a HOP-on/HOP-off shuttle allows guests to choose their own itinerary and even change it along the way. It’s a much more flexible option for those who like to explore on their own. The premise is still the same, but we have evolved over the last six years by listening to the riders and the breweries. I see the business as a conduit to connect people to beer (literally and figuratively) and let their needs drive how the business operates.

Branding has been very important from the beginning. We want to exude fun and professionalism. After the pandemic shutdown, the breweries approached me about bringing back the HOP-on/HOP-off once social distancing was cleared. At that point, the West Midtown breweries decided to sponsor the shuttle, allowing it to be free to riders. Now, we are weeks away from a implementing a similar model in Marietta in addition to the West Midtown version.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Of course I would tell them to ride the Atlanta Beer Bus on a Sunday! I could ride along and show them all my favorite beers in town. I have a lot of stories to bring the beers to life. We would have to get pizza at Antico, BBQ at DBA, lemon pepper wet wings at JR Cricket’s, and burgers at Grind House. For a fancier night out, I would want to take them for steak at Rathbun’s Steak. To burn off those meals, we would bar-hop along the Beltline.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have a great group of friends that have supported me from day 1. As soon as I told them about the idea, several asked if they could invest. They loved the idea, but had a lot of faith in my commitment to succeed. This is what keeps me going every day.

Website: https://atlantabeerbus.com

Instagram: @atlbeerbus

Twitter: @atlbeerbus

Facebook: https://facebook.com/atlbeerbus

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/atlanta-beer-bus-atlanta?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)