(Atlanta, GA) – With crowd pleasing costumes, a saucy skit, a tricked out trout car and an impressive race time, Team SweetWater took home the title of 2012’s Red Bull Soapbox Race First Place Champions. The SweetWater gang beat out 35 competing teams among a crowd of more than 49,500 people gathered on Saturday, June 9 at Piedmont Park in Atlanta.

The Atlanta Soapbox Race was Red Bull’s 12th U.S. race since first held in St. Louis in 2006. Since its creation, Red Bull Soapbox Races have visited nearly 30 countries worldwide. Overall team scores are composed of three criteria: race time, creativity of craft and costumes, and quality of showmanship during the team skit leading into craft launch.

Themed after their company roots of freshwater fishing, Team SweetWater’s skit featured bodacious fisherwomen dressed in bikinis and thigh-high waders, reeling in the team catch via fishing poles with beer bottle bait. The SweetWater ladies sent their catch of team drivers, adorned in trout-skin body suits, flying down the hill in the team’s “troutmobile” to win the group a 45.62 second race time.

The troutmobile was hand-painted and designed by local artist John Dunn, the same mastermind behind SweetWater’s iconic rainbow trout logos. Decorated with the brewery’s motto “Don’t float the main stream,” the troutmobile also boasted retractable flapping fins, foot horns, custom wheels and a “full moon” rear view.

The vehicle framework was created by Bryan Fuller of Fuller Hot Rods in Atlanta. Comparable to the high-tech, lightweight materials used in race cars and aircraft tubing, the troutmobile’s chassis was custom made with Chromoly tubing throughout, sitting on two rear wheel chair wheels and a 16-inch front bicycle wheel. To give it a little kick, Fuller and team also created a movable axel with a front fork lift to manually raise and lower the car, similar to hydraulics. The troutmobile took no prisoners popping wheelies on each jump throughout the course on the way down.

“We’ve always loved to push the limits, so it was a blast to be able to get creative with some of the best minds around town and bring this thing to life,” said Founder and Big Kahuna of SweetWater Brewing Company Freddy Bensch. “Of course, as natives to Atlanta, it was a great feeling to bring home the win in our hometown too.”

ABOUT SWEETWATER BREWING COMPANY:

SweetWater Brewing Company is an Atlanta‐based craft brewery specializing in aggressive West Coast style beers. SweetWater’s brews are unpasteurized and designed to be consumed fresh so distribution is limited to the Southeast. The award‐winning lineup of year‐round brews includes SweetWater 420, IPA, Exodus Porter, Blue, LowRYEder and Georgia Brown. SweetWater also features a Catch and Release series of beers available on a limited basis throughout the year, and an experimental, one‐time‐only Dank Tank series. The SweetWater Brewery, open for tours every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5:30‐7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 2:30‐4:30 p.m., is located at 195 Ottley Dr NE, Atlanta GA 30324. For more information about SweetWater Brewing Company, please visit www.sweetwaterbrew.com. For more of a social relationship with SweetWater Brewing Company follow @sweetwaterbrew on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sweetwaterbrew.