Good People Brewing Company founders, Michael Sellers and Jason Malone, with the trademark old yellow truck depicted in their logo
Act. Passed last year, it allows breweries in the state to sell onpremises similar to a brewpub and also sell to wholesalers. In surrounding states like Tennessee, for example, brewers have to have a liquor license to brew. In Georgia, breweries cannot sell their beers onsite. Good People is preparing a tap room and exciting new ventures for as early as fall 2012. “We will have tours, live music, tastings and beers to try that we are testing out, like cask-conditioned ales,” he continues. “We’ve also hosted several beer dinners around town at places like John’s City Diner, the J. Clyde and On Tap Sports Café. We plan to continue those.” At the moment, Good People produces 22 different styles of beer, including their very popular Snake Handler Double IPA and their Oatmeal Coffee Stout. The latter took home No. 1 Beer in the South by Beer Advocate and placed No. 4 for Oatmeal Stouts around the world.
Avondale’s Most Crafty
With Free the Hops came a vigorous interest in beer across the state but particularly in Birmingham. “Seven years ago, I got involved in the craft beer scene,” says Coby Lake, co-founder of Avondale Brewing. “My next door neighbor was a home brewer. He would invite me over, and we would brew together and enjoy the fruits of the labor, so to speak.” Lake and his partner/brother Hunter have been busy since they decided to go official a few years ago. The two purchased a historic building in the Avondale neighborhood, and enlisted the help of professional brewer, Craig Shaw. “Structurally the façade was unsound, but the building 70 EXCURSIONS
was beautiful and the owner was in financial straits,” offers Lake. “We negotiated a short sale with his lender, and although I didn’t have the intention of putting the brewery in there at that time, in the end it made sense.” The crew flew around the country looking at brewery equipment, finally settling on a custom-made German Decoction steam-powered 15-barrel brew-house. With it, they set out to produce their first beers—a Belgium saison called Spring Street Saison, a hop-foward Battlefield IPA, their Miss Fancy Tripel and a rich vanilla porter called Vanillaphant.
Passion & Pride
Despite the efforts of Free the Hops, opening a brewery in this state is still a challenge and there’s no shortage of red tape and small pockets of opposition. But for the Lake brothers and the guys at Good People, these endeavors weren’t solely about giving Birmingham better beer. It was also about creating jobs, changing the face of struggling neighborhoods and giving citizens something to be passionate about in terms of city symbols. “We named our operation Avondale Brewing Company, because we really love this area of Avondale,” continues Lake. “We think the brewery will be an anchor for the commercial downtown area, and hopefully it will spark some interest. We have seen businesses come in since we have started our work. We don’t know if this is the reason why, but it certainly must be helping. I think that the industry of brewing is an exciting one, and it brings a lot of jobs and revenue to the state and local areas. I think Alabama could sustain 30 or 40 breweries if our laws continue to change.”