Banjo
08-25-2010, 10:02 PM
Three of Alabama’s Breweries Are Poised to Go Statewide Soon
By Peter Teske
http://www.lagniappemobile.com/articles/3703-three-of-alabamas-breweries-are-poised-to-go-statewide-soon
Issue #211
August 24, 2010
BeerFest will feature beers from Back Forty. Olde Towne and Good People have plans to be here soon!
Alabama and its neighboring Southeastern states are easily considered to be the last frontier in the craft beer revolution by national standards.
But if you take a moment to look around at what’s happening throughout the state right this moment, you’ll find an unparalleled enthusiasm among the folks looking to put Dixie’s heart on the big beer map.
That group includes, but certainly isn’t limited to, two of the Yellowhammer state’s most established breweries and another currently contract brewing with Mississippi’s Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company that has almost completed jumping through all the obligatory bureaucratic hoops so they can open their own brewery in Gadsden.
These Alabama beer pioneers are not only producing flavorful ales and delicate lagers, but they’re also — and this is the good part for you — working to bring the fruits of their labors to Mobile if they aren’t here already.
Back Forty
For Jason Wilson it was all about getting back to Alabama to become a professional practitioner of his most intense passion, and to do it in his hometown.
And while Back Forty has already begun distributing statewide, it’s because of Wilson’s efforts that Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale and Naked Pig Pale Ale may be names you’ll want to look out for and remember at this year’s 13th Annual Dauphin Street Beer Fest. Indeed, the first two offerings from Back Forty Brewing Company — soon to be officially based out of Gadsden — are a testament to the loyalty of one of Alabama’s native sons.
“So many times something new and inventive and creative makes it’s way to the South under this moniker of ‘put down your old Southern ways and come on over to this distinguished, or new, or progressive idea,’” Wilson said. “We were very aware of that. As an Alabamian I embrace that culture — I embrace that Southern way of life. The last thing I want our customers to do is to give that up. We want to take something that’s traditionally Southern by nature, put a little bit of progressive spin on it to be competitive in today’s market, but still have a product that people can identify with in the South.”
Wilson describes every detail of his brewery, from its name to the source of the honey used in Truck Stop Honey Brown, as aspects that remain exceedingly important to keep Southern.
“Back Forty is an old agricultural term that, you know, references that back forty acres of the farm — the acreage that’s most often neglected or forgotten about, because it’s too hard to irrigate or too hard to maintain or too far from the barn. Where the tractors go to die,” Wilson said of his company’s handle. “But the ironic thing about the back forty acres is, if you ever clean it off and plow it, it’s what most farmers call ‘new soil.’ And it produces a tremendous yield. With Alabama being the 49th state in the union to update its laws to allow for great craft beer, we’re in the process right now of clearing off those tracts.”
But before a name could be determined, Wilson said, it all started in a very Southern way — with conversation.
“Jamie Ray is our brewmaster. He’s also the brewmaster at the Montgomery Brew Pub. I got to know Jamie the good old-fashioned way when I spent some time in Montgomery with my job and sat on a barstool for a year or so and got to know him, Wilson said. “So when we started all this up, he was the first person I called. He’s the best brewmaster that no one’s ever heard of. He’s won five medals at the Great American Beer Festival, a medal at the World Beer Cup and countless other medals at regional events around the country.”
After their informal beer dialogues in the capital, Wilson introduced Ray to a recipe he had concocted on his own.
“I told Jamie I had a recipe I thought was pretty good, so I sent it to him and he told me that it wasn’t, but he could fix it,” Wilson recalled.
Going back and forth soon led to the recipe that became Naked Pig Pale Ale. And last year, Back Forty produced 500 barrels of Naked Pig and Truck Stop Honey Brown combined. This year the sky’s the limits, as Wilson says they expect sales growth of roughly 200 percent upon moving into their new facility.
“In the craft beer industry, that tends to be a conservative figure,” he added.
It is Wilson’s hope that Back Forty continues to become an integral part of its community through continued sponsorship of charitable organizations and events, but as far as continued growth and distribution is concerned, Alabama-centric synergy is the priority.
“We want to incorporate something from Alabama in every product we make,” Wilson said. “We’ve got a couple of different farmers with some help from the Alabama Cooperative Extension Program that have started to plant hops. One of the main places we’re starting to test that right now is a farm in Prattville, Alabama.”
A present day example of this philosophy is found in the honey used in Back Forty’s Truck Stop Honey Brown, which comes from right here in Mobile.
But don’t think that’s all to the story.
“You don’t know what Truck Stop Honey is unless you’re from the South,” Wilson said. “But if you’re from here, when you see that little bear full of honey in a truck stop on the side of the highway, you know exactly what that’s all about.”
Good People
If your name is Jason, there’s a substantial likelihood you’re a driving force in an Alabama-based brewery. Jason Malone is living proof of that statement.
Malone’s brewery, Good People Brewing Company, not only just recently stepped into a 25,000-square-foot facility in Birmingham’s city center, but if you make the trip to B-Ham, you’re sure to be able to experience about six Good People offerings kept in a rotation and on tap only. Those six are part of a total of the 18 unique different styles of beer Good People has produced in their time as an Alabama brewery.
As Malone told Lagniappe of the stretching room Good People has afforded itself in a larger, newer — but still historic — location, he produced an introspective two-word description and a laugh. It was “really small,” Malone remembered.
Getting out of the “really small” facility that once limited them, Malone said, will soon change their status as an “on tap only” brewery.
With the introduction of a canning line, Malone said, “we could be canning beer as early as the first of November.”
Like Wilson and Back Forty’s efforts, Good People’s priority, once fully set up in their new digs, is to saturate good markets within the state of Alabama before expanding to other areas in the Southeast.
“We’re committed to being an Alabama company foremost,” Malone said.
Good people sold its first beer on July 4, 2008, Malone noted, and things haven’t exactly gone poorly since. The company line, if such a thing exists at Good People, Malone says, is to make good beer for people who like to drink and appreciate good beer.
“We’ve done beers that are dictated solely by feedback that we get from customers,” Malone said. “The mainstream crowd will follow.”
From a marketing perspective, since taprooms — or tasting rooms — are not allowed to accompany a brewery under Alabama law, Malone said a concentrated effort goes into sponsoring charitable events — a common theme among all Alabama breweries at the moment.
“That’s where we find a lot of like-minded people,” he said. “Otherwise we’ve got to go through a distributor to get our product into new hands — which is fine — but with charitable events you can really develop an engaging and open line of communication. It works both ways.”
Malone says Good People would love to have a taproom, and looks forward to the possibility of one day using one as a business tool to further expound upon the sense of community he feels has become so important to his company’s success. But when it comes to integrating Good People into the business community, thinking outside the box has allowed them to be innovative and come practice something truly unique in the brewing world.
“A lot of breweries will take their spent grains and byproducts to a local hog farmer or dairy farm or something like that. And that’s great, it works well and allows you to develop a business relationship with others in your area,” Malone said. “We wanted to see if we could do something different.”
In their exploration, Malone said, they found they could give their spent grains to a local composting company. The composting company then adds, in regiments, the spent grain to other materials.
“What ends up happening is we send our spent grain to the composting company, and they sell their product to farmers who grow fruit and vegetables for the restaurants who sell our beer,” Malone said.“We get a kick out of that.”
Olde Towne
Mobile prides itself on being an old city full of great history, but bite your tongue for just a second, as Huntsville’s Olde Towne Brewing Company deserves the courtesy.
Read more here (http://www.lagniappemobile.com/articles/3703-three-of-alabamas-breweries-are-poised-to-go-statewide-soon)
By Peter Teske
http://www.lagniappemobile.com/articles/3703-three-of-alabamas-breweries-are-poised-to-go-statewide-soon
Issue #211
August 24, 2010
BeerFest will feature beers from Back Forty. Olde Towne and Good People have plans to be here soon!
Alabama and its neighboring Southeastern states are easily considered to be the last frontier in the craft beer revolution by national standards.
But if you take a moment to look around at what’s happening throughout the state right this moment, you’ll find an unparalleled enthusiasm among the folks looking to put Dixie’s heart on the big beer map.
That group includes, but certainly isn’t limited to, two of the Yellowhammer state’s most established breweries and another currently contract brewing with Mississippi’s Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company that has almost completed jumping through all the obligatory bureaucratic hoops so they can open their own brewery in Gadsden.
These Alabama beer pioneers are not only producing flavorful ales and delicate lagers, but they’re also — and this is the good part for you — working to bring the fruits of their labors to Mobile if they aren’t here already.
Back Forty
For Jason Wilson it was all about getting back to Alabama to become a professional practitioner of his most intense passion, and to do it in his hometown.
And while Back Forty has already begun distributing statewide, it’s because of Wilson’s efforts that Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale and Naked Pig Pale Ale may be names you’ll want to look out for and remember at this year’s 13th Annual Dauphin Street Beer Fest. Indeed, the first two offerings from Back Forty Brewing Company — soon to be officially based out of Gadsden — are a testament to the loyalty of one of Alabama’s native sons.
“So many times something new and inventive and creative makes it’s way to the South under this moniker of ‘put down your old Southern ways and come on over to this distinguished, or new, or progressive idea,’” Wilson said. “We were very aware of that. As an Alabamian I embrace that culture — I embrace that Southern way of life. The last thing I want our customers to do is to give that up. We want to take something that’s traditionally Southern by nature, put a little bit of progressive spin on it to be competitive in today’s market, but still have a product that people can identify with in the South.”
Wilson describes every detail of his brewery, from its name to the source of the honey used in Truck Stop Honey Brown, as aspects that remain exceedingly important to keep Southern.
“Back Forty is an old agricultural term that, you know, references that back forty acres of the farm — the acreage that’s most often neglected or forgotten about, because it’s too hard to irrigate or too hard to maintain or too far from the barn. Where the tractors go to die,” Wilson said of his company’s handle. “But the ironic thing about the back forty acres is, if you ever clean it off and plow it, it’s what most farmers call ‘new soil.’ And it produces a tremendous yield. With Alabama being the 49th state in the union to update its laws to allow for great craft beer, we’re in the process right now of clearing off those tracts.”
But before a name could be determined, Wilson said, it all started in a very Southern way — with conversation.
“Jamie Ray is our brewmaster. He’s also the brewmaster at the Montgomery Brew Pub. I got to know Jamie the good old-fashioned way when I spent some time in Montgomery with my job and sat on a barstool for a year or so and got to know him, Wilson said. “So when we started all this up, he was the first person I called. He’s the best brewmaster that no one’s ever heard of. He’s won five medals at the Great American Beer Festival, a medal at the World Beer Cup and countless other medals at regional events around the country.”
After their informal beer dialogues in the capital, Wilson introduced Ray to a recipe he had concocted on his own.
“I told Jamie I had a recipe I thought was pretty good, so I sent it to him and he told me that it wasn’t, but he could fix it,” Wilson recalled.
Going back and forth soon led to the recipe that became Naked Pig Pale Ale. And last year, Back Forty produced 500 barrels of Naked Pig and Truck Stop Honey Brown combined. This year the sky’s the limits, as Wilson says they expect sales growth of roughly 200 percent upon moving into their new facility.
“In the craft beer industry, that tends to be a conservative figure,” he added.
It is Wilson’s hope that Back Forty continues to become an integral part of its community through continued sponsorship of charitable organizations and events, but as far as continued growth and distribution is concerned, Alabama-centric synergy is the priority.
“We want to incorporate something from Alabama in every product we make,” Wilson said. “We’ve got a couple of different farmers with some help from the Alabama Cooperative Extension Program that have started to plant hops. One of the main places we’re starting to test that right now is a farm in Prattville, Alabama.”
A present day example of this philosophy is found in the honey used in Back Forty’s Truck Stop Honey Brown, which comes from right here in Mobile.
But don’t think that’s all to the story.
“You don’t know what Truck Stop Honey is unless you’re from the South,” Wilson said. “But if you’re from here, when you see that little bear full of honey in a truck stop on the side of the highway, you know exactly what that’s all about.”
Good People
If your name is Jason, there’s a substantial likelihood you’re a driving force in an Alabama-based brewery. Jason Malone is living proof of that statement.
Malone’s brewery, Good People Brewing Company, not only just recently stepped into a 25,000-square-foot facility in Birmingham’s city center, but if you make the trip to B-Ham, you’re sure to be able to experience about six Good People offerings kept in a rotation and on tap only. Those six are part of a total of the 18 unique different styles of beer Good People has produced in their time as an Alabama brewery.
As Malone told Lagniappe of the stretching room Good People has afforded itself in a larger, newer — but still historic — location, he produced an introspective two-word description and a laugh. It was “really small,” Malone remembered.
Getting out of the “really small” facility that once limited them, Malone said, will soon change their status as an “on tap only” brewery.
With the introduction of a canning line, Malone said, “we could be canning beer as early as the first of November.”
Like Wilson and Back Forty’s efforts, Good People’s priority, once fully set up in their new digs, is to saturate good markets within the state of Alabama before expanding to other areas in the Southeast.
“We’re committed to being an Alabama company foremost,” Malone said.
Good people sold its first beer on July 4, 2008, Malone noted, and things haven’t exactly gone poorly since. The company line, if such a thing exists at Good People, Malone says, is to make good beer for people who like to drink and appreciate good beer.
“We’ve done beers that are dictated solely by feedback that we get from customers,” Malone said. “The mainstream crowd will follow.”
From a marketing perspective, since taprooms — or tasting rooms — are not allowed to accompany a brewery under Alabama law, Malone said a concentrated effort goes into sponsoring charitable events — a common theme among all Alabama breweries at the moment.
“That’s where we find a lot of like-minded people,” he said. “Otherwise we’ve got to go through a distributor to get our product into new hands — which is fine — but with charitable events you can really develop an engaging and open line of communication. It works both ways.”
Malone says Good People would love to have a taproom, and looks forward to the possibility of one day using one as a business tool to further expound upon the sense of community he feels has become so important to his company’s success. But when it comes to integrating Good People into the business community, thinking outside the box has allowed them to be innovative and come practice something truly unique in the brewing world.
“A lot of breweries will take their spent grains and byproducts to a local hog farmer or dairy farm or something like that. And that’s great, it works well and allows you to develop a business relationship with others in your area,” Malone said. “We wanted to see if we could do something different.”
In their exploration, Malone said, they found they could give their spent grains to a local composting company. The composting company then adds, in regiments, the spent grain to other materials.
“What ends up happening is we send our spent grain to the composting company, and they sell their product to farmers who grow fruit and vegetables for the restaurants who sell our beer,” Malone said.“We get a kick out of that.”
Olde Towne
Mobile prides itself on being an old city full of great history, but bite your tongue for just a second, as Huntsville’s Olde Towne Brewing Company deserves the courtesy.
Read more here (http://www.lagniappemobile.com/articles/3703-three-of-alabamas-breweries-are-poised-to-go-statewide-soon)