E-Malt.com News article: USA, AL: Fairhope Brewing Co thriving in Mobile

Can a new brewery thrive in Mobile? For anyone asking the question, there's a precedent that suggests the answer is an enthusiastic "yes:" Fairhope Brewing Co, al.com reported on July 27.

Craft beer is a growth industry in Alabama, but there's a distinct statewide imbalance. At the dawn of 2012, Birmingham and Huntsville had at least a dozen breweries between them. Coastal Alabama had nothing but the memory of the Port City Brewery and two successors, Hurricane Brewing and Mr. Jim's Cannon Brewpub, which had operated between 1991 and 2009 at a location on Dauphin Street.

Brian Kane, one of the founders of Fairhope Brewing, said the Lower Alabama drought worried him a little bit. He and his partners believed there was a thirst for craft beer in the Mobile Bay area, but they did wonder why no one else seemed to be leaping in to fill it. Kane recalls asking himself, "is there something I'm missing?"

The fact is, the Port City Brewery and its successors had operated under some onerous state laws that have since been changed to be much less restrictive. But even so, there seemed to be a bit of a south Alabama stigma.

Kane and his partners began construction in September 2012 and brewed their first batch that December. In January 2013, they held a soft opening for their taproom, followed by a grand opening in February. Before long, their Pelican-themed tap handles began popping up behind the bars of area bars and restaurants.

Fast forward a year and a half. Fairhope Brewing recently held a "Mardi Gras in July" celebration built around one of its successes, brew called Lil Poison Brown Ale. It was first offered as a seasonal specialty during the 2014 Mardi Gras season, and proved so popular that the brewers struggled to keep up with demand. They decided to give fans another taste out of season. "We couldn't make it fast enough," said Kane, speaking of the beer's initial Carnival run. "We invented an entire Mardi Gras weekend just to bring that beer back out."

Kane said the lessons of the past year and a half have been mostly positive. "We've gotten good support from the community," he said. "We were surprised how open people were to putting our beer on tap." He and his partners have been pleasantly surprised how much business they do in their on-site taproom, which isn't located in Fairhope's downtown entertainment district.

"Lower Alabama has definitely treated us right," said Jim Foley, another founding partner. "The biggest surprise to me is that we are seriously considering expanding now. A major expansion."

To their amazement, only a year and a half in, the brewers can see room for growth. Kane and Foley say that one avenue might be to develop a separate production facility. There, Fairhope Brewing could produce mainstays such as its Everyday Ale and Fairhope 51 in larger batches, and operate a bottling line. At its current facility, Head Brewer Dan Murphy would have more capacity for seasonal brews – such as Lil Poison – and wilder experiments.

Not that he's sitting on his hands in the meantime. Lil Poison involved a partnership with area musician Grayson Capps – its name comes from one of his song titles, and he had some involvement in the brewing process – and Murphy is at work now on the second in the "Brewsician" series: a smoked porter brewed in partnership with The Underhill Family Orchestra. A recent visit to the taproom also revealed that some Phish-themed brews are being offered ahead of that band's upcoming appearance in Orange Beach.

Kane and Foley said the thought of another Lower Alabama brewery strikes them as a good thing. If the craft beer boom has proved anything, they say, it's that once people get turned on to good beer, they tend to appreciate a variety of good beer. Within the industry, they say, there tends to be a spirit of mutual appreciation; to the extent there's competition, it tends to be friendly.

Both are quick to mention a more practical aspect of having a new brewery in the area: It opens up the possibility that if one brewery finds itself in need of specialized ingredients or equipment, it might have someone to borrow them from. Kane and Foley say that early in Fairhope Brewing's existence, its keg washer failed at a critical moment. Fortunately, they were able to get some help from a Florida Panhandle brewery.

There's already a personal connection. Kane says Serda brewmaster Todd Hicks has done some consulting and troubleshooting work for Fairhope.

Kane said he thinks Serda Brewing has chosen a good location, close to Mobile's Dauphin Street entertainment corridor and to several hotels. "I think they're going to see a nice boom of people coming in."

If people are quicker now to see the possibilities, Kane is content to take a little bit of the credit for that.

"I think we've helped open the door, open people's minds a little bit," he said.


30 July, 2014