Within a year of brewing and distributing its beer, Ghost Train Brewing Company went from a startup brewing contracting its production to opening its own brewery and taproom in the Lakeview district of Birmingham. The husband-and-wife team of Taylor and Paige DeBoer began operations in 2015 brewing their beer at a facility in Mississippi before moving into the former home of Cahaba Brewing Company off 3rd Avenue South in Lakeview in 2016. The brewery sits in the shadow of U.S. 280 as it heads out to the Birmingham suburbs, which is where my visit began.
The brewery’s space is quite compact, but despite its size there is a lot inside the building. I visited on a Friday evening, so there was a band performing and it seemed as though every seat in the taproom was filled.
The bar sits in the back of the taproom, so my wife Katie and I navigated our way through the crowd to find a pair of seats at the bar to order some beers. We have drank many of Ghost Train’s beers because they are widely available in our area, but there were a few on draft that we had never tried before. So we ordered a flight to split that included all of these beers.
We ordered the Shamrock Kiwi Wheatgrass Sour, Train Wreck Pale Ale, Judge Juicy (a New England IPA), and Craft Lager. All were very well done, but my favorite was the Shamrock Kiwi Wheatgrass Sour. It had a good pucker with noticeable kiwi flavors. Craft Lager was my other favorite because it was tasty unto itself, but just a bit better with the lime squeezed into it.
After finishing our flight, Katie and I explored the brewery a bit so I could capture the rest of the landscape.
Like many brewery taprooms, the equipment is surrounded by seating. So it was difficult navigating the crowd to take pictures of the canning line and fermenters. The most interesting space I found was the game room in the back.
A collection of pinball machines accompany a pool table and Foosball table to offer visitors additional entertainment options. The game room was noticeable quieter than the taproom with the band performing, and provided a nice respite from the crowd.
Birmingham’s history as a stop for seven railway companies led the DeBoers to draw from the city’s former Birmingham Terminal Station, which was the city’s main train station until the 1950s, to incorporate a railroad theme into the name of the brewery and ultimately a beer named after the station. A ghost train is a phantom locomotive that grew in American folklore has etched into popular culture in a variety of ways. Visitors will notice the railroad theme in the brewery’s logo.
The taproom seemed like a busy train station the night I visited with tons of people coming and going. Visitors may not find the namesake Terminal Station Brown on draft at Ghost Train Brewing, but are sure to find a unique collection of beers to enjoy.
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