There are two notable industries in the area surrounding Huntsville, Ala.: space and craft beer. When you bring the two industries together you get Rocket Republic Brewing Company in the suburb of Madison. Eric and Tatum Crigger along with business partners John and Lynn Troy launched (no pun intended) Rocket Republic in 2013, and eventually opened their own brewhouse and taproom in 2015. Like many professional brewers, Eric started as a homebrewer before taking a course on opening a brewery, and eventually realizing that dream. The taproom came to fruition after the brewery’s initial success with contract brewery and the aid of an Indiegogo campaign. So onto the taproom… Visitors are…
-
-
A pint at Blue Pants Brewery in Madison, Ala.
There are a lot of things you can do with an old cotton warehouse. Building a brewery was an ideal fit because of the need for floor space to house all the brewing equipment. It is a far cry from where Blue Pants Brewery started off Slaughter Road in a 400-square-foot space. Now when visitors to the brewery and taproom arrive, they immediately see an expansive building with ample parking. Visitors immediately enter the taproom. The taproom maximizes the available space with a nice merchandise area. Uniquely among the merchandise is a cooler, so visitors can take home their new favorite beer and also some liquor that is distilled on…
-
A pint at Salty Nut Brewery in Huntsville, Ala.
Proof that the craft beer scene is growing in Huntsville is clearly visible through the history of Salty Nut Brewery. Brent Cole and Daniel Yant along with a team of partners opened the brewery in 2013 off Evangel Circle near the UA Huntsville campus. In January 2016, the brewery relocated to its current location in Downtown Huntsville off Clinton Avenue in the spaced previously occupied by Yellowhammer Brewing. Although Salty Nut has changed the space to meet its needs, the general structure has not changed. One building serves as the taproom while another building houses the brewing and fermentation equipment. Visitors immediately walk into the seating area before finding the…
-
A pint at Yellowhammer Brewing in Huntsville, Ala.
When work on Campus 805 started, Yellowhammer Brewing was the first tenant to break ground and ultimately the first to open its doors. The opening is notable for many reasons. The opening meant that the redevelopment of the 13-acre Stone Middle School property into Campus 805 was becoming a reality. It also meant that Yellowhammer, which was started by a quartet of guys in 2010, had become one of the premier breweries in Huntsville, and was part of a major attraction for craft beer lovers throughout the state of Alabama and even surrounding states. Yellowhammer occupies a new building on the Campus 805 landscape with plenty of parking surrounding it. …
-
A pint at Mad Malts Brewing in Huntsville, Ala.
A trio with a fondness for beer and an irreverent nature for naming traditions, led Chris Bramon, Jeff Peck, and Tracy Mullins to start The Brew Stooges in 2013. The success the trio enjoyed was short-lived after receiving a cease-and-desist order from the C3 Entertainment, which owns the rights to the Three Stooges. However, the group kept the wacky theme alive with the re-named company: Mad Malts Brewing. The taproom is located in the building that used to house Mullins’s former business, Complete Plumbing. Due to its former life the building is located in an industrial area near the intersection of Oakwood Avenue and Meridian Street. There are some houses…
-
A pint at Straight to Ale Brewing in Huntsville, Ala.
One of the earliest craft breweries to open in Huntsville was Straight to Ale Brewing. The brewery originally opened on Leeman Ferry Road in a former industrial area across from Joe W. Davis Stadium, then the home of the Southern League’s Huntsville Stars. Like many things in the Rocket City over the past few years, progress led to some notable changes. The Stars left town (and became the Biloxi Shuckers), and the craft beer scene in the city took off. Following a massive overhaul of the former Stone Middle School property just west of downtown, Straight to Ale relocated from its original facility south of downtown to the new Campus…
-
A pint at Goat Island Brewing in Cullman, Ala.
When people survey the map of craft breweries in Alabama, one stands out as being convenient but maybe not as convenient as visitors may expect. Goat Island Brewing in Cullman appears to be conveniently located off Interstate 65 north of Birmingham, which is true. However, Cullman (respectfully) is not a city many people throughout the South much less in Alabama set out to visit because it offers other cultural or historical sights. So if you have the goal of visiting each craft brewery in Alabama (like I do), you have to specifically set a goal of stopping in Cullman just to have a drink at Goat Island. So recently my…
