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Monday, June 14, 2010

The Huntsville Brew Boom

Could this building in Five Points be the site of Huntsville's first modern brewpub? (Probably not; see update below.)
Huntsville is getting three new microbreweries this year, and maybe a few brewpubs in the near future. Below is a guide. Sorry about any errors; I was inspired to write this after enjoying an Olde Towne Hefeweisen.


Microbreweries

Straight to Ale
Straight to Ale opened in April at Lincoln Mill. It has since been appearing at local bars and restaurants, including The Nook and The Stem and Stein.
Brews: Monkeynaut IPA, Wernher von Braun Ale
Website: http://www.straighttoale.com/
Facebook

Blue Pants Brewery
Blue Pants will be a small brewery located off of Slaughter Road. Its owners expect to be selling brews by October, according to their website. 
Brews: Knickerbocker Red
Website: http://www.bluepantsbrew.com/
Facebook

Yellowhammer Brewery
Not much is known about Yellowhammer, except that they hope to start brewing in the Fall. Their brewery will be located on Clinton, in West Downtown.
Brews: ???
Website: None.
Facebook: None Found.

Brewpubs
I have heard about three different brewpub rumors/proposals. The first, and probably the most well known, is the rumor that Athens, Georgia-based Trappeze Pub would open a brewpub at the old Sazio location in Five Points (picture above). However, I have yet to see anything substantial or credible that would support this, and, as you can see in the picture, there is still a "For Sale" sign outside (as of June 11th). Two other brewpubs have been proposed recently-- one at Lincoln Mill, the other in West Huntsville or Madison.

Brewpubs are very hard to open in Alabama; the current laws restrict them to historic buildings in counties that had a brewpub before Prohibition. Grassroots "pro-beer" organization Free the Hops is hoping to change that in a future legislative session. If and when they are successful, expect a glut of new brewpubs throughout the area.

If you have any info you would like to share on new breweries/brewpubs in the area, please let me know and I'll add it on here. Special thanks to David and Todd for their valuable info. 

UPDATE (9/5/10): The building in Five Points pictured above will be home to 1892 East, which on its website calls itself a "New American Restaurant and Tavern" that will use locally-grown food. It will open this Fall.

6 comments:

  1. I think that the deal for the old Sazio building fell through several months ago. However, there is a brew pub going in across the street from Sammy T's down town. One of the bartenders from the nook is opening it. I am sure if you stop in for a beer he could fill you in on the details.

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  2. the for sale sign is down at the old sazio location. a brew pub at that location would be great. i'd go.

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  3. Thanks for the plug for Blue Pants Brewery. We're working hard to bring our beer to the area.

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  4. There IS a tavern/restaurant going in at the old Sazio. They are shooting for an October opening. Although it will not be a brewpub or the rumored Trappeze related pub (at least I don't think so), it sounds like a pretty cool spot. I spoke with the proprietor last week. I won't say more than this though. I'll let the owners let their own cat out of the bag with more details when the time is right.

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  5. The Trapeze thing wasn't supposed to be a brewpub (as far as I know), just a Belgian-centric beer bar.

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  6. There is a sign near Drake State on Holmes indicating that someone is opening a brewpub downtown. I linked to a picture of it on my twitter acct. It's probably the one that [something witty] is referring to. I'd like to know more about it, though. Does anyone know anything more about it?

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