Bass and Brews

You know about Alabama’s fishing traditions. Well, sharing stories over a beer is another Alabama tradition, and the two go together like peas in a pod. Alabama’s emerging beer-making industry offers a true taste of the state. The local brews include seasonal specialties as well as year-round favorites. Many have names that themselves tell stories of the people and places of this diverse state. Check out the hours of the taprooms and times of the tours and head out for a brew or two. Below are some ideas for your next trip and some of the state’s lore you’ll learn along the way.

If you’re fishing Lake Wheeler and then heading to Lake Guntersville, add a trip to Huntsville where you’ll find a couple of Alabama’s best breweries. Blue Pants Brewery gives a nod to the working man, from the factory worker to the Pinstripe-suit-wearing ones. Straight to Ale brewery tips a hat to Brother Joseph of Cullman’s Ave Maria Grotto fame.

Between Nealy Henry Lake and Logan Martin Lake you’ll find Back Forty Brewery, the first in the state to make a name for itself nationally. Names like Truck Stop Honey Brown and Fence Post Ale give you a sense of where Back Forty’s roots are.

Good People Brewery tells us stories of a Snake Handler and a Bearded Lady at their taproom in Birmingham. At the Avondale Brewing Company, Spring Street Saison and Battlefield IPA pay homage to the early years of Avondale, now a Birmingham neighborhood. And down on the delta, you can take in stories of the Causeway or of colorful characters like Judge Roy Bean at the Fairhope Brewery.