Driving down I65 to Louisiana the day after christmas to see my parents for a few weeks. Was planning on taking a quick pit stop in Birmingham in search of some goodies, already going to hit up Hopcity but was wondering about other stores. Seekabrew is saying Firestone Walker has limited distro in Alabama but haven't seen much else online to confirm that. Thanks for any info, cheers
FW does not distribute here. It's a bit of a long story as to how that got listed there but I personally called FW and they don't distribute here unfortunately. As for bottleshops along I-65...Wish You Were Beer is a really nice shop in Huntsville and of course Hopcity in Birmingham is a must stop and it's not very far from I-65 and there are a number of breweries in that area as well...Good People, Trimtab, Cahaba and Avondale are all close by. One thing to remember...breweries do not do growler fills in AL. Hopcity does and will fill any growler as long as the goverment warning is printed on it. So if you have some empty growlers they have 60 taps. Enjoy your trip.
Def no FW in Alabama. Hop City is your best bet by a long shot. Highland Package is a very distant 2nd place, but I doubt that you'll find anything at Highland that you won't find at Hop City. Vulcan Beverage has some craft as well but again, nowhere near the quality or selection of HC. I stopped shopping at Vulcan a couple years ago after they tried to price gouge me on KBS. If you do happen to go to either Highland or Vulcan, make sure to check dates on any IPAs, and I'd avoid the growler stations at both places like the plague. KMitch is spot on with the B'ham breweries. Cahaba and Trimtab are literally both just a few blocks from Hop City. Avondale and Good People are both just 5-10 minutes away from HC, just in opposite directions from each other.
If you are just looking to buy package and growler, Hop City is the only stop for you. Best beer store in town by a long shot. 60 taps for growlers and 1000's of bottles. If you want to grab pints at a brewery I would suggest Good People. Biggest in the state and best IMO. They have some great one offs on tap right now, and I hear Fatso is about to go on tap also.
