Cahaba Brewing Company

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Cahaba diamond logo.jpg

The Cahaba Brewing Company is a microbrewery located in the Continental Gin Building at 4500 5th Avenue South.

The company was founded in 2011 by five friends, Taylor DeBoer, Burton Dunn, Andy Gwaltney, Jake Hayes and Eric Meyer. Taylor left the partnership in 2013, and Andrew Pharo joined the company in 2014.

The brewery hosted held a grand opening on September 24, 2012 (Meyer's birthday), and officially opened to the public on September 29. The brewery and tap room was originally located in an 8,000 square-foot former furniture showroom at 2616 3rd Avenue South. Cahaba started out using four fermenters and other equipment formerly used by Straight to Ale in Huntsville.

The brewery typically donates about 10% of its product to community groups and fund-raisers.

In 2015 the company leased 51,000 square feet of space in the Continental Gin Industrial Park on 5th Avenue South. Williams-Blackstock Architects designed the renovations, and Rives Construction carried out the work, which was part of a $2.6 million overall investment in expanding capacity. The renovations won a 2016 Merit Award from AIA Birmingham. The brewery reopened in its present location in January 2016. The 6,000 square-foot tap room includes a covered outdoor patio, cornhole pitches, pinball machines, Skee-Ball tables, board games and other diversions. The expanded brewing line increased output capacity more than eight times, to around 3000 barrels per year. The older equipment was reinstalled to use for "small-batch" specialty beers.

Instead of installing its own canning line, Cahaba contracts with Toucan Mobile Canning to bring their truck to the brewery on a periodic basis. It introduced its top-selling American Blonde Ale to retail stores in early 2015 and expanded the line with its Oka Uba IPA and a seasonal Märzen-style Oktoberfest beer in the summer of 2016.

DeBoer, who left the partnership in 2015, later founded Ghost Train Brewing Company, which eventually opened a taproom in Cahaba's former location.

Beers

Old logo
  • flagship beers
    • "American Blonde Ale", a light ale, flavored to 20 IBU with German noble hops
    • "Liquidambar", a lightly-hopped American amber ale named for the Liquidambar styraciflua or sweetgum tree.
    • "Ryezome Rye Stout", a medium-bodied American stout
    • "Oka Uba IPA", a 57 IBU India Pale Ale. Oka Uba or Ika Uba is the native name for the Cahaba River
    • 'White IPA", a seasoned wheat ale inspired by Belgian witte bier
    • "Fraxinus Maximus" double IPA, flavored with "burst" hops to a calculated 120 IBU, named for the native Maxinus americana or ash tree
  • seasonal beers
    • "Kiwi Kölsch" (summer), flavored with kiwi and coriander
    • 'Oktoberfest" (fall), a 7.5% ABV German-style beer
  • specialty beers
    • "Bourbon Barrel Aged Oka Uba IPA"
    • "Rye Imperial Stout", 9.2% ABV
    • "Sinister Brown", an English-style brown ale with added hops
    • "Léim I" Irish stout
  • short-run beers
    • "Single Hop Series Nos. 1-9", a continuing series of extra pale ales flavored with distinct hop varietals
    • "Cedar Oka Uba", flavored with cedar
    • "Centennial Ale", extra pale ale with Centennial hops
    • "Winter Stash Ale", mahogany brown ale with spice flavors
    • "Batch 500", Belgian brown ale
    • "Red Bike Brown Ale", nut brown ale with Red Bike Coffee Co. cold-press coffee added to the second fermentation
    • "Rose Mallow" farmhouse style ale flavored with hibiscus and lavender flowers
    • "Imperial Oka Uba", double dry-hopped version of Oka Uba IPA
    • "India Pale Lager", a hopped American lager

References

External links