Cahaba Brewing Company

The Cahaba Brewing Company is a microbrewery located in the Continental Gin Building at 4500 5th Avenue South. It was founded in 2011 by brewers Taylor DeBoer, Andy Gwaltney and Eric Meyer. Andrew Pharo and Burton Dunn joined the company soon later.

The company began commercial production and opened to the public in 2012. The tap room was originally located in a former furniture showroom at 2616 3rd Avenue South before moving to its present location in January 2016. It invested about $2.6 million in moving and expanding its brewery and tap room into part of the 51,000 square-foot space, which has signifiant room for future expansion or subleasing. The 6,000 square-foot gathering space includes cornhole pitches, Skee-Ball tables and other entertainments.

The expansion increased the brewing capacity more than eight times. Cahaba started out using four fermenters and other equipment formerly used by Straight to Ale in Huntsville. The equipment that went online in early 2016 brought the capacity to around 3000 barrels per year. The older equipment was reinstalled to use for "small-batch" specialty beers.

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 Building on 5th Avenue South. Instead of installing its own canning line, Cahaba contracts with Toucan Mobile Canning to bring their truck to the brewery on a periodic basis. Williams-Blackstock Architects designed the renovations, and Rives Construction carried out the work.

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
  • "Single Hop series", a continuing series of extra pale ales flavored with distinct hop varietals
  • "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

References

• Phillips, Ryan (October 15, 2014) "Cahaba Brewing Co. growth signals downtown revitalization." Birmingham Business Journal
• Poe, Kelly (February 18, 2015) "Cahaba Brewing moving to Continental Gin site in Avondale." The Birmingham News
• Poe, Kelly (January 5, 2016) "First look: Cahaba Brewing's new tasting room in the Continental Gin building." The Birmingham News

External links

• Cahaba Brewing Company website
• Cahaba Brewing Company on Facebook.com