As noted in the first post from the Magic City Brewfest, a great surprise was to find Alabama-brewed beer there after all. Birmingham's Good People Brewing Co. offered its beer to the public for the first time at the festival.I got a chance Sunday to chat with Good People's Jason Malone, who said the company this week is beginning keg production, and will begin distributing the draft beer to Five Points and Southside-area restaurants such as 5 Points Grille, the J. Clyde and Mellow Mushroom.
"We want to be at the good places where people like good beer," Malone told me. What else would you expect from Good People, right? If all goes well, bottling could come within a few months via a contract brewer.
Malone said Good People will start off brewing the "mainstays," a pale ale, an amber, and an IPA or hefeweizen, and a brown ale, followed by seasonals down the road. The brown is what he's shown pouring above, at the festival. Stuart Carter, Free the Hops' president, called it one of the best examples of the style he's ever tasted. It was hard to judge after a day of drinking dozens of different beer styles in no particular order, but I can say it was good.
For our Calhoun County readers, I mentioned to Malone that we've got a Mellow Mushroom in Oxford and other restaurants committed to good beer. He said to let restaurants know you'd like to see Good People on tap, so they can ask distributors for it.
