Here is the final list of breweries at Fall FestivAle.  What a lineup we are having!  Don’t miss this!

Tickets are $25 in advance for this rare beer event at Old Car Heaven.  850 tickets is all that has been alloted for Fall FestivAle as opposed to 5,000 for Magic City Brewfest.  Get your tickets before they are gone!

Founders Brewing

Dirty Bastard – Scottish Style Ale that is dark ruby in color and brewed with seven varieties of imported malts. Complex in finish, with hints of smoke and peat, paired with a malty richness and a right hook of hop power.

Centennial IPA – Get ready to bask in the glory of the frothy head’s floral bouquet. Relish the citrus accents from the abundance of dry-hopping. This one’s sweet, yet balanced. Malty undertones shake hands with the hop character for a finish that never turns too bitter.

Red’s Rye IPA – Serious hop bitterness, along with a grapefruit bouquet from the Amarillo dry-hop, balances the malty richness of four varieties of Belgian caramel malts. Pours a crimson color with a creamy tan head. A generous addition of rye malt accentuates a spicy, crisp finish.

Yazoo Brewing Company

Sue – Big, rich, smoky malt bomb of a beer, with mellow smokiness coming from barley malts smoked with cherry wood, and assertive bitterness from Galena and Perle hops to cleanse the finish.

Hop Project - This brew is an India Pale Ale by style, but that is where the similarity to most IPAs ends. Each consecutive batch of Hop Project is brewed with a different blend of spicy, aromatic hops, never using the same blend twice.

Fresh Hop IPA – Indian Pale Ale brewed with whole cone fresh hops.  A hopheads dream.

Terrapin Beer Company

Wake ‘N’ Bake - Black as night, this coffee stout is thick, rich and full of real coffee flavor. Brewed with the Terrapin Wake-n-Bake coffee blend created by Terrapin & Jittery Joe’s Coffee.

So Fresh & So Green, Green – This is a beer that celebrates the hop! You can’t get fresher or greener than this. Made with freshly picked, whole leaf, “wet hops” these off the vine beauties will encourage you to DRINK FRESH!

Monk’s Revenge – Kudos to Terrapin for marrying a classic Belgian Style Tripel and a new age American Double IPA.

Hopsecutioner – This Killer IPA earns its name by using six different types of hops while still remaining an aggressive well balanced beer.

Highland Brewing Company

Cocoa Wheat – The name says it all.

Kashmir IPA – A brilliant, dry pale ale with an aggressive hop character balanced with a smooth finish.

Oatmeal Porter – This robust beer is black in color, very malty with hints of chocolate-roasted flavor and a well balanced hop character.

Lazy Magnolia

Ginger Jaque – The second release in Lazy Magnolia’s Brewer’s Choice Series, invokes the likeness of one of our premier international award winning amber rye ales (AmberJaque) spiced with a bold zest of ginger.

Southern Pecan – This Nut Brown Ale is the first beer in the world, to our knowledge, made with whole roasted pecans. The pecans are used just like grain and provide a nutty characteristic to the flavor profile.

Here is the updated beer list for Alabama breweries at Fall FestivAle.  Out of state breweries coming the next two days.

Tickets are $25 in advance for this rare beer event at Old Car Heaven.  850 tickets is all that has been alloted for Fall FestivAle as opposed to 5,000 for Magic City Brewfest.  Get your tickets before they are gone!

Good People Brewing Company

El Gordo – Their huge Russian Imperial Stout that if you haven’t tried (and their have only been 3 other kegs released of this beer before) then you are missing out. 

Brett IPA – A funky IPA brewed with Brettanomyces yeast. 

Coffee Oatmeal Stout - Big coffee flavors dominate early only to be wiped out by an enormous about of Willamette hop flavors.  Brewed with coffee from Primavera Coffee Roasters here in Birmingham, AL.

Snake Handler – A big, joyous celebration of all things hoppy.  Large flavors and aroma of pine, citrus, flowers, spice, pineapple, and grassiness complimented with a touch of biscuit and caramel backbone in this Double IPA.

Avondale Brewing Company

Belgian Pumpkin – A seasonal pumpkin beer brewed with Belgian yeast.  Just in time for Thanksgiving!

Vanillaphant Porter – Dark porter beer with a hint of vanilla sweetness to balance out the porter roastiness.

Belgian Brown – The classic brown ale with an Avondale Belgian yeast twist.

Battlefield IPA – India Pale Ale that is as aggressive as it’s name: well-hopped and packed with rich maltiness. A stellar balance of crisp bitterness and floral aromas, achieved by a god-like blend of English and American hops.

Spring Street Saison – Belgian Farmhouse Ale, brewed with a special 3 malt blend, European hops and a historic farmhouse yeast blend from the Wallonia region of Belgium.

Yellowhammer

Frankenhammer - A strong conglomeration Belgian ale aged on toasted cherry wood.

Saison de Chase – A Red Saison that is truly one of a kind in this state.

Altbier - German style amber ale, exceptionally smooth, this American version is a touch stronger than the Dusseldorf forerunner.  Alt, literally translated, is German for old, reflecting how far back this top-fermenting style goes.

Brown Bomber Uber Alt - A darker and stronger, seasonal variation on an Altbier.

Blue Pants Brewery

ESB – ESB means “Extra Special Bitter” but don’t be scared of this hoppy brew, unless you want to of course!  The classic style meets the flavor rich world of Blue Pants beers in their take on the ESB.  

Pinstripe Stout – 8.0% ABV American Imperial Stout with chocolate, coffee, and vanilla flavors.

Knickerbocker Red – Moderately hoppy, but balanced, agressive American Red Ale with a good Cascade taste and a strong malty backbone.

Back Forty

Kudzu Porter – Hoppy porter beer affectionately named after the unofficial Alabama state plant.

Truck Stop Honey Brown – Silver medal winner at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival, it’s a medium bodied English brown ale brewed with Alabama Wildflower Honey, roasted malts and fresh hops.

Straight to Ale

Montesano Maibock -  Lighter in color than other Bock beers and often has a significant hop character with a noticeable alcohol around the same as a traditional Bock.

Olde Towne Pumpkin – Pumpkin Ales are typically mild, with little to no bitterness, a malty backbone, with some spice often taking the lead.

Wernher Von Brown Ale – Named after the preeminent astronautics engineer, this luscious brown ale is sweet and malty up front with hints of toast and chocolate in the finish. East Kent Goldings provide a slight bitterness to this English-style ale.

Here are some of the offerings that will be at Fall FestivAle 11/11/11 at Old Car Heaven.  Tickets are only $25 for this exclusive beer festival.  Only 850 tickets are available for this event while 5,000 were available for Magic City Brewfest.  Get your tickets now so you can get your hands on some of these super rare beers.  And don’t forget that craft beer rock star, Adam Avery, will be live and in person at this event.

Sweetwater

Dank Tank Ghoulash – Recently released, this double black, double dry-hopped, double IPA seasonal is making its way to Alabama for the first time at Fall FestivAle.

Festive Ale – A winter warmer released every November will keep you warm on a cold Alabama night.  Unfortunately Sweetwater didn’t name this beer after Fall FestivAle but we’ll be glad to claim this tasty brew.

IPA - This mammouth India Pale Ale is loaded with intense hop character and subjected to an extensive dry-hopping process. Our IPA is unfiltered and as always, not pasteurized, leaving all the natural flavors intact.

Avery Brewing Company

Seventeen Anniversary Ale - A Dry Hopped Black Lager.  Bet you’ve never had one of those!

2010 Czar – A vintage Russian Imperial Stout with a year of age on it.  If you’ve ever had an aged RIS then you know are in for a treat.

Eighteen Anniversary Ale - Dry-hopped Rye Saison Ale for this year’s celebratory brew, Avery decided to focus on the characteristics that certain yeasts bring to the party.  

IPA – This mammouth India Pale Ale is loaded with intense hop character and subjected to an extensive dry-hopping process. Our IPA is unfiltered and as always, not pasteurized, leaving all the natural flavors intact.

Thomas Creek Brewing Company

Banana Split Chocolate Stout – 2nd release in the Atypical Series, this Belgian-style porter is a full bodied, roasty stout with hints of chocolate and banana.

Dirty Monk Belgian Porter - With a taste profile somewhere between a Belgian black ale and an IPA, some might say that this porter is confused but the robust Belgian smokey tones and slightly bitter finish speak for itself.

Octoberfest – This fall seasonal is a full-bodied, rich, toasty, typically dark copper in color with a medium to high alcohol content.

New Orleans Lager & Ale Company (NOLA)

Blonde Ale – The very first ale created by the NOLA Brewing team.  NOLA Blonde is a medium-bodied traditional American blonde ale -  golden in color with floral and citrus hop aromas.

They are bringing the latest Dank Tank release which is Ghoulash: a Double Black, Double Dry-Hopped, Double IPA. Come to Fall FestivAle and have two!  In addition to Ghoulash will be the 2011 version of Festive Ale.  Where else would you want to drink Festive Ale except for at FestivAle?!?

Cheers to new beer in Alabama!

Avondale Brewing is debuting some new pilot batches at Fall FestivAle including Vanillaphant Porter, Belgian Brown, and a Belgian Pumpkin!  These are some exciting new beers coming from Birmingham’s newest brewery and you do not want to miss these.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the door so it’s well worth it to get your tickets soon for this small festival which will be featuring many unique and rare beers at Old Car Heaven.

Hope to see you there!

FINALLY!

Something to fill your beer festival void until Magic City Brewfest returns!

Free the Hops presents the inaugural Fall FestivALE on November 11, 2011 at Old Car Heaven from 7-11pm. The Fall FestivALE will feature seasonal, unique and rare beers from breweries such as Good People, Avondale, Back Forty, Terrapin, Blue Pants, Lazy Magnolia, Sweetwater, Straight to Ale, Yazoo, Thomas Creek, and Yellowhammer. Limited quantities of some beers are being brewed or sent to Birmingham exclusively for this event!

There will also be a special appearance from brewing icon Adam Avery of Avery Brewing who can be counted on to bring a surprise for your drinking pleasure.

Other brewers who will be in attendance include Keith Yager from Yellowhammer Brewing and Dan Perry from Straight to Ale.

Founder’s Brewing will be making their Free the Hops’ event debut as well!

Keep an eye on this blog and twitter @freethehops for news and updates on Fall FestivALE.  To whet your appetite some of the beers include Back Forty Kudzu Porter, Yellowhammer Brown Bomber, Sweetwater Ghoulash, and Thomas Creek Dirty Monk Belgian Porter.

Food will be provided by The J.Clyde and will be sold by the plate if you get a little hungry that night.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the door. Get your tickets now for this exclusive beer festival as some of the beers will be limited in quantity and availability in the Birmingham area.  Tickets can be purchased through the Fall FestivAle website or Ticket Alternative.  Included in the ticket price are six pours with your commemorative tasting glass.  Additional pours are $1 each.

Old Car Heaven
115 35th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35222

*beer list subject to change (but hopefully not)

On behalf of Free the Hops I want to thank all of the volunteers, breweries, distributors, and workers who helped make the 5th Magic City Brewfest a great success.  Thanks to all of our sponsors as well for helping out…J.Clyde, Good People, Back Forty, Straight to Ale, Big Al, Zeekee Interactive, Piggly Wiggly, Pinnacle Imports, and United-Johnson Brothers.

I want to especially thank the volunteers who donate their time and efforts to make it happen. I hope you guys know how important you are to MCBF and FTH. It wouldn’t happen without you.

The J.Clyde is Birmingham’s best friend when it comes to beer and I hope everyone knows how lucky we are to have them in our hometown.  Jerry, Susan, James, and the rest at JC…thank you!!

Steve from Terrapin, Tina from Bell’s, Ben from Cigar City, Kathryn from Lazy Magnolia, Steve from Choc, Dave from Highland, Alejandro from Big Al, and others made the long trip to Birmingham and I can’t thank them enough for that.

Many thanks to everyone at Good People, Straight to Ale, Back Forty, Blue Pants, and Avondale for bringing tons of beer and a lot of help to give Alabama a great beer presence this year.  You guys are helping Alabama so much and I couldn’t be happier to know all of you guys.  Thanks for everything that you do.

Thanks to Grant Thomas and Robbie Yarbrough who do a lot of behind the scenes work and they are a great partner to have at the brewfests.  Sloss Furnaces is an awesome venue to have MCBF and we appreciate them as well.

Kim Thomson at Alabrew really stepped up and helped us when we needed some equipment for our brand new jockey boxes.  Thanks for helping us out of a jam!

The bands also deserve a round of applause for coming out and entertaining us as well.  Skyway Spirits, Jon Vogel & The Southside Community Band, My Lucky Number, and Abandon August did a great job and I really appreciate it.

If I’m leaving off anyone inadvertently, I apologize.  See you guys at Sloss Furnaces next year!

-Gabe

The J.Clyde is bringing the infamous yellow fire truck to Magic City Brewfest again (which is only 9 days away if you haven’t bought your tickets yet!).

There will be 6 exclusive beers poured directly from the truck which include Jolly Pumpkin’s Oro de Calabaza and Bam Biere, St. Bernardus Prior 8, Duchesse de Bourgogne, Leffe Brune, and the debut of Avondale Brewing Company.

You do not want to miss these incredible beers!

And don’t forget the 3rd week of Tornado Relief at J.Clyde. This week’s cask is Good People’s Pale Ale dry-hopped with Amarillo and Cascade hops. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Birmingham Chapter of the American Red Cross.