Cahaba Brewing Company

Cahaba Brewing Company began as a modest three barrel homebrew operation in Birmingham’s Pepper Place and Lakeview district before outgrowing that space entirely. In January 2016 the brewery relocated to East Avondale and moved into a much larger 30 barrel brewhouse, and it now operates out of a 51,000 square foot facility inside the Historical Continental Gin Complex at 4500 5th Avenue South, a former industrial building repurposed for breweries and small businesses on Birmingham’s east side.

Co-founder and brewmaster Eric Meyer has said the brewery still uses the same reliable 3.5 barrel system from 2011 for experimental batches, even as larger production runs move through the newer 30 barrel Sprinkman system. That mix of small batch tinkering and larger scale production shows up in a taproom that pours more than two dozen beers on tap, ranging from year round flagships to one off releases that only ever show up at the brewery itself.

The name comes from the Cahaba River, Alabama’s longest free flowing waterway, and the brewery leans into that identity with beers that reflect a sense of place rather than chasing whatever trend is popular elsewhere. Oka Uba IPA takes its name from an indigenous term for the river, translating roughly to “the water above,” and it is brewed as a straightforward American IPA with classic hops added late in the boil and again during dry hopping, giving it an earthy, slightly citrusy character at 7.5 percent ABV. The Blonde is built for warm weather and outdoor drinking, a clean and light bodied American Blonde Ale made with European malts and hops that keeps its IBU count down around 23. The Lager, brewed in an Italian style, uses Saaz hops, pilsner malt, and flaked maize for a beer that finishes dry despite a touch of sweetness up front.

The taproom is open daily except for a later start on Mondays, running from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, and 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday. That schedule makes it easy to swing by for an afternoon flight or settle in for a longer evening, and the brewery also rents out portions of the space for private events for anyone planning a larger gathering.

Cahaba’s beers are distributed well beyond Birmingham at this point, reaching North Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Mobile, and the Gulf Shores area, but the East Avondale taproom is still the best place to see the full range in one sitting, including the smaller batch and barrel aged beers that never make it into distribution. For visitors interested in the industrial history of Birmingham as much as the beer itself, the Continental Gin Complex setting adds a layer of context that a generic strip mall taproom simply cannot match.

The Continental Gin Complex, where Cahaba now operates, is itself a piece of Birmingham’s industrial past, originally built for cotton gin manufacturing before being repurposed for a new generation of small businesses and breweries. Visitors interested in that history will find the building’s scale alone worth a look, since the 51,000 square foot facility dwarfs most craft brewery taprooms in the state and gives Cahaba room for a large tap wall, event space, and production areas all under one roof.

East Avondale sits a short drive from both downtown Birmingham and the more concentrated bar district in Avondale proper, making Cahaba a reasonable stop on a broader brewery tour of the city alongside Avondale Brewing and Trim Tab. Because the taproom pours more than two dozen beers at a time, including small batch and experimental releases that never leave the building, it rewards repeat visits rather than a single stop. Flights are a practical way to sample several styles at once, from the citrusy Oka Uba IPA to the easy drinking Blonde and Lager, before committing to a full pour of a favorite.