Back Forty Brewery
Alabama
This brewery might be the best thing to hit the state since Alabama football first flexed its mighty muscle.
It has only been legal to produce beer that exceeded 6% ABV in the State of Alabama since 2008, but the giant strides made since that time by local craft breweries have vaulted the Yellowhammer State into national prominence. Also, it is still illegal to sell any bottles larger than 16 ounces in the state, another throwback to antiquated laws existing in Alabama and elsewhere.
For the past twelve years plus, no craft brewery has reached the heights enjoyed by Gadsden, Alabama’s Back Forty Beer Company and its founder Jason Wilson. With visits to 150 existing craft breweries under his belt and starting from scratch, Wilson reached out to noted Brew master Jamie Ray to help him enter the craft beer business at a professional level. For the record, Wilson had very few assets to start the business. As the project foundered, Wilson reached out to a craft brewery in neighboring Mississippi to help in his effort to get Back Forty to fruition. This was accomplished and Back Forty Beer became a reality.
In 2009, Back Forty released its first offering, a craftily-named offering called Naked Pig Ale. A year later, a second brew, Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale was added and back Forty Beer was on its way. A 27,000-foot former Sears & Roebuck warehouse was acquired to be the company’s permanent home.
During the summer of 2018, Back Forty Beer joined Birmingham’s craft beer colony on a site with dramatic views of Sloss Furnaces National Historical Landmark and a nearby working railway. For the uninformed, Sloss Furnaces was operated as a pig iron-producing blast furnace from the late 19th century until it closed in 1971. (The term “pig iron” dates back to the time when hot metal was cast into ingots before being charged to the steel plant. The moulds were laid out in sand beds, resembling a litter of sucking pigs.) It is the only blast furnace site to be preserved and restored for public use.
Back Forty Beer has enjoyed great popular success since its inception. It is the first Alabama craft beer to have been sold outside the state and it has also been the recipient of numerous awards and honors since its introduction to the general public. We know our Craft Beer Club members will enjoy these two awesome bottlings!
Map of the area
Tim Blevins - Head Brewer
