Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of Tuscaloosa and Northport!
Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
Black Warrior Brewing Company: Crafting Hops and History with Jason Spikes
Discover the intoxicating journey of Jason Spikes, the mastermind behind Tuscaloosa's beloved Black Warrior Brewing Company. In our latest Good Neighbor episode, we sit down with Jason to unravel the story of his transformation from Coast Guard serviceman to a visionary brewmaster. With a pint of passion and a dash of creativity, Jason leads us through the labyrinth of craft beer innovation that has made Black Warrior a hub for beer lovers. He shares the secret ingredients to their signature brews, such as the Strawberry Blonde Ale and Big Cypress Blackberry Cider, and explicates why the local Tuscaloosa water is pivotal to their quality.
As we raise our glasses, Jason pours out anecdotes from his days at the BF Goodrich plant, where a brewing partnership was fermented into the flourishing enterprise we know today. The art of beer-making is demystified as he details the meticulous process of concocting new flavors, mirroring the precision of a chef crafting a gourmet dish. Whether you're a connoisseur of hops or simply curious about what goes into your frothy beverage, Jason's insights are a treasure trove that will enrich your understanding and appreciation of the craft. So tune in, get cozy, and let the Good Neighbor podcast be the friend that brings the brewery banter right to your ears. #GNPNorthport #BlackWarriorBrewing #Tuscaloosa #Brewery #Beer #Ale #Stout #beer #drinks #bar #craftbeer #supportlocal #cheers #craft #pub #beerstagram #cerveza
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor podcast. I'm your host, patricia Blondheim, and today we have Good Neighbor Jason Spikes, and Jason is the co-owner and brewmaster of the Black Warrior Brewing Company here in Patelousa. Jason, how are you?
Speaker 3:I'm doing well. How about you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great. I'm really excited to hear from you. There's so much that you have to share with us about what it is that you do. Anyone who's been to Black Warrior knows that there's a million different reasons to go there, but one of the great ones is the quality of the brew, the beer, that you make there. Tell us about Black Warrior Brewing Company.
Speaker 3:We are locally owned and operated Crab brewery. We've been open now for over 10 years. The brewery and tap room are located downtown Tuscaloosa on University Boulevard, just a few doors down from Avenue Pub. We have 14 beer taps. Most of the time they include our regulars, but we also have seasonals and one-offs that we play with. But you can always find like Strawberry Blondale, the Lach 17 IPA, blood Orange, double IPA, apricot weed and a new one is a Clusa Creme ale. We also make the big Cypress Blackberry Cider. Most of the wines are just for in-house sales. They're awesome to go, but most of all the beers are packaged and sold to local grocery stores and gas stations.
Speaker 2:Tell our listeners about your journey. It's really interesting. How does one become a brewmaster?
Speaker 3:We should go. I joined Coast Guard after high school and I started brewing back then in the mid-90s and then kind of got out of it. But after I started working at the BF Goodridge plant here in Tuscaloosa in 2008, I became friends with Joe Fuller. He is one of our partners. We just started at the same time at Goodridge. We just started hanging out, mountain biking together and drinking beer together and since I was already a home brewer, he didn't know how, so I taught him how to make beer. Then, when the Brewery Modernization Act passed in 2011, just opened up opportunities for a lot of these people that wanted to open breweries in Alabama. So we saw that opportunity and decided to take it. During our working on our business plan, we realized that it's going to be pretty expensive. So that's when we got Eric Hall and Wayne Yalbro who came on board and helped us get it going. We found a place downtown and spent about a year renovating it. It was a great place, great place to hang out. A lot of local regulars come in here.
Speaker 2:You've got a lot of product there at the Black Warrior and it changes all the time. So tell me a little something about being a brewmaster and what the process is for developing new beers.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're always trying to play with new ingredients, change the recipes up. I think of it as kind of like being a chef. A chef gets to create their dishes and come up with their own recipes at restaurants or at your own. But same thing with brewing beer I get to play with different styles, recipes, yeast whether we start off with small batches and do only 30 gallons, and then, if it's really good, we'll take it up to 300 or 600 gallons and even put it in package and put it out in stores.
Speaker 2:Well, what do you think makes a good beer? What are the qualities you look for?
Speaker 3:Good water. Water's got to be the main ingredient and Tuscaloosa's got good water, so we start with that. I also filter it to get the carbon out of it, chlorine out of it. Use carbon filters. Then the finest ingredients, making sure they're stored properly hops and yeast, and just with me and my team, we just make sure we follow the instructions and during a brew day because it's a long process you can take up to do a double batch day, to do 600 gallons about a 12-hour day. So just trying to follow our standard operate procedures and make sure that it's the same every time.
Speaker 2:Well and the product is delicious. I mean, you've got a gift, Jason, Thank you. You've got some good beer turned out and I haven't found one that I didn't like at all. That's something to say because I'm not the greatest beer fan, but beer can be very complex and interesting and you seem to have a grip on that. It seems to be your group, but you love that whole process.
Speaker 3:Oh yes, ma'am, I do.
Speaker 2:What do you do when you're not obsessing about beer, which I imagine you do? What do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:Well, I really enjoy mountain biking. There's a local friend here at West Elm Mountain Bike Association that I'm part of that and go biking with them. I also enjoy woodworking at a little woodworking shop at home, so I enjoy making cabinets or whatever, just building stuff.
Speaker 2:That sounds like fun. What do you do when you're not? You know it's a strange question to ask on the heels of what do you do for fun, but there must have been something in your life that kind of has challenged you and has created this unique course for you. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 3:Well, what was challenging for me in my life was, you know, that wasn't very good student high school. So college was a big challenge. But I joined Coast Guard right out of high school and that's when I started making home brew, so kind of got me into it then. Then, after Coast Guard, I decided to get the mechanical engineering degree. Of course that took a little bit longer and because I had to start out a little level math classes, I ended up growing, graduating with honors, but still never lost the passion for making beer. I just put it aside for a while till I got to get it back here in Tuscaloosa.
Speaker 2:Well, what's the one thing that you would like our listeners to take away about Black Warrior Brewing Company?
Speaker 3:Our tap room is family friendly with a very knowledgeable staff that can help everybody out with any questions about the different beer styles on tap. We have flights, so you don't have to be stuck with an ounce pint of beer. We have four ounce pours for a flight and then also samples, so we've got with the large variety. There's always something for somebody. We also have during the week. We have a host of events things. We have open mic comedy on Mondays, team Tribune on Tuesdays, bingo on Wednesday nights and then on Sunday is Happy Hour Prices All Day.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. It's a great place to go. It's a great place to spend time. It's kind of like cheers in there you remember cheers?
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, that's what it is.
Speaker 2:Everybody knows your name at the Black Warrior Brewing Company and it's a fun place to go. How can listeners find you or contact you?
Speaker 3:You can follow us on our social media. We got a website and, of course, all the platforms Instagram, facebook. You can stop by the Saffron to have a date or check us out. They have games upstairs. But also you can find all beers in the local convenience stores and grocery stores around Tuscaloosa.
Speaker 2:Wonderful Jason. Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing the Black Warrior Brewing Company with us. It's been great getting to know you, Thanks.
Speaker 1:Thank you you.