The Pelham area, just south of Birmingham, has seen tremendous growth over the last decade, with a plethora of thriving businesses joining area staples like the Pelham Civic Complex (home of the Birmingham Bulls), Oak Mountain State Park, and Alabama’s largest outdoor music venue - the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre. It seems shocking that it took until 2021 for the area to get its own brewery. Peter Genereux is here to fix that problem for the good people south of Birimingham with a convenient location at the intersection of 119 and 31 called Oak Mountain Brewing Company!
The idea started in 2008, as Alabama beer laws began to grow more lax with the Free the Hops movement. Breweries began to quickly pop up throughout downtown Birmingham, but Peter’s side of the city still didn’t have representation. He continued pursuing his dream which led him to officially make the big jump and leave his full-time job in 2017. Location delays and a global pandemic stalled the brewery’s opening, but Genereux picked up catering jobs and had the support of his wonderful wife to get him by until opening day.
They have now been in business for over a month, and the local feedback has resounded with loud cheers of affirmation! The brewery will begin serving their own beers around May, with former Ghost Train head brewer Clay Baldwin taking over head brewing duties. Oak Mountain Brewing Company, or OMBC, will have 4 core beers that will be distributed in kegs throughout the state. These will include a blonde, a kettle sour, an IPA, and a pilsner. They will also offer 8 on-tap beers exclusively at the Pelham location! These will rotate based on customer demand and allow for seasonal, high gravity, and more experimental releases to create an ever-changing variety of flavors coming through the brewery’s roll-up garage door window. Canned beers will also be introduced in the not-too-distant future.
They may not be serving their own brews yet, but there are still plenty of beverage options at OMBC. 24 beers on tap are joined by even more canned options, wine, soft drinks, and more. Every type of beer is represented - wheat, stouts, sours, blondes, pilsners, and IPAs all stand ready to please awaiting taste buds. OMBC aims to highlight many Alabama breweries, such as Ferus and Slag Heap in Trussville, Common Bond in Montgomery, and of course the many great options we have downtown. The on-tap options also include other Southeast signatures like Southern Prohibition, Cigar City, Hi-Wire, and Terrapin.
Beers are great on their own, but they are even better with food. OMBC has multiple methods of ensuring you leave with a full stomach. The brewery offers smaller munchies like spinach dip, hummus, and pimento cheese, and partners with local food trucks every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to offer a larger variety of options (the food truck calendar is one their website). We enjoyed delicious Moe & Moore’s BBQ, with taco and Italian food trucks are also among the mix. Genereux stressed that they also encourage patrons to bring food from neighboring restaurants like Margarita Grill and Full Moon.
“We definitely want to be a part of the community here and work with other businesses. 2020 and the pandemic have affected a lot of businesses, but it’s especially affected small businesses. If we can help out our restaurant partners around here by doing stuff and partnering with them, we definitely want to do that.”
In addition to exciting collaborations with surrounding businesses, Peter looks forward to sunnier weather that will bring more use to the brewery’s expansive porch. The indoor seating is spacious as well, with upstairs and downstairs sections providing ample space for all. The top section can even be rented for private events, and has already been used for birthday parties, open houses, and more.
OMBC also offers some pretty good deals for those venturing to check out the new establishment. Monday and Wednesday feature half-off bottles of wine, while Tuesday and Thursday include 20% off flights of beer! You can also get growlers filled up to go (along with hats, shirts, pint glasses, and other fun merchandise).
It’s very clear that Peter, Clay, and the rest of the OMBC staff are happy to be in the business of making and pouring delicious beverages for the people of the greater Birmingham area. They have nothing but words of praise for the other state brewers, which makes it easy for this brewery to set itself up to succeed over the upcoming months, years, and beyond. Raise a glass to our newest local brewery, and the next round’s on me (if you ever find me and show me this article)!
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