Monday Night Brewing began after a group of guys who formed a friendship through a men’s Bible study began getting together on Monday nights to brew beer. Fourteen years later, the company will open its third location in Birmingham this March.
Fourteen years ago, a group of guys in Atlanta started an early morning Bible study.
And, somehow, that Bible study turned into two breweries in Atlanta, which will, as of March 2020, turn into Monday Night Brewing’s third location when it opens a location in Birmingham.
Monday Night Brewing will be located in a 10,000-square-foot space at the new Denham Building and is slated to open in March in downtown Birmingham, adding around 20 jobs here to the 70 the company already employed. The company will invest $1.5 million in the project.
Monday Night Brewing’s interest in Birmingham and Alabama sparked legislation passed last year that allows small craft breweries to own and operate one brewpub each in Alabama, even if they manufacture and distribute beer in the state. (A brewpub is an establishment that sells beer brewed onsite and often includes a restaurant.) This levels the playing field for craft breweries in Alabama because, under the previous law, out-of-state breweries that don’t distribute beer in Alabama were not considered manufacturers and therefore could open a brewpub in the state, while those breweries that did distribute beer in Alabama could not.
“We’re ready to invest even more heavily in Alabama,” Monday Night Brewing wrote in an op-ed published in Alabama Daily News last May. “Now it’s up to the legislature to remove outdated, unfair barriers and make it a reality.”
Monday Night Brewing has been distributing its product in the Magic City for years. The company distributes in only three states – Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee – but chose to open its next location in Birmingham over Tennessee because of the city’s affection for craft beer and its central location in the Southeastern region.
“Birmingham is a market we’ve been in for five years or so, and it is a really strong market for us,” said Jonathan Baker, one of Monday Night Brewing’s cofounders. “It has been fun to grow there, and we visit all the time. We thought this would be a great spot for our third location to solidify and build our brand throughout the Southeast.”
Baker said the Birmingham Business Alliance’s Vice President of Business Development Victor Brown helped his company connect with the developers of the Denham Building.
“We didn't look at any other properties – it felt good from the start,” Baker said. “We wouldn't be doing this without the BBA."
Monday Night Brewing will feature 20 taps as well as other local brews on tap. For the first time, the company is expanding into food in addition to beverage and will have a sharable Mexican food concept that will feature tacos, guacamole and appetizers.
“[Birmingham] will be a showcase brewery for us,” Baker said.