Bill Plott
Staff Writer

Columbus, Ga., is having an impact on the beer scene across state lines.

The Cannon Brewpub will be opening a new outlet in Mobile, Ala., this spring. The new brewpub, tentatively called Mr. Jim's Cannon Brewpub, will be in the downtown location previously occupied by the defunct Port City Brewery.

Original plans had been to be open by Mardi Gras but that has been pushed back, according to Brewmaster Mitch Bain.

"We are still under construction. Every time we think we're getting close, something else pops up. We had planned to renovate the brewery, the balcony and the roof, but now we are pretty much renovating the entire building at this point. We're redoing all three floors, the entire roof and the balcony.  We keep pushing the date back by two or three week’s time. We're looking toward the end of April, but it may be another couple of weeks after that," he said.

There may still be some activity the last week of Mardi Gras, though. Bain said radio personalities John Boy and Billy will be doing their show from the balcony on the last few days leading up to Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.  He said he hopes to have Cannon beer available. If that doesn't work out, he will have T-shirts and other items there for early promotion.

The brewmaster in Mobile will be Todd Hicks, who has brewed for Santa Rosa Bay Brewing Co. in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and for Hal & Mal's in Jackson, Miss.

"He's come up here (Columbus) and worked with me already," Bain said.

 
Mr. Jim's Cannon Brewpub will raise the number of brewpubs in Alabama to four. The others are Poplar Head Mule Company in Dothan, the Olde Auburn Alehouse in Auburn and the Montgomery Brewpub in the capital city.

Birmingham, which had three brewpubs and two microbreweries in the '90s, is dry as far as local beer is concerned. However, The Mill outlet in Birmingham is carrying Sweetwater beers.