Hop City

STKPICR0720

Alabama

5/5  rDev +7.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $

This place truly is what Alabama has needed. Great growler station selection, bottom fill pours and glass growlers which is awesome. Best beer selection on the state and also organized so that even a beginner craft drinker can understand what their looking at and for. If you want great brews and if you have any questions about brews this is the place you must go to. They teach a home brew class which is awesome.

04-12-2013 02:30:52 | More by STKPICR0720

bonSreeB

Alabama

5/5  rDev +7.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

By far the best selection around, and the most knowledgeable and friendly staff, too. If it's available in Birmingham, they have it, and they know all about it. Growlertown is also the best place to sample local, national, and new beers, and offers a vast variety of styles for all palates. Definitely my go-to spot for all my craft brew buys.

02-20-2013 16:53:59 | More by bonSreeB

wickdawg

Mississippi

4.6/5  rDev -1.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | $$

I have visited this store three times in the past two weeks and I live 125 miles away. This place is great. The staff is very helpful and very knowledgeable. It doesn't matter if it is beer or wine, these guys know their stuff. Growler town is a great place to sit back and enjoy a couple pints or even try the latest from an Alabama brewery. If you are looking for a place with knowledge, this is your place.

01-22-2013 20:50:50 | More by wickdawg

meigs3

Alabama

4.25/5  rDev -8.6%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Went in on the Friday after Thanksgiving for the first time. Nice crowd looking around. Went to the back to the beer bar which has 60 taps with probably all the Alabama brews which is about 20 taps. The guys behind the tap were familiar with each beer and gave solid sounding answers to questions about a beer on tap. They charged $1.00 for a sample which I am not used to. They are free at J. Clydes. Not much atmosphere in the place-sort of a sterile concrete and stanless steel look. They fill growlers and were doing a pretty steady business of filling growlers while I was there. I still like the friendly atmosphere at Highlands Package Store and the nice bar/restaurant atmosphere at J. Clydes. This place is good for an occasional visit but it is not exactly a place to sit, enjoy a beer and good conversation.

11-26-2012 03:18:03 | More by meigs3

TrappistJohnMD

Mississippi

4.53/5  rDev -2.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Very nice industrial styled store front. Inside of store is clean and orderly. Staff is pleasant and helpful. I had my young daugher with me, so I didn't have the time or ability to ask questions or browse for any significant amount of time. Selection is excellent. As mentioned in other reviews, it is organized by style. I think they have everything that is available in Alabama. I had not seen Clown Shoes, Jester King or Ballast Point in Alabama prior to this visit, so that was exciting. Large number of taps along back wall and lots of people hanging out and sampling different brews.
This is a world class place and I plan to visit whenever we are in Birmingham.

11-18-2012 02:44:52 | More by TrappistJohnMD

DeaconBluez

Alabama

4.53/5  rDev -2.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

As far as beer to go for selection+knowledge in the state, this place is top of the list. As you would guess, this place is setup in the same fashion as the HC in ATL is in that beers are sorted by style and not brewery. I kind of find that refreshing but it might not be everyone's cup of tea. They pretty much have every craft beer allowed in the state.

As the other two reviewers noted, they have ~60 taps, with around 15-20 taps for the state breweries. In AL, we have a great sense of pride in the word "local", so those brews tend to move quicker. Especially the special releases (BA beers, seasonal, one-offs). They had KBS on tap last Saturday and I think it lasted all of two hours, maybe less. They offer 1-liter (swing top) and half-gallon growlers. The growlers are bottom-filled, so they should last in the fridge for a while. Additionally, they offer 1.5 oz tasters (for around $1.50 a piece) and pints of everything on tap. Any growler from another establishment is exchangeable there so long as it has the government warning on the growler. I must say the design on their growlers are pretty nifty.

They also have a respectable wine selection and any wine enthusiast would easily be able to find something for their taste. No liquor is sold here.

My only "complaint", if would you even call it a complaint, would be the staff knowledge of some of some of the beers, specifically the state breweries. I found it lacking on a couple of beers. I ***know*** this will change in short time and I should cut them slack as I know a lot of the members of the brewing community in the state from being involved with Free the Hops, so I might get knowledge of beers before it is passed to HC on occasion.

If you are driving through or stopping by Birmingham, this is definitely your one stop shop for beer to go. Along with the local breweries and J Clyde, this place cannot be missed.

10-12-2012 20:06:57 | More by DeaconBluez

heavyonthehops

Pennsylvania

4.73/5  rDev +1.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | $$

Hop City is a great addition to the growing Birmingham beer market. 60 beers on draft, with around 20 (give or take a few) locals. The staff really knows beer and are eager to help. I also liked that they offered samples (for about $1) of all of their draft beers. Prices on draft beer are better than all other local retailers. I got a 32 oz of Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere for about $5. The only brew I thought was missing was Cigar City, but for some reason I haven't found that anywhere, recently.

As for bottles, they have everything that is legally available in Alabama, which is slowly getting better. Luckily, Alabama recently passed the Gourmet Bottle Bill (about time), which has allowed some great beer to enter the state.

All in all, it's the best place in the state to buy beer.

09-29-2012 20:17:09 | More by heavyonthehops

StuartCarter

Alabama

4.58/5  rDev -1.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

I could go into volumes here, but the simple fact is that Hop City has ALL THE BEERS - there's about 1500 beers available in Alabama just now, and HC's aim is to have all of them on the shelves. Their beers are split roughly by style (international, dark, IPA, Belgian, etc); anything more obscure or harder to find will almost certainly be here.

They have 60 drafts to go with a choice of 1 litre and 1 gallon growlers which they fill from the bottom up, and a full 3-sink sterilisation system which means your draft beer is good for up to 6 months in a cold dark place.

Oh yeah.. they also have that inferior beverage made from rotten grapes. Which some people like for some reason ;)

09-29-2012 18:27:17 | More by StuartCarter