Birmingham District Brewing Co

Our Genesis – Prior to the 1870’s, the area around Birmingham was largely devoid of development.  In fact, there was very little impetus for development, as the area lacked the fertile soils conducive to agriculture and rail lines connecting to larger cities. However, what the soil lacked, the underlying bedrock would more than make up for.

Enter the geologist… It wasn’t until the late 1840’s and early 1850’s when Alabama’s first state geologist, Michael Tuomey, a native of Cork, Ireland, documented the mineral resources of the region in an 1849 report to Governor Henry Collier titled, “First Biennial Report on the Geology of Alabama”. In this report, Tuomey describes the wealth of economically viable minerals in the 75 mile long, 10 mile wide belt of iron ore (hematite) located between Springville and Vance, an area later dubbed the “Birmingham District”.

Geologic mapping also revealed prevalent coal and limestone resources in the immediate vicinity of the Birmingham District, providing all of the key ingredients needed to make iron and steel. The foundation for Birmingham’s rapid economic development between 1880 and 1920 was laid down and formed over a much longer period of time. Beginning with the Cambrian and Ordovician periods, some 541 to 443 million years when limestones were deposited, to the Silurian period (443 to 419 million years ago) when the Red Mountain (iron ore) Formation was deposited, and finally, to the Pennsylvanian period (322 to 298 million years ago) when the organic materials necessary to form coal were deposited (Pottsville Formation). The key mineral resources of the area were deposited over a period of approximately 243 million years.

Birmingham was famously nicknamed the “Magic City” for its swift growth in the early 1900’s, but what was even more magical was the presence of all of these mineral resources within the nearby vicinity of present day Birmingham. In fact, the Birmingham area is the only location in the world that contains all the minerals required to make iron and steel within a 50-mile radius.

To celebrate the quiet beginnings of Birmingham and the geology that led to the development of the “Magic City”, our brewery is named “Birmingham District Brewing Company”. Well that, and because geologists know good beer…