The Success of a Wingman

Fairhope Brewing Company’s Mobile test run turns into a more permanent taproom extension.

by Lindsay Mott Fletcher

Fairhope Brewing Company opened its doors in Fairhope in January 2013. After 10 years of trial and error, finding what works, honing in on popular brews and enjoying a successful business, the Fairhope Brewing
team decided to test the possibility of an expansion into Mobile. This proved to be successful, and Fairhope Brewing now has a permanent location on St. Louis Street – a growing and thriving area of downtown Mobile.

The original Fairhope Brewing Company team included Mobile native Brian Kane, local homebrewer Dan Murphy, the then-Free the Hops president Gabe Harris and local lawyer Jim Foley. The idea for the brewery first came to Kane’s wife, Michele, when the couple spent some time in Juneau, Alaska, and got into the craft beer world. At the time, Alabama had just opened up to craft beer (due to alcohol content law changes), and there were no breweries south of Montgomery. The group found a spot in Fairhope (where they are still located today) and opened the sixth brewery in the state (at that time).

“We were the only ones in lower Alabama for a lot of years,” Kane said. “It’s a good way to establish a business. We were able to learn a little bit, and it let us grow into where we are now.”

The location in Fairhope began as a taproom only to ensure that the brewery didn’t run out of beer for those who visited the establishment. The company soon began distributing in Baldwin County and
expanded to selling kegs in the area. Fairhope began bottling its beer in 2015 and expanded into the building next door during the same year. This proximity allows for one production crew of seven people to work between the two spaces. “We were very lucky on our end to find the exact spot we needed,” Kane said. In 2019, the brewery switched to can distribution.

What began with just two beers in the taproom – Everyday Ale and Section Street Wheat – has grown into a constantly rotating selection of six year-round staples plus countless seasonal and experimental brews, sours and seltzers. Today, the brewery keeps 14 beers and a gluten-free option on tap at all times, spanning styles from IPAs and rich stouts to golden ales and fruited sours, and distributes to the entire state of Alabama, the Florida panhandle and coastal Mississippi and Louisiana.

Since the company’s opening, the craft beer landscape has changed, with many establishments now preferring to sell beer that is made locally. Due to this, Kane said expanding distribution locations isn’t as
feasible as in the past. So, to grow, the group began looking into options to open another taproom. It just so happened that, in early 2023, a spot in Mobile became available, and the Fairhope Brewing team
was approached by the landlord, Bob Isakson, about opening a branch in Mobile. His location was almost completely turnkey for what they needed and could be turned around quickly for additional needs.

Wingman brewery opened in November 2023 as a test run for how the beer company would do in Mobile. Kane said the location in Mobile was preferable to opening somewhere else in the state due to its proximity and some employees living in the area already. “I grew up in Mobile, so I was excited to have something in Mobile, but Mobile is challenging,” Kane said. “I wanted to do that test run to make sure it was the right fit for what we were doing. I wanted to feel comfortable that we were making the right choice.”

The group started out doing a lot of experimental beers but realized that the top sellers were their more basic brews from Fairhope, so they let the data show them the direction to go and pivoted to more of their traditional offerings.

The lease test run was for 18 months, so as the time came to decide whether to continue, the group spoke with Mobile city officials about plans for the St. Louis Street area. “Between upgrades there and the customer base we were starting to get as the months went along, we decided it was a good longer-term option for us,” Kane said.

The group chose to extend the lease, renovated and decorated the space to more fit their style and brought the branding back under the main Fairhope Brewing brand umbrella to officially open Fairhope Brewing Mobile, a taproom extension of Fairhope Brewing Company, in August 2025.

“We turned it into what we wanted to be,” Kane said. “It’s going nicely. We’re still figuring out the hits and misses here and there. We learn from our mistakes and get better from it.”

The Mobile location uses beer mostly brewed in Fairhope, but the taproom continues to offer small batches that can only be gotten on the Mobile side of the bay. Events, such as the Cheers to Charity
nights, seem to be as popular in Mobile as in Fairhope, as the group is still testing what works and what doesn’t.

Kane said:

“We like being an important part of our community, and we want to make that happen in Mobile, as well. Whether it be charities or other local businesses, we want to be ingrained in our community as best we can. We will continue this; we will be as good a partner to this community as we can be.”