the Iron Hop Building Birmingham beer religion

the J. Clyde named Draft Mag’s best 100 beer bars

Evidently January 2011 is IronHop love up on the JClyde month. (For our slower readers, this is the 2nd article about the Clyde this month)  Draft Magazine named two Alabama beer bars to their top 100 in America list. The JCylde in Birmingham and the Nook in Huntsville.  Considering the Gourmet Beer Bill's passage is still shy of 2 years old this is a pretty big honor for the Magic City and Alabama.  The Clyde was also named the 22nd best beer restaurant in America by RateBeer.com in 2010.  These are big honors for such a young beer state and developing market.

A few facts about why the J. Clyde deserves such recognition:

• 3 traditional British beer engines for cask ale (Alabama's exclusive)
• 43 taps
• 200 bottled beers
• Knowledgeable staff
• Awesome atmosphere
• Great food

All of this can be attributed to the hard work and smart planning of the J. Clyde staff, but Free the Hops should also get some of the accolades for laying the ground work to successfully changing Alabama alcohol laws.  Hopefully this provides encouragement to the our friends at Raise Your Pints and the people of Mississippi in their mission to get Mississippi's laws changed.

So to wrap up.  The J. Clyde rocks.  Kudos to the Nook.  Thanks Free The Hops.  We'll be at the Clyde Thursday, January 27th to toast the good news and enjoy a beer!  Look for the beer geeks at the end of the bar.........  Hope to see you there!