Away from the bustling college scene found in neighboring Auburn, Opelika has become something of a brewing and distilling hub within the past 10 years. The owners and staff of the city’s largest alcohol-producing businesses say Opelika was a natural choice as a place to turn their hobbies into full-time career opportunities.
The first such business to launch was John Emerald Distillery, which owner Jimmy Sharp pointed out was the second distillery in the state in recent times and the first to make whiskeys and rums since the Prohibition era. Sharp opened John Emerald with his father in 2014 after leaving work in a subcontracting company.
Sharp named the distillery after his grandfather and has named his products after ancestors like his great-grandmother Elizabeth and great-grandfather Hugh Wesley.
“My wife’s family are third-generation Auburn grads, so I was required to look at Auburn as a possible location, and through [that] we discovered Opelika,” Sharp said.
The distillery also seeks to use local ingredients where it can order to support agriculture in the area and gather some natural resources.
“For now, we’re using an Irish grain, but we smoke that grain here with local peach and pecan wood,” Sharp said. “Our gin [uses] ginger berries we pick from the wild ourselves.”
Since 2014, John Emerald has expanded to distribute its products in seven states. While the COVID-19 pandemic has been tough for small businesses, Sharp said sales have been better than ever.
“Oddly enough during COVID, [sales] have grown,” he said. “We’ve gotten ourselves hooked up with some spirit-tasting clubs that have been really active during COVID.”
John Emerald is the next-door neighbor to Red Clay Brewing Company, the brainchild of Opelika native Kerry McGinnis, who returned to his hometown after eight years of service in the military. The idea was an extension of his passion for home brewing that formed when he saw a need for products that could put Opelika on the map.
“Growing up after 17 years of trying to get out of here, I finally [did] and realized it wasn’t so bad,” McGinnis said, laughing. “We often joked about opening our own brewery and at some point decided no one [else] is coming to Opelika … so we went ahead and pulled the trigger.”
Staff of Red Clay Brewing Company (from left to right): Craig Collins, plant manager; Kerry McGinnis, brewmaster and co-owner; John Corbin, head of marketing and co-owner; Anna Bernard, taproom manager.
Red Clay focuses mainly on brewing beers and ales through the use of what assistant brewmaster Craig Collins calls its “science lab,” behind the taproom. McGinnis mostly made Red Clay’s brewing equipment by hand with the help of friend and co-founder, John Corbin.
“A lot of our stuff isn’t originally for brewing,” said Anna Bernard, Red Clay’s taproom manager. “Kerry built our grain hopper and he also built our keg washer. Our mash tub is an old dairy tank, and our kettle is a Frito-Lay flavoring machine.”
The success of John Emerald and Red Clay, as well as other independent businesses that have launched in the last decade, pushed the City of Opelika to develop First Avenue to entice more entrepreneurs to its core downtown area. Several have since appeared – one being Resting Pulse Brewing Company, the city’s second brewery, which opened in 2019.
David and Terri Plundo developed Resting Pulse after retiring from the health care field. They settled in Auburn after moving from Iowa five years ago.
“We always wanted to [open] a craft brewery, but everywhere we’ve lived they were multiplying like mushrooms,” David said. “We got down here and really there was nothing. Red Clay had just opened and there was nothing else within a reasonable driving distance.”
Terri said they sought to create a drinking environment where people can “find their resting pulse,” giving the brewery’s name a double meaning.
Eric Lindemann (left), head brewer of Resting Pulse Brewing Company, and Terri Plundo (right), co-founder, pose for a photo.
Resting Pulse’s relatively recent opening means it is still learning the tricks that come with starting a brewery, Terri said, which has made getting off the ground more of a challenge because of the pandemic.
“You don’t want to step too far in advance because you have to invest … in cans and a canning line, and it gets kind of expensive,” Terri said. “We plan for growth. We bought a 15-barrel system so that we can grow.”
Despite Resting Pulse being more of a newcomer to Opelika, Terri said the city and its citizens have remained supportive since COVID-19 first impacted the Auburn-Opelika area.
“People bought a lot of food to go, so our kitchen got known a little bit better,” she said. “Looking at that, that helped us pay some of the bills that might not have been paid.”
Some may not always want to go out for a drink, or when they do, they may not find the kind of beverage they’re looking for. That’s why Scott Brown, a native of Mobile, Alabama, encourages people to “relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew,” a phrase he borrows from Charles Papazian, whom he calls the “godfather of homebrewing.”
Brown is the owner of Whistle Stop Bottle and Brew, Opelika’s latest alcohol-based business that does not brew, but sells the supplies needed to homebrew and make wine.
“I’ve been brewing for about eight years, starting when I was living in Maryland, the year after I retired,” Brown said. “As the kids have gotten older, I was looking for something to do as a hobby. My oldest two boys got me a beer kit for Father’s Day 2012.”
Scott Brown, owner and founder of Whistle Stop Bottle and Brew, encourages customers to “relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew.”
Brown moved to Auburn in 2017 with his wife, following 28 years serving in the Coast Guard, when he saw there were no shops offering locals the chance to make wine or homebrew.
The shop opened in June 2019 and expanded in May of this year with a bottle shop area for drinking. He said founding the shop has been very timely because of the pandemic, as people in search of new hobbies have eyed making their own alcohol.
“Homebrewers are everyone from right at 21 years old up to people who are retired,” Brown said. “Some people don’t even know you can make your own beer. It really isn’t complicated.”
Two of Whistle Stop’s busiest months since its grand opening were March, when the pandemic initially affected the area, and May, when some were getting bored or anxious from being locked down, Brown said. He credits Red Clay with helping him launch the shop and ensuring he was conducting business properly.
“If they’re brewing and they find themselves short on yeast or some hops, they’ll call up,” Brown said. “As a matter of fact, they have a key [to the shop].”
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Tim Nail, junior in journalism, is the campus editor for The Auburn Plainsman.
