ASHEVILLE, North Carolina – Hi-Wire Brewing has named Birmingham, Alabama, as the location of the previously teased third dining room that the Asheville-based brewery will open in 2022.
The brewer’s first taproom in Alabama, which is expected to open in late summer, will join Hi-Wire’s list of soon to be ten taprooms. With expansions underway at its Biltmore Village Production and South Slope Specialty breweries in Asheville, two more locations are set to open this year – Charlotte, North Carolina, in the spring and Cincinnati in late 2022. Alabama marks the fourth state in which the award-winning brewery will have premises with six facilities in Hi-Wire’s home state of North Carolina, as well as out-of-state tasting rooms in Knoxville, Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky and soon Cincinnati, Ohio. Hi-Wire Brewing has opened three new locations since December 2020 in addition to expanding its distribution footprint to a ninth state, Virginia.
“Not at all,” Hi-Wire Brewing co-owner Chris Frosaker said when asked if he expected the business to grow this much when it opened in 2013. opened three taprooms since the start of the pandemic, and even despite those challenges, they’ve been really great for the brand,” Frosaker continued, “so we saw the opportunity in 2022 to double and accelerate the growth of our consumption room.
Frosaker said the decision to expand into Birmingham was spurred by the brewery’s “good relationship” with wholesaler, Alabama Crown, as well as an appreciation for the city and its burgeoning food and drink scene. . “Alabama is already a high-growth market for us, so we see a lot of potential to really sustain that,” Frosaker said. “Also, the city is really booming, and we want to be part of it.”
Hi-Wire Brewing Birmingham will be the anchor tenant of the brand new mixed-use Lakeview Green development in the city’s Lakeview district – a vibrant historic area full of restaurants and nightlife. Directly opposite Birmingham’s famous Automatic Seafood and Oysters, over a hundred apartments in Lakeview Green began to let in July 2021, and starting with the Hi-Wire reception hall, restaurants and other top retailers will soon fill the property’s remaining commercial space. Just a block down 29th Street in Lakeview Green is the well-organized retail and dining center of Pepper Place, and a block west is TrimTab Brewing.
The Lakeview Green campus was designed for sustainability and community access by LEED-accredited architect Tammy Cohen, president of CCR Architecture & Interiors, who will also serve as the architect for the Hi-Wire Ballroom. The 8887 square foot reception hall will occupy a corner of the building enclosed by highly efficient “low-e” glass windows on three sides. Nestled in a residential oasis featuring a lazy river, koi pond and green space with fire pits, games like chess and bocce and a herb garden, Hi-Wire Brewing Birmingham’s outdoor seating will open on the green space near the creek.
Located on both a cycle path and an urban bus route and featuring ample parking, the bar and adjacent green space will be easily accessible from the town center for visitors and residents of the property. “The green space was designed for the neighborhood and the community – not just for the people who live in the apartments,” said Lakeview Green architect Tammy Cohen. “I think it’s just a perfect place to have the Hi-Wire dining room in a place where you can walk across the street to buy oysters at Automatic or go to the tequila bar for a few tacos then come back for a beer and out,” Cohen added.
Hi-Wire’s dining hall in Alabama will be no different from other brewery locations in its mission to cultivate community and inspire fun. Frosaker said, “Our Louisville Ballroom was our newest mixed-use development building, and through that, we learned that we could make a new building feel warm and comfortable.” Featuring a bar of twenty-four taps, a mix of year-round Hi-Wire, Seasons, Specialties, Sour and Wild Ales, Singles and Unreleased Releases will fill twenty-one taps while the remaining three taps will pour hard cider as well as red and white wine. The taproom, like the beer, will be accessible and made for having a good time with friends. “It will be very bright with lots of artwork, lots of neon lights and tons of communal seating that can accommodate over 300 people,” Frosaker says. An assortment of family games will complete the space, including football pool, table tennis, and foosball.
Hi-Wire partnered with CCR Architecture & Interiors of Birmingham for the dining room design. Official announcements regarding construction, hiring, and an official opening date will be posted via the Hi-Wire website and social media.
About Hi-Wire Patching
Hi-Wire Brewing is known for producing accessible and balanced lagers and ales, including Hi-Pitch Mosaic IPA, Lo-Pitch Hazy IPA and Pink Lemonade Session Sour Ale, and offers an award-winning program of sour and wild beers. Founded in Asheville, North Carolina in 2013, Hi-Wire has three locations in Asheville: Big Top Production Facility, Tasting Room and Event Space and South Slope Specialty Brewery and Tasting Room are now open and the third is scheduled to open in November 2021 in the River Arts District – as well as taprooms in Durham, NC, Knoxville, Tenn., Wilmington, NC, Louisville, Ky., and a location in Charlotte, NC North, opening Spring 2022. Hi-Wire Brewing’s Great American Beer Festival and Beer World Cup of award-winning beers can be found on tap and in cans throughout North Carolina, South Carolina , Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama, Virginia and Indiana.
For more information:
https://hiwirebrewing.com
