Old Black Bear Comes to Downtown Madison

If you’ve lived in Huntsville for more than a few months, you’ve probably heard about the much anticipated opening of Old Black Bear Brewing Company in Downtown Madison.

You’ll be glad to know that your wait is almost over!

I was able to take a tour of their new space, as they get prepared to open, and I am excited to share my experience.

Taproom

Old Black Bear Brewing Company’s taproom is a sight to see.

With beautiful wooden bars, a huge indoor “dining hall”, two bocce ball courts, a horse shoe pit and enough outdoor seating for almost 100 people, this will be a great place to spend an evening in downtown Madison!

They’ll be open Tuesday-Sunday from 11 am-11 pm, with 8 taps (including one tap of non-alcoholic root beer) and an awesome food menu, which I’ll get to later.

You’ll be able to find their three flagship beers (Cave City Dark Amber Lager, Speckled Trout American Wheat, and Roaming Bear Porter), and they’ll still have room for 4 taps of seasonal and specialty releases!

The taproom also boasts 8 TVs, and an outdoor stage for live music.

Taproom Kitchen and Coffee Bar

Not only will Old Black Bear have a taproom at their new location, but they will also have a fully operational kitchen with an amazing menu, and a Coffee Bar!

The kitchen and taproom space is family friendly (with high chairs, changing tables in the bathrooms, and a kids menu) and very reasonably priced.

They will be serving bar food with an upscale twist and will operate with a farm-to-table structure, sourcing as many ingredients locally as possible. Open Tuesday-Sunday from 11 am-9 pm, the lunch and dinner menu will include burgers. salads, chicken & waffles, adult mac&cheese, and more!

The Coffee Bar will be open at 6:30 am on weekdays (closed on Monday) with hot & cold brew coffee and beignets.

They will be serving locally roasted and hand crafted Clover Coffee. They will be using several coffee contraptions with a “chemistry lab” vibe, including syphon, Japanese cold drip, pour-over, and french press.

The Brewery

Located in a separate building, but right next door, the Old Black Bear brewing space is now the workplace of Brew Master Stephen Tate and Assistant Brewer Taylor Smith, two World Brewing Academy graduates and the only International Master Brewers in Alabama.

“Be on the look out for a lot of cool stuff coming out of Old Black Bear,” says Brew Master Tate.

They’ll continue to sell Speckled Trout and Cave City in cans, in Huntsville, Madison, and Birmingham, and will soon enter the Mobile market.

According to Tate, “We’re going to have a Bear-rel aging program, starting with the release of our two-year aged Single Bear-rel Roaming Bear Porter, with more exciting Bear-rel aging to come.”

Old Black Bear will soon begin distilling, and will be able to offer vodka, gin, and rum mixed drinks in their taproom! Look for classic drinks and some fun twists. Tate adds, “not only will we offer clear liquors, but we’ll also be Bear-rel aging spirits!”

They will continue to work with Leavendary at Hudson Alpha to develop and propagate yeast strains.

Old Black Bear and Leavendary are working to create a quality control process that will be available to all breweries in Alabama, as the only yeast provider in the Southeast.