By Morgan Bryce
Associate Editor
Opelika’s Red Clay Brewing Company is now offering its patrons another way to sample their products.
The brewery will begin selling two different types of canned craft beer in coming weeks at various restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations in the Opelika-Auburn area, Columbus, Lagrange and West Point in Georgia and Florida.
Red Clay co-owner John Corbin said the expansion is the realization of a longtime dream for both him and fellow owners Stephen Harle and Kerry McGinnis.
“We’ve always been wanting to package our products. We’ve had a higher demand for our product and currently, you can only get our beer in places that serve draft or at our tap room or by growlers,” Corbin said. “We began to get a lot of requests for it, so that’s (why) we decided to go ahead and pull the trigger.”
The two beverages, Halftime and Southern Renegade, possess a broad range of flavors, tastes and feels, according to Corbin.
“Halftime, or ‘Hefeweizen’, is our staple beer, our flagship beer … it’s the one we’ve had since we first opened. That’s one you’ll see both in drafts and cans, and it’s a traditional German Hefe, which means you’ll get a lot of those clove-and-banana characteristics,” Corbin said. “Southern Renegade is an ESB, which is short for English or Extra Special Bitter, but its bitter in name, not in taste. It’s a traditional English-style ale that you would find over there. Rather than a lot of hops, you’ll get more malt, so it’s a very balanced drink.”
Another beer, ’53’, is slated to release in late winter/early spring, which Corbin said is lighter in flavor and perfect for warmer weather.
“We’re excited. The cans are a byproduct of us expanding our area all over Alabama, which we’ve done for the past few years now,” Corbin said. “And we have plans to do more. We have a few more in line, including the release of a new draft line sometime this spring.”
For more information, call (334) 737-5409. Red Clay is located at 704 N. Railroad Ave. in downtown Opelika.