Exploring new flavors
Interstellar Ginger Beer and Exploration Company has two firsts to its name: the first brewery to open in Shelby County, and the first in the area to serve only ginger beer.
Interstellar got its start with Shane Kelly, a scientist at UAB who enjoyed brewing beer in his free time. He planned to sell yeast to breweries but after a miscalculation of cost, he decided it would make more sense to start one of his own.
Once he came up with his plan, Kelly contacted his friend Daniel Sims, who worked in real estate, about helping him find a space.
Friends for more than 10 years, Kelly and Sims decided to work together to open the brewery in September 2017 in Alabaster.
Just a short drive from Birmingham, Interstellar Ginger Beer and Exploration Company is located off the Shelby County Airport exit in Alabaster. The tasting room features a garage door, high top tables with metal chairs and a small bar where the drinks are served. The rest of the space is used for brewing.
When coming up with a name for their business, Kelly wrote down every cool science fiction name he could think of for a brewery, and Interstellar was one of few not yet trademarked. Since opening, business has surpassed their expectations.
“It’s gone very well, and we are very happy,” Sims said. “Tasting room business quadrupled over what we expected. People are loving ginger beer. We only get about 1/100 people that don’t like ginger beer. We can almost always find something for everyone’s taste buds.”
So what exactly is ginger beer? It is made by fermenting ginger and sugar. It is gluten-free and made with three-stage filtered water, fresh cold-pressed ginger, fresh squeezed citrus and other real ingredients.
“We do not use malted barley or hops,” Sims said. “Our beer tastes distinctively different than a standard beverage. It has more of a wine flavor, without the alcoholic content of wine.”
Interstellar’s ginger beers are inspired by mixed drinks. The Ginger Colada, similar to a pina colada, is made with ginger, pineapple juice and coconut cream flavoring. Sunspot, inspired by a limoncello, includes lemon, lime and orange juice and glows under a blacklight. The Martian Mojito is flavored with Kentucky Colonel spearmint that Sims grows himself.
“One beer gaining popularity is Andromeda Ambrosia,” Sims said. “It’s our First Contact beer, fermented with hibiscus, and tastes like a fermented hibiscus tea.”
At any given time, Interstellar has seven ginger beers available, along with the frozen Ginger Colada and First Contact.
Interstellar’s goal is to provide creative, high quality beers and a lively place to gather on the weekends. Cabrones Taco food truck, local to Alabaster, is at the brewery every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday serving $2 tacos and other options. Wednesdays feature $4 glowing beers, and game nights are held one Wednesday per month. Open mic nights are the first Thursday of each month and feature original music from local musicians.
Sims said future plans at Interstellar include installing a glass roll up door, expanding brewery operations and opening up the tasting room to make it larger.
“I want to get production up and get our beer in more bars and restaurants, including Tuscaloosa, Auburn or Montgomery,” Sims said. “We’ll work on producing more beer and get our bottling line going.”
For now, Sims is enjoying working in his beer science lab, continuing to come up with new creations.
“Being a scientist, you can work on something for 10 years and maybe it will help people. With this, I can brew a batch of beer in few weeks and have people try it and give me feedback.”
Interstellar is also available on draft at several restaurants around town. For a complete list, visit their website.
Interstellar Ginger Beer and Exploration Company is located at 260A Regency Park in Alabaster. Tasting room hours are Tuesday-Thursday from 4-10 p.m., 4 p.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday, 1-8 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit interstellarginger.com.