Southern Prohibition Brewery

COME OUT AND CELEBRATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF PROHIBITION AT HATTIESBURG'S FIRST BREW PUB!

Keg & Barrel premieres home-brewed beer

By EMMA JAMES • December 4, 2008

The Keg & Barrel is now home to an in-house brewery.

The Hardy Street bar, a popular watering hole for beer enthusiasts, will introduce Southern Prohibition - four home-brewed beers on draft - to the Hattiesburg community at a premiere party at 5 p.m. Friday.

The four beers are Round 1 Amber Ale, Karie's Cherry Stout, Vanilla Kahlua Stout and Northern Brown Ale.

"I think that it will be received very well," Neal said. "You have to have a little bit of a palate to appreciate it, but I think our clientele will enjoy it."

The date of the premiere also marks the 75th anniversary of Prohibition, the period between 1920 and 1933 when the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol was illegal in the United States.

The Keg & Barrel brewery is one of the smallest in the nation with a capacity of 20 gallons. While the bar will premiere four beers on Friday, more brews will be on their way as they develop, Neal said.

Neal and Will Griffin opened the Keg & Barrel in April 2005 as a destination for beer lovers, but brewing in-house has always been the goal, Neal said.

"With 60 beers on draft, it always seemed like a natural progression," he said. "Every guy wants to brew his own beer."

Neal teamed up with long-time brewer Sam Sorrels earlier this year to set up a brewery and develop recipes for the Keg & Barrel.

"The four that we are premiering this week, Sam has been brewing for a long time," Neal said. "We're also playing around with some other recipes to see what we can come up with."

One of those recipes is a smoked porter, currently fermenting in the brewery. While brewing a beer generally takes around five hours, Neal said, the brew has to ferment for three weeks at a specific temperature before being ready to serve.

"Every recipe is a work in progress," said Sorrels, who has been brewing beer for the past 10 years. "You have guidelines that determine what makes your basic porter, what makes your basic stout. But from there you can modify it to make a beer that you like."

The biggest challenge for brewers, Sorrels said, is twofold - time and money. While time is more of a challenge for home based-brewers, Sorrels said, the expense that comes along with brewing has increased exponentially over the past few years.

"Malt prices have recently doubled and hops prices have increased tenfold," he said. "Then you have to come up with a beer that is viable to sell."

Neal and Sorrels both say they believe Keg & Barrel's home-brewed beers will be popular among their clientele. They anticipate brewing once every one to two weeks depending on demand.

The current reigning favorite for Neal is Karie's Cherry Stout. Sorrels had a more difficult time deciding.

"It's really difficult to say," Sorrels said. "I'm partial to porters. But while there are beers that I really like, I've yet to find one out there that I can't appreciate."

Brewing beer is more about having interest and enthusiasm for the product, Sorrels said, instead of monetary compensation.

"John could have decided to sell a wide selection of beer without brewing and not lost a dime," he said. "He chose to do that and brewing for the only brew pub in Mississippi is quite an honor and privilege."