Beer is here: Customers enjoy new draft style brews

florence - For Halley Briggs and her friends, nothing went better with the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football game on TV than a nice pint of frothy, smooth draft beer.

Draft beer enthusiasts gathered at local restaurants and bar establishments in full force across Florence on Saturday to be among the first to taste a pint or two.

Briggs, 27, of Florence, and her friends were enjoying the game and sharing a pitcher of draft beer at Sidelines Sports Deli in Florence.

"I like just being able to have it. It brings people into town instead of having to go to Tennessee or somewhere else," Briggs said.

As of Saturday, draft beer became available in Florence, the first municipality in the Shoals to offer it.

Although alcohol sales are prohibited in rural areas of Lauderdale County, it's been allowed inside Florence's city limits since 1984. Along with draft beer, Florence permits the sale of alcohol on Sundays in restaurants and hotel lounges.

Shea Butts, owner of Mottzi's in Florence, said that he's happy to finally be able to offer draft beer.

"Everybody that comes in here wants to try the beer," Butts said. "I think it's going to be good, and we had quite a bit of people in at lunch."

Like many students, Courtney Kelley, 26, of Florence, a senior at the University of North Alabama, was glad to finally have draft beer in their college town.

"I don't have to go to Huntsville or Nashville anymore to get draft beer. Now that we have draft beer, it's going to make this town somewhere on the map," Kelley said.

For many draft beer drinkers, the taste is what attracts them.

"It's fresh and it just tastes better than canned or bottled beer," Kelley said.

Since draft beer is stored in reusable kegs, Kelley said it's more environmentally friendly than canned or bottled beer.

"All they have to do is wash the barrels," she said. "I'm into conservation, so it's important to me."

Brinley Brothers owner, Jason Brinley, said that draft beer is definitely more easy to handle and reduces the amount of trash.

"It's great for everybody, not just from a business or drinker's standpoint. We go through 20 trash bags with cans and bottles per night," he said. "With draft beer, we haven't had as many."

Brinley said his business offers 44 domestic and import beers, and the draft beer has been quite a success on its first day.

"It's incredible. I was expecting a surge of business, but I wasn't expecting anything quite like this," Brinley said.

Pitchers filled with all different kinds of brews lined the tables at Brinley Brothers on Saturday as patrons sipped away.

Derek Ricks, 44, of Tuscumbia, said that he was soaking in the atmosphere and watching football games while enjoying a pint.

"Everybody else had it, so I was thinking, why don't we have it?" Ricks said. "I like the newness of it."

Brinley said that he expects that draft beer will continue to be popular in Florence, and to accommodate the surge of football watchers and beer drinkers, he is planning on opening his business on Sunday evenings in the future.

"It's almost like the liberation of Florence. People who used to come here from larger cities couldn't believe we didn't have draft beer, and we finally have it now," Brinley said.

TimesDaily Staff Writer Kenda Williams can be reached at 740-5720 or kenda.williams@timesdaily.com.