After 13 years, Birmingham, Alabama based Trim Tab Brewing is closing their Tasting Gallery for good on America’s birthday.
Buckminster Fuller (American architect) described a trim tab as the tiny rudder on a ship’s rudder – a small mechanism that, when turned, can change the course of even the largest vessel. TrimTab Brewing Co. took that metaphor and made it their founding principle. For the last 13 years, the brewery at 2721 5th Ave S operated exactly that way, changing the direction of Birmingham, Alabama craft beer.
TrimTab has announced its Tasting Gallery will permanently close on July 4, 2026.
“Our Tasting Gallery has been more than just a place to enjoy beer,” the brewery wrote. “It has been a living room for the community, a gallery for local artists, a stage for live music, and an inclusive space to bring people together.”
The closure didn’t arrive without warning. In late 2024, TrimTab announced acquisition talks with Cahaba Brewing, and if the the timeline holds, the Tasting Gallery would be done by the end of 2025. When it didn’t close, there were talks of a capital raise. But now, July 4 is bringing the final answer.
The beers live on for now.
TrimTab IPA and Paradise Now are expected to continue in select markets, but the production arrangement is vauge. A brewery’s craft beers outliving their taproom isn’t rare these days. I guess it depends on whether you would rather have the beer or the ambiance.
Below: Beer Street Journal video shot with Will Crenshaw, a brewer previously from SweetWater in Atlanta, talking about his role at TrimTab and the future production facility. Circa 2013.
