Brock’s Gap Brewing Company

Brock’s Gap Brewing Company calls itself Hoover’s first brewery. Its story began during the COVID-19 lockdown, when one of the owners was teaching his young son to ride a bike in a parking lot at the Hoover Met Sports Complex and noticed an open parcel next door. As a resident of the Brock’s Gap area, he felt the neighborhoods needed a large place for people to gather, and the team soon planned something bigger than a small brewery: a concert venue, a home for community events and a way to give back. The name honors Brock’s Gap, a rocky pass through Shades Mountain that the South and North Alabama Railroad crossed in 1871 thanks to the vision of John Milner and hundreds of laborers, a feat followed a month later by the founding of Birmingham. That history shows up in the train logo, taproom materials and beer names.