The Ghost Train finds its station

In 1996, Paige DeBoer spent what she now describes as the best $5 of her life. She bought her future husband, Taylor, a home-brewing kit from the Lee County Flea Market in Opelika. 

“I bought it, because it was $5,” she said. “The product that came from it was awful, but it led to so much more.”

Now, 20 years later, Paige DeBoer’s $5 has led to a brand-new brewery in Birmingham’s flourishing beer scene. After debuting its beers at Magic City Brewfest last June, Ghost Train Brewing is preparing to open its own tasting room in the heart of downtown Birmingham on Third Avenue South. 

The couple leased the space in February after nine months of scouring the market, only to come up disappointed. When the former Cahaba Brewing building became available, the couple said they didn’t waste any time.   

“When we saw this, we signed the lease within one day of talking to the landlord,” Taylor DeBoer said. “Looking at it I was like, ‘This is exactly what we need.’ Basically we came; we saw; we signed the lease.”

Of course, this wasn’t the first time Taylor and Paige DeBoer had been up close and personal with the building. The two were original partners in Cahaba Brewing and personally took part in digging the building’s plumbing system and installing its countertops. In fact, the floor-to-ceiling wood covering one of the brewery’s accent walls came from a giant oak tree in the couple’s Homewood backyard.

“It’s kind of a homecoming,” Paige DeBoer said. “We’ve even had people tell us, ‘Welcome home.’”

Community brewery

In addition to the connection the DeBoers had with the building, they said the location is the perfect fit because it’s the right size for their immediate needs and is central to many parts of the city. The brewery lies along a major route for Birmingham bikers and runners, a community the couple said they are eager to host again. To accommodate, they plan to install bike racks and a considerable outdoor seating area that is open to the brewery through the building’s three oversized garage doors. 

“We want it to be a walk in, bike in, community brewery,” Taylor DeBoer said. 

Up until now, the DeBoers have been operating Ghost Train on a contract brewing system through Crooked Letter Brewing in South Mississippi. Taylor DeBoer develops and tests all his recipes at home, then he makes the drive twice a month to do all the brewing and kegging in their facilities. 

Over the years, Taylor DeBoer said he’s probably brewed hundreds of batches and tested 30 to 50 different recipes. For Ghost Train Brewing, he has come up with a selection of four beers: Go-Devil Golden Ale, their flagship hoppy blonde; Terminal Station Brown Ale, a Northern English-style brown ale; Switchman’s Stash, an India pale lager; and Dark Ride, a Belgian strong ale brewed with Alabama wildflower honey. 

They are all sold in Jefferson County, Tuscaloosa and Huntsville. In Birmingham they can be found at Hop City, Five Points Oyster House, The J. Clyde, Slice, Little Donkey, Piggly Wiggly, Target, Whole Foods and other locations depending on supply. 

However, once the new brewery and tasting room opens, the DeBoers said they’re excited to start brewing small-batch beers in a pilot system that will allow them to do something different all the time. 

“That’s something I really like is experimenting,” Taylor DeBoer said. “I don’t want to get stuck to being like, ‘Here’s our four flavors.’” 

Building overhaul

Outside of experimenting with new beers, the DeBoers are planning a lot of big changes for Ghost Train in its new home base. They will transform the left-hand side of the building, a space previously occupied by an architecture office, into additional guest seating and a private event space. They also plan to add a wall-length bar along the right side of the building and begin canning and packaging in house as soon as possible. 

“We’re going to be totally unique,” Taylor DeBoer said. “That’s one thing I like about breweries in Birmingham is they’re all totally different.”

 Part of the signature style of Ghost Train will be its emphasis on Birmingham as a city in the past, present and future. The name Ghost Train is nostalgic as it comes from commemorating the Birmingham of days past, but also looks forward to its future.

“It’s about relics of the past,” Paige DeBoer said. “The idea of ghosts is that they’re things from the past that are still with you, and trains have that melancholy whistle in the night that you hear and identify with bringing back old memories.”

One of these relics, the iconic Birmingham Terminal Station torn down in 1969, was the major inspiration for the Ghost Train name and ideology, Taylor DeBoer said. The couple plan to cover an entire wall of the brewery with a picture of the so-called Temple of Travel that now graces their Terminal Station Brown Ale packaging.  

As Ghost Train moves closer to its opening date, Taylor DeBoer said they’re focusing on one thing and one thing only. 

“It’s about Birmingham,” he said. “We want to really focus on Birmingham and over-deliver to Birmingham before we think about going anywhere else.”