Back Forty Freckle Belly IPA — The Flagship With the Best Name in Alabama

The Review

Back Forty released Freckle Belly IPA alongside Kudzu Porter when their Gadsden brewery opened in 2012, and the name alone probably moved more cases in the first year than any marketing budget could have managed. You tell a Southerner you’ve got a beer called Freckle Belly and they’re already reaching for their wallet.

The beer backs up the name. Freckle Belly pours a clear, warm amber with a white head and a nose that opens with herbal and earthy hops — more British-influenced than Pacific Northwest in character — over a light caramel malt base. The palate is crisp and moderately bitter, with the hop character present through the finish without going aggressive.

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It’s the flagship IPA of a brewery whose roots are in Alabama’s working-class countryside, and it tastes like it: honest, well-made, built for repeated enjoyment rather than one-sip wow-factor. The Birmingham location at Sloss Docks pours it alongside the Gadsden beers and their own Birmingham-only seasonals, which gives it good context.

September in Alabama, the heat finally breaking: Freckle Belly IPA, a rocking chair on the Back Forty patio, the Sloss Furnaces visible from your seat. That’s the whole pitch right there.

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