Birmingham District Hidden Lotus IPA — Birmingham’s Best-Kept Brewing Secret

The Review

For a brewery that opened in 2018 and has been quietly building one of the better tap lists in Birmingham, Birmingham District doesn’t get the press they deserve. Hidden Lotus IPA is exhibit A in the case for paying more attention.

It pours a clear, warm amber with a white head and a nose that opens with citrus and stone fruit — ripe peach, orange zest — over a light resinous base. The palate has good structure: a clean malt foundation, hop bitterness that builds steadily through the middle and finishes long and dry without harshness. It’s not a NEIPA and it’s not trying to be — the Hidden Lotus is a modern American IPA with good bones and a character that rewards repeated drinking.

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Birmingham District built their identity around the city’s iron and steel mining heritage, and their beer names — maingate, district, hidden lotus — all point to a sense of place that’s specific to this neighborhood in this city. That localism shows up in the beer. The Hidden Lotus feels like it belongs here.

Find it at the Battery taproom. Tell someone else about it. This brewery deserves the attention.

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