After more than 10 years brewing beer on the Eastern Shore, Fairhope Brewing Co. has plans to plant its flag in downtown Mobile – but maybe not the flag you’d expect.

On Wednesday, Fairhope Brewing revealed plans to open “The Wingman,” a new taproom at 656 St. Louis St. Beer aficionados will recognize that as the address formerly occupied by Old Majestic Brewing, which closed earlier this year.

Fairhope Brewing describes The Wingman as “an experimental pop-up tasting room” that will “concentrate on experimental concepts and new, exciting flavor profiles of beers and seltzers.”

Jacob Sellers, head brewer at Fairhope Brewing, and managing partner Jim Foley, said their brewery has had success in recent years with seltzers and flavored sour ales, for example their Blue Steel blueberry lemon sour ale and Pink Delicious pink lemonade hard seltzer. They want to lean into that at the Mobile location, brewing such styles on-site.

“We want to take what we’ve learned and try something new, with a fresh concept focused on innovative and interesting beverages,” Sellers said in a Fairhope Brewing announcement. “Over the past couple of years, we have broadened our offerings to include particularly bold and original flavors, and those styles have been received exceptionally well.”

“We only have so many taps in Fairhope, and with all of the styles that Jacob is putting out there, a secondary experimental location will be perfect for us,” said Foley. “The Wingman will be the place for us to try new out things and introduce options that can’t be found anywhere else. This interactive model will allow us to gather feedback from our guests. When our patrons get enthusiastic about a particular offering, we will consider putting it into larger-scale distribution.”

Note to fans of Fairhope Brewing’s more mainstream beers, such as Take the Causeway IPA and Cheap Sunglasses Golden Ale: Such crowd pleasers “will have a place” at The Wingman, amid all the bold new flavors.

Plans call for The Wingman to open in early 2024. The site features indoor and outdoor seating; it will not have a kitchen but patrons “will be free to bring their own food or have food delivered.” (One option for that is an adjacent restaurant, The Cheese Cottage.)

Related:

Holy hops, Batman! Fairhope Brewing celebrating 10th anniversary Jan. 14-15

Old Majestic Brewing closes its doors; facing $1.3 million lawsuit from landlords

Mobile’s newest brewery, Braided River, to open Feb. 1