SHORELINES

6 a p c s hor e l i n e s.c om | 2016 Vol :2 If you've ever seen a Naked Pig on Lake Harris or spotted a Freckle Belly in the sun on Weiss Lake, you can thank Gadsden's Back Forty Beer Co. Its Bama-brewed beers with funny names are making some serious inroads in Alabama, throughout the U.S. and now around the world. Not bad for a brewery that's in a former Sears repair center a stone's throw from the Coosa River. Jason Wilson, the CEO and founder of Back Forty, believes the company is successful, in part, because it is in Gadsden, and he hopes Gadsden's current revival is due in some small way to Back Forty's success. With its location in the Appalachian foothills and on the Coosa, Gadsden was once a logistical and economic hub for the state. But the loss of manufacturing and the decline of the steel industry that began in the 1980s took a toll on the city. "Gadsden kind of struggled for a while to figure out what kind of community it was going to be after that reality set in," Wilson said. "Was it going to be a retirement community? Left: Photo by BeRnaRd tRonCale — Jason Wilson, CEO and founder of Back Forty Beer Co., returned to his hometown of Gadsden to start the successful brewery. "WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR ME TO START BACK FORTY AND I WAS LOOKING FOR A HOME, WE KNEW WE WERE GOING TO BE AN AL ABAMA BREWERY SO WE COULD HAVE LOCATED ANYWHERE IN THE STATE. BUT IT JUST MADE SENSE TO COME BACK TO MY ROOTS AND TRY TO BE A PART OF A MOVEMENT THAT WAS HAPPENING HERE IN GADSDEN." – J A S O N W I L S O N , F O U N D E R A N D C E O O F B A C K F O R T Y B E E R C O.

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