You’re probably familiar with Cullman’s Goat Island Brewing. You might know president and co-owner Mike Mullaney. Maybe you got to know him better when he stepped into his lederhosen as 2022 Cullman Oktoberfest Burgermeister.
His duties included appearances, talking with schoolchildren about Oktoberfest and Cullman’s German heritage, photos and generally being a good sport.
Mullaney said his journey to founding Goat Island started as a home brewing hobby. “We had a little intermediate step with the Blue Moose Cafe, and then we went full-fledged and started planning for the brewery in 2014 and opened it up in 2016,” he said, mentioning co-founders Brad Glenn, John Dean and Gery Teichmiller.
Goat Island’s tap room has been hopping ever since.
Its beers are wildly popular, and not just locally. “We've won several statewide awards, but the biggest award that we've won was at the national level. Our Dunkel, which is a dark German lager, won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Fest in Denver,” said Mullaney.
“We made a very fortunate decision in late 2019. We purchased a canning line. Before that, we were basically just a draft brewery. In 2020, when Covid came along, all draft beer stopped, all restaurants and bars stopped, and canned beer in grocery stores and package stores took off,” he said. “We were able to pivot and never missed a beat.”
Goat Island distributes across Alabama, Georgia and the Florida panhandle. “We want to be a regional brewery,” Mullaney explained. "We’re very focused on expanding our distribution. We love the tap room, and it’s a big part of our business. I don't know if you've seen our stage lately, but it's pretty amazing.”
No matter what, Mullaney said, Goat Island is in Cullman to stay. “We are never going to move the brewery to a different city,” he said. “We’re all Cullman boys, so we aren’t going anywhere! Someday we might consider opening a second location, but right now we have our hands full with the current brewery location.”