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A rendering of what Serda Brewing Co.'s exterior will look like. Work is under way on a former Goodyear service center at 600 Government St. (Courtesy of Serda Brewing)

Mobile still lags far behind Huntsville and Birmingham in the state's craft beer boom, but two planned downtown breweries continue to move forward.

Coffeeshop owner John Serda spent years trying to nail down a suitable home for his dream brewery, and found it in a defunct tire store at 600 Government St. Its transformation into the home of Serda Brewing is proceeding rapidly: "We're hoping to be open July 4," Serda said this week. He doesn't mean open for brewing: He means open for serving beer brewed on-site weeks beforehand.

Meanwhile, Keith Sherrill is still trying to work out zoning issues for his plan to turn a downtown ice warehouse into the home of Haint Blue brewing. But in the meantime Haint Blue beers are real. Fittingly, considering the ghostly name, you have to know where to look - but you can find them.

Serda Brewing will have a significant impact on the look of downtown thanks to a high-visibility site, across Government and a couple of blocks east of the Ben May Main Library. "It's been kind of an eyesore," said Serda. "It's been vacant for a while."

Thus far, most of the work has been done on the interior, but the changes will be comprehensive. Parking on the Government Street side of the property will be turned into a courtyard with extensive landscaping. The main taproom will be in the former showroom, with some additional seating around the perimeter of the brewing operation housed in the garage area. There'll be parking in the back, across Conti Street from Wintzell's Oyster House.

Serda said the brewery's evolving theme is drawn from Gulf Coast living. He plans to open with five beers, overseen by brewmaster Todd Hicks: a "Hook, Line & Lager," a Mobile Bay IPA, a red ale or amber, a wheat beer "and of course we're going to do a coffee stout."

Much as Serda went through one or two false starts before the way cleared, Sherrill hasn't been able to occupy a former Crystal Ice warehouse on Monroe Street as quickly as he'd have liked. But he has found ways to proceed.

In early December Mobile's board of zoning adjustment approved a zoning variance for the Haint Blue site, but a challenge filed by a nearby resident has put the process on hold. Sherrill said the matter is due to be considered in Mobile County Circuit Court on June 1, if an amicable agreement can't be reached sooner.

Eager to move forward, Sherrill took a different path in the meantime: He turned to Mississippi-based Lazy Magnolia to brew batches of Haint Blue under contract. For some time now, a Haint Blue porter and IPA have been available on tap at select venues in the Mobile area. (For up-to-date locations, Sherrill said, supporters can check out the Haint Blue Facebook page or call the number listed there.)

Sherrill is particularly excited about a new beer that Haint Blue will bring out later this month, a saffron saison. The saison is a lighter style well suited for the summer months, and the saffron represents Sherrill's own military background. He said it comes from Afghanistan, thanks to a veteran-owned company in Chicago that seeks to help Afghan farmers find markets for legitimate crops rather than those that fuel the drug trade.

"We think we're fighting terrorism with beer here," Sherrill said.

"We're not getting rich doing this," Sherrill said of the current contract-brewing arrangement, but it helps him meet some of the promises he made to backers during last year's fundraising campaign. That drive was wildly successful, bringing in more than $250,000.

"We don't want to disappoint those people," he said. "Because they're behind us."

It appears that for the moment, Serda's is on the fast track and will be Mobile's first functioning brewery in years. Serda gives part of the credit to the city administration of Mayor Sandy Stimpson. Getting a new business off the ground still involves some complex bureaucratic processes, Serda said - especially where local, state and federal regulations over alcohol are concerned - but the city seems much more supportive now that when he opened Serda's Coffee on Royal Street in 2008.

"I think it's a mentality change," he said. "I think it's a top-down thing."