FOLEY — Beer brewing started as a college hobby for Tim Lipe after receiving a home brewing kit for Christmas. His hobby has evolved as he has from college consumption to brewing for his wedding and now in his home garage for family and friends.

But his dream has grown, and soon Lipe and his wife, Alexa, will open Blessed Kettle Brewing Company in downtown Foley.

"I got into craft beer in 2010," Tim Lipe said. "I started home brewing in college, and she used to help some. That is where the love and passion for brewing came from."

The 1-gallon home brewing kit has grown into a one-barrel system with two fermenters in the Lipe home garage. Needless to say, they are popular in the neighborhood.

Tim and Alexa met in college while in physical therapy school, and Tim has said he would not have stuck it out in college if he hadn't met Alexa.

"It is something he has always wanted to do. He has told me multiple times if I was not in school with him, he would have quit," Alexa said. "It was just not where his heart is. I love it (physical therapy), and he loves brewing. We had talked about when the children are all in school, we can look into it."

While they had a timeline in their head, a church event with some of Tim's homebrewed beer and a conversation with Foley Mayor Ralph Hellmich made them rethink it.

"We do a lot of private events and a lot of things for the church get-togethers. The mayor goes to our church. He pulled Tim aside and said, 'Foley needs a brewery; how can we make this happen?'" Alexa said.

The next thing they knew, they were meeting Darrelyn Dunmore, executive director of Foley Main Street. Their plan for a brewery turned into hunting property. The Lipes said Dunmore even helped them track down the owner of the property they ultimately purchased.

The Lipes have been working on laying the groundwork for the brewery. They purchased property across the street from Heritage Park on East Laurel Avenue, and the drawings are nearing completion, but they know it will still be some time before the doors are open.

"We started this March 2022 and wrote the business plan last year. We are a year and a half into this," Alexa said.

Ideally, they would like to break ground this year, but Tim said it will likely be early next year.

While the process has been slow, they have used the time to speak with other established breweries to find out what they would do differently if given the chance to start over and have used those suggestions for their own planning. They're giving themselves space to grow.

"Building from the ground up is the way to go because it is going to be exactly what we want," Alexa said. "He has reached out to so many brewers to see what they would do if they could do it again. We are trying to nix all that stuff in the beginning and give ourselves space to grow.

"It is going to be about a 2,000-square-foot taproom, more than 3,000 square feet of brew space and a 2,000-square-foot event space upstairs. Overall, there is 4,000 square feet of seating, so if we don't have an event booked that is extra taproom seating."

The event space will give locals and even destination couples a place to rent for weddings and events. Alexa said there will be a bar on the second floor with tap lines running to it. There will also be a wraparound balcony providing outdoor space overlooking Heritage Park. The first floor will have outdoor covered space as well.

The Lipes plan to start with a 10-barrel system but have left space to add capacity as they need. They also have already planned to have a space for a food truck to park on the property.

Their dream is slowly becoming a reality thanks to the support of family, friends and their church, St. Margaret of Scotland. Alexa said Father Zoghby has already volunteered to bartend one night a week, and all tips would go to the church.

"Father Zoghby is on board, and he will talk to anybody about the brewery. He has been a big marketer for us and telling people about us," Alexa said. "He walks his dog around the park every day, and he has been stopping and praying at our lot every day. He is that invested that he prays for us and goes over there to make sure this comes."

The Lipes hope Blessed Kettle Brewing Company can be part of the revitalization of downtown Foley and become the "third place" for residents.

"There is no community space in Foley, and that is what we want to create in Foley," Alexa said. "With breweries, they talk about the third space. You have home, work and there is the third place. We want to be the third place for Foley. We are younger, and we will have a date night and there is no place we want to do after dinner in Foley. We want to become that place for everyone."