October 30, 2009
Nice place. Unless I missed something though, I counted 43 taps (not 80 as listed here). All the taps were great selections though: Old Rasputin, Chimay white, 4-5 local brews, 10-12 regional micros, and other well-selected US micros and European imports. Three half-fridges stacked with good bottle selections as well. Cheese plate appetizer and pizza entree were very good. Pricing was surprisingly fair considering the monopoly they have on good beer in the state. Service was very friendly and knowledgeable at the bar, but a bit short-handed due to also servicing a Sweetwater beer-and-food pairing dinner on the patio that I would have loved to participate in!

August 21, 2009
Cool little bar in an alley. Relegated to the funky back bar with the taps and locals. Now that Alabama is getting stronger beers, this place seems to have taken the torch for better beers. Nice 30 taps and 100 or so bottles. Nice neigborhood local. I wouldn’t mind having this type of bar near my house.

August 9, 2009
The ambiance in general was pretty straightforward bar setting; nothing to creative, but it was way too dark. There was only one server running the entire room where we were sitting and he visited very infrequently and everything took a very long time. Their beer selection was about 6 pages long and quite varied with both bottles and taps, including Ola Dubh 40 year on cask - not bad! The food/value was pretty much average as well. We were there for dinner on a Sunday and only got the "pub" menu, basically burgers and appetizers that were somewhat high-priced but also innovative with offerings of sweet potato fries, fried green tomato burgers, fresh hummus, etc. Overall, a great place to go in Birmingham for beer, but everything else was about average.

June 28, 2009
Really unexpected to find in Birmingham. The server knew his stuff and was attentive. The beer selection was great for the area.....nice to have a local cask IPA. Food was good and reasonably priced. The saurkraut balls were amazing, as was the vegetable boxty. Burger was good but overcooked. Only complaint was the ambiance. They were having a special dinner so all the seating was outdoors. It was surprisingly comfy with the fans considering it was 101 degrees that day. However, be aware that they have an "unwritten" policy to let people smoke on the patio even though it is not supposed to be allowed. A real drag when I was downwind from 2 macro swilling hags that never stopped lighting up. Really hard for me to catch aromas with cig smoke in my face. Server was attentive but no one made any attempt to get them to stop.

March 30, 2009 [ Updated July 24, 2009 ]
This is one of the two beer places in Alabama. Their beer selection is unparalleled since the beer law changed, the food is superb, and the owners are not afraid to try things out. This is also the only place in the state that provides beer dinners, where the beer is paired specifically with the food. Definitely worth a visit, and I recommend it heartily to all Ratebeerians. (Note, this rating is based on comparing the J Clyde against other bar/restaurants in Alabama)

March 3, 2009
Hands down the best beer place in Birmingham, and probably all of Alabama for that matter. Not much by way of ambiance, but they more than have the selection to make up for it. This place has the largest selection of ’under 6%’ selections I’ve seen in the state. The pub style food was pretty good (i recommend trying their sweet potato fries - extra crispy). The bartender sure did know her shit about the beers they carried. They also have a rotating ’mystery’ tap. The bartender told me that if you can figure out what the beer is, they’ll send you out to the GABF! Not sure if I believe that, but it is still a cool idea. They can’t wait till Alabama finally frees the hops, cause they already have a secondary bar that prepped and waiting to be filled with another 50 taps for what they want to theme as a ’belgian bar’ similar to the Thirsty Monk. Can’t wait.

June 3, 2008
If you are in Birmingham, and are serious about beer, go to the J Clyde. Do not swing by if you are in a hurry, or are very hungry. They are painfully slow. Still though, very much worth the wait.

May 4, 2008
I came in from out of town and was told to try this place. I was not very happy! The place was very nice and the waiter was fine. As I ordered my beer the people at the table next to me overheard me.They started to give me a hard time about the beer I ordered. I thought they were kidding but they were not.I tried not to pay attenion to them and eat my meal.The hamburger was great untill the last 2 bites. It had some grit in it that tasted bad. I will try them again and see if it gets any better.

April 11, 2008
One of my favorite places in Birmingham. They’re up to 77 beers on tap now and ~200 in bottles. Service needs a bit of work but it’s getting much better and in no way detracts me from eating/drinking here!

March 30, 2008 [ Updated June 5, 2009 ]
Great little beer bar. Very good selection and a wonderful, helpful and friendly staff. Food is good, with some interesting selections like curried hummus and sweet potato fries. Patio is nice. A fun, enjoyable bar that caters to beer lovers.