My Favorite Nashville Breweries
We are barreling in on the best time of the year like a Japanese bullet train. Football, bonfires, the smell of tobacco burning, girls drinking pumpkin spice lattes; it’s all just a month away. No matter what it is, everyone has something enjoyable about fall that only really takes place in that season. However, there is one thing that is around all year, but really hits it’s stride in the fall. For me, that is beer. When it comes to mass-produced beer, Samuel Adams’ Oktoberfest is hands-down my favorite tasting beer. It’s like the bar mitzvah of the season when you start seeing them fill up the shelves. I want to take some time, as we get in to the season of grabbing a six pack and going over to your friend’s place to watch the Titans probably lose another game that they should win, to go over a few of my favorite breweries that you should check out the next time you’re free for a game this fall. No particular order on this list, and it’s all obviously opinion-based (as all food and beverage recs are).
First up- East Nashville Beer Works. I know I discussed them last month in my restaurant post detailing some East Nashville spots I enjoy, but I think that they deserve recognition again on a beer-specific post. In the past year, they have started canning and making them available around town, primarily the Miro Miel as that is the most widely liked. As with a lot of micro brews around town, they go a bit heavy on the IPAs and ASBs for my liking, but they aren’t making beer specifically for me. The Dickerson Dunkel, Fire of the Century, and the Old Hickory Porter are stellar. A Porter is my go-to if I’m ever going out for a beer, but if I was going to get a growler to take to a party to hang out and watch some games, the Dunkel is light enough to be able to enjoy a couple casually. If you’re looking for a place to go and hang out on Football Sunday or a college Saturday night, they have delicious food and huge flat screens around the taproom for your viewing. They deserve it for you to pay them a visit.
In the on deck circle, we have Jackalope Brewing Company. They do a really cool event every fall called “Sprucefest” where they kick off some seasonals as well as have a lot of musicians come and just play The Boss’ covers all night. It’s a good time. Now for the beer- Bear Walker Brown. That one alone would put it on my list. As in the name, it’s a brown ale that is silky smooth and doesn’t have an overwhelming flavor like some porters and browns can tend to have. Some other ones that I have tried from the brewery that I really like- the Rompo Red (an Irish red that actually uses hops from the UK), Sarka (a pilsner, better for easy drinking and hangin out with friends), and the Thunder Ann Pale Ale, which is actually one of the few hoppy beers that I like around Nashville. The Sarka and TAPA are both available canned too, so perfect for grabbing a six-pack and heading out somewhere this fall. Thunder Ann is my brother-in-law’s favorite Nashville beer, so that’s what made me give it a try. The brewery shares their taproom with a coffee shop also, so it sets a nice vibe for that.
Next up, a brewery that has been around for a bit but just added a taproom and restaurant to my local East side, TailGate Brewery. Before I get to the beer, and this is something I get a lot of push back from on people because for some reason pizza is taken way too seriously by millennials, they have the best pizza in town. The crust is always crispy without seeming burnt. Not too much sauce, which is a huge pizza turnoff in my opinion. For me, it isn’t really close. I enjoy it primarily for that reason. Anyway, on to the primary reason for the blog, the libations. They have over thirty draft options. If you can’t find something that you enjoy with that many choices, you probably don’t like beer. My favorites that I have tried are: The Peanut Butter Stout, which is one of the only novelty-type beers I’ve ever really liked, the Irish Red- smooth, a bit hoppy but not overwhelming, and the German Amber, which has a summer taste but the amber gives it a good fall feel also. Go check it out, order the Garlic Knockers, create your own pizza, and get a German Amber- you won’t regret it.
As the most popular Nashville brewery, we have Yazoo Brewing Company. Shortly after I turned 21, I tried my first Gerst. My Dad and I had Titans’ season tickets at the time, and it was a really cool experience to be able to share a beer with my Dad while watching a football game. I still think the beer I had that day is one of the best tasting ones I have ever had, and I will probably always feel nostalgic about it. While the Yazoo Gerst is my favorite that they produce, they have a plethora of options that stay consistently popular. Yazoo’s Dos Perros is another amber that has a smoky, hickory-type flavor to it. The Sly Rye Porter is perfect for the fall season, and one I will be frequenting often come time to watch Georgia woop up on Tennessee. They just recently moved their brewery north of downtown to Madison to be able to expand their facility. I think it’s going to help them become the Nashville “micro-brewery” that expands throughout the Southeast region even more.
To round out my list, we have the micro of the micro-iest, is the super chill Smith & Lentz Brewing. Back in 2017, when the Preds were in the Stanley Cup Final, we trekked down to their taproom to watch the game. Packed with one hundred plus Preds fans, the place was buzzing. They were running pint deals, had the game blaring, chants going throughout the room; it was fantastic. Up until about two minutes left in the game when the Penguins scored the game’s only goal. On most weekends however, it’s one of the more chill places to grab a pint in town. They’re one of the only breweries that makes a true Irish Stout if you’re in to the Guinness flavor. The Belgian Wit is the smoothest that I’ve tasted there, and is the most drinkable if you’re looking to have more than a couple with some friends. You’ve probably been able to sense the theme throughout this review post, but I love browns and porters when it comes to beer, and S&L has a great Baltic porter called Lousy Smarch Weather. Most of their beers hover around that 5% ABV level and above, so grab a Lyft and go check them out this weekend.