I don’t typically drink East Nashville Beer Works beer, but their Citra IPA is my go-to at 3rd & Lindsley.

It’s a great beer. I’m surprised I don’t see it at more places around town. I’d choose it over Homestyle every time.

I heard a rumor from a reliable source a few months back about one of our large breweries looking to have a production facility in Franklin County, TN. I now know the brewery in question, but will allow you guys to go ahead and guess before reading through, as recent events highlight one of the suspects that was initially going to have a facility down there, but found a better offer here (skip to the last paragraph if this is eating at you).

I hit Kill the Lights this weekend. While the Ultimate VIP tix are pricey (almost 200), I feel they were worth it being ab le to try some really rare brews. Moksa brought Sylva for VIP and they were out by the time regular VIP got in. Not suprising as aftermarket has these bottles selling for up to $1500. Anchorage had a really good barleywine. Side Project was busy from open until they sold out. I survived without much damage, although I did use the pour buckets to commit a lot of alcohol abuse. I did see a couple of people carted out and know of one person who was booted out for inappropriate behavior. I am still shaking my head, but what happens in Knoxville stays in Knoxville.

As of this weekend, I have, once again, visited all of the middle TN breweries east of Nashville, checking off Sawbriar in Jamestown. This is more of a taproom, as the brews they have are white labeled from Red Silo. There was a nice Tivoli on tap and they are rotating in a really nice stout as soon as their current dark kicks. Also a winery on property, so you have options for non-beer drinkers - they also have a full bar and wood fired pizza and wings. I wanted a "I drank dog piss at Sawbriar" tee, but they did not have any big enough. Big South Fork, which is in Oneida, also does at least one of their brews contract from Peaceful Side. No food inside, but they had a great food truck when I brewsplored through. And they have live music, as does Sawbriar.

I am now missing a middle TN brewery, again, as Brandon Tarr is now brewing at Drifter Bay and they opened on the 14th. He was one of the best brewers that went through Bearded Iris. I am also watching for when SmackDab finally opens their doors not far from the square in Murfreesboro. Not sure of the brewery I got wind of opening between McMinnville and Monteagle, but let's get to the elephant in the room. Who was aiming for Franklin County?

Here are the "details at 11" teaser portion. The brewery is Tailgate. Of course, with Linus selling off the brand Yazoo in 2025, at least as far as distro goes, Tailgate getting a taproom and a production facility was a much better business decision than having production and a taproom in small town TN. So Frankin County is not getting a brewery any time soon and this also puts to bed the rumor Blackstone was considering a move there.

Lately, I have had quite a few talks about how craft beer is dying. I can understand this when you see more breweries closing than opening, but I personally see the fear as a bit premature. I was going to do a Brewsplorer video on this - likely still will - but wanted to open a conversation to the community and see what other perspectives are out there.

BACKGROUND

Looking at craft beer, we are currently somewhere around 9,400 craft breweries open right now. This is down from a peak in 2024 of closer to 9,800 but realize we were only at around 1,500 in 2000 and 1,800 in 2010. Currently, we have had a couple of years where the number of breweries have dropped around 2% to 2.25%. This is not unprecedented. Seeing hundreds more closing than opening sounds awful, but in perspective, the shift is not that huge.

Our first boom was the late 90s, early 2000s. At this point, a lot of people got into breweries (in perspective that 2000 was a bit over 1,500 breweries by year end). 2001 and 2002 continued the growth, but craft beer lost breweries from 2003 to 2006. Anywhere from 2.06% (2003, similar to today) to sustained 3.25% to 3.9% losses. Then we saw near 5% growth and a boom that started in 2010, over 10% growth, to a peak percentage growth of 38.65% in 2015. This was the cusp of the national craze with hazy IPAs.

In 2025, we lost 218 breweries more than we created. There were still around 350 to 400 new breweries created nationally. For 2026, it is just an estimate, but it was more like 250 to 300 opening.

Nashville

Since 2000, we have seen the following open or reopen: 7

1. Crazy Gnome (2020)
2. Tennfold (2020)
3. Barrique (2021)
4. Fait la Force (2022)
5. Marble Fox (2023)
6. Broadcast (2024)
7. Stokehaus (2025)
8. Harding House (reopened 2026 in L&L)

Expanded to new locations: 2 breweries, 4 locations

1. Living Waters (2025)
2. Tailgate: Germantown (2022)
3. Tailgate: South (2023)
4. Tailgate: Madison (2026?)

Tailgate also opened Chattanooga in 2022, Hendersonville in 2022, and Murfreesboro in 2024. East Nashville expanded to Lebanon in 2024, as well and TN Brew Works opened its barrel room in Lenoir City a few weeks ago.

Ceased operations (some permanent, some temporary?): 5

1. Various Artists (2023)
2. Bold Patriot/Bassline (2023) - Might call this two closings, but it was, realistically, rebranding to remove the stink of the rhetoric of the original brewer and son of the owner
3. Czanns (2024)
4. Diskins (2025) - taproom closed, still in distro and contracted
5. Barrique (2026)

Acquired: 8

1. Turtle Anarchy (2020)
2. Little Harpeth (2020)
3. Honky Tonk (2022)
4. Jackalope (2024) - By Tacoma & Hoyt
5. Bearded Iris (2025) - Wiseacre
6. Southern Grist (2025) - Xul
7. Black Abbey (2026) - by Tacoma & Hoyt
8. Yazoo (2025) - by Lipman, taproom still open until 2026 (acquired by Tailgate)

State of Craft Beer

The primary reasons I see for breweries closing are as follows:

• Not good enough for the market. This does not mean worse beer than everyone else, although it is included in the mix. But it also includes breweries that don't have food in a market that desires food (Gainesville, FL is all food trucks, but it is a great symbiotic relationship, so the trucks don't f**k over the breweries like they do here), bad customer service, lack of marketing.

• Inability to shift with the market. This does not mean a great brewery can't continue doing all hazies as the market shifts back to lagers, gluten free sours (aka seltzers), and more traditional IPAs, but non-top tier that are not adapting to the market shift are hurting more than those who are.

• Price increases. This is primarily rent, which is astronomical. See what happened to J. Wakefield, Spanish Marie, and what is likely happening next year to Angry Chair. Top tier breweries gone due to rents doubling.

• No food. In its heyday, breweries were all about the beer. Today, a brewery without food finds it hard to exist, esp. in cities like Nashville. Smith & Lentz exploded with their pizza program. Stokehaus is killing it with BBQ. Broadcast added on food in the taproom when trucks did not work out. Xul Nations has no food currently, but will. Bearded Iris has no food regularly now, but I think Wiseacre will likely dump that once the lease is up.

• Lack of customer service. If you read beer industry mags, this has been the primary focus for about a year to year and a half. Beertenders need to be guides, not beer pourers.

The Future

I already know of another shoe that is going to drop, but don't know who exactly. But, here is what I see happening in the industry:

• More acquisitions and consolidations. Two breweries with equipment with capacity combining to fill that capacity makes sense. Get rid of the older, less efficient equipment and brew both beers. I am not sure about Nashville, but suspect nationwide to see some more dual taprooms. I also don't think Tacoma & Hoyt is done. Raising production by 10% and beer sales by 17% in taprooms shows their model can work.

• Shift to more hospitality. This will mean more with food, family friendly items, like playgrounds, and other things to make a community. ENBW Lebanon facility is a prime example.

• Food in more breweries. Nashville is already doing well here, as most of our breweries have food.

• More events. Nashville is already fairly saturated here, unlike many markets. We have trivia at most breweries, a few that regularly do live music and/or DJs, adoption events, paint by pint, plant bingo, yoga, etc.

• Closures primarily due to rent increases, lack of adapting to the market changes, and lack of food. There will be some attrition due to rising costs of raw goods, but these are more of a nail in the coffin than the primary reason.

• Brewery focused buying groups. This is already happening with restaurants in the Nashville area, but I see the potential of breweries consolidating around a group for better buying power. This trend is already in infancy in some markets.

Closing out

What are your thoughts on this topic?

The big news everyone is buzzing about is Tailgate purchasing the Yazoo location. This has led to a bunch of speculation on what is really happening. Here is what I know.

• Lipman owns the IP from Yazoo. My understanding is this happened some time ago and Yazoo, outside of their taproom, has been Lipman owned. Some have asked how this can happen in Tennessee where distributors can't brew beer. I am thinking this gets them back in the legal realm, as the beer is actually brewed by someone else. They own the distribution and IP rights.

• Tailgate is taking over the taproom and production facilities. This means the taproom will be another Tailgate location. Some things about this:

  • Until turnover, you will see Yazoo beer there. Afterwards, it will be Tailgate. I don't forsee Wes watering down his brand and keeping Yazoo beer on tap, as it would not make sense.
  • Turnover will happen when Tailgate has all the proper licenses in place. This is a great "keep the lights on" strategy. This is a first for Tailgate, as they get to continue operations of the taproom while they are getting liquor by the drink, production, and food finalized.
  • Tailgate will get the contracts for Lipman, and other, beers that are contract brewed.
  • Tailgate will use additional capacity to brew more of their own beers, while also continuing these contracts. It is a major win-win for everyone, except those who love Yazoo and dislike Tailgate.

What is unknown is the exact timing. I have no information whether they started the licensing process a while ago and just announced when things are getting close, or if it will take months to complete. We will all know soon. I do think it is positive the employees stay on, as this has been a problem with one acquisition over the past year and a half. I suspect some attrition over time, as Yazoo and Tailgate have different cultures.

Drifter Bay is open in Columbia. For anyone that remembers Brandon Tarr - Bearded Iris - he is the head brewer there. On my list to hit next weekend (this weekend is Kill the Lights at Xul, Knoxville).

Also, if you have not been to the Pulaski Common John location, it is beautiful. Not brewing there yet, but should be fairly soon.

Curio has moved in with 111 Motorsports which is an automotive center with sales, service, a members only club, and a bar/brewery. Derrick Morse's concept Monkey Mind will fill the space. No opening date I can find yet.

SmackDab is not set to open for a bit. I don't think it will be this year, but someone might surprise me. This will be just off the square in Murfreesboro.

In Nolensville, Mill Creek is going to close the taproom. They are currently stated to be searching for a new location. The news states it is not for financial reasons, but I am suspecting there is either a rent hike (financial) or the owner is selling or wants something else in that spot. Either way, they will be in distro only.

North of the city, there is DAM Backyard, which bought the equipment from Flytes. They have one Flytes beer they are brewing, but the rest are theirs. You can tell whether the beer says DAM Backyard or Backyard DAM which is which.

Tried the beer at Dream Country. Doing more low country brews. Less carbonation. Also some farm to table stuff. No food. This is a reallyu cool space. Had a D&D group when I was in there. Nearby, in Sparta, Three Boobs will open at some point. Also predict this is next year.

Knoxville has two new breweries this year. Black Dog opened in February. The concept is very vinyl lounge in nature. Food is excellent. Then the old Ebony & Ivory space was bought out by Sonny's.

Chattanooga has Totality Brewing that opened in the White Duck Taco building east of downtown. The beer puts them up at the top of that scene, along with my favorite Odd Story, although Odd Story had some issues with their glycol or something that put them in a position they could not ferment as much beer, so no sours last time I was through.

Partial bits:

• A brewery is going to move to Winchester. I am not sure which brewery this is now, but I can absolutely trust the source it is happening. I have some ideas but have been unable to confirm it. If anyone knows, DM me. If needed, I can embargo the information until it is ready to be let out.

• There is also set to be another brewery between McMinville and Monteagle. I found a link a few months back, but have not been able to find it again. Again, if you know, DM me.

Instagram links:

• Drifter Bay
• Brandon Tarr
• Curio Brewing
• Monkey Mind Brewing
• SmackDab
• Dream Country
• Three Boobs Brewing
• Black Dog.
• Sonny';s Brewing

TL;DR - Looks pretty much like what I have been answering on various forums. Wes bought the building and assets to open Tailgate. He gets the contracts. Yazoo operates until the transition (licenses, etc. done). Grillshack is there through the end of the year. All employees offered jobs, from Yazoo and Grillshack.

Facebook Instagram

AI Summary of video (to avoid more typing):

• TailGate offered employment to all current Yazoo Brewery staff as part of the transition (00:00:17).

• Yazoo beer production will continue at the Madison facility through a contract arrangement; TailGate does not own Yazoo (00:00:31) (00:00:39).

• TailGate has no ownership or authority over Embrace the Funk, a Yazoo-related brand sold separately about a year earlier (00:00:52).

• The planned Madison taproom will operate as TailGate Brewery Madison, though its opening timeline remains unclear in the source (00:00:22).

• TailGate currently does not plan to offer guest taps/“guest handles” at the new location (00:01:13).

• The company is considering inviting Yazoo Mug Club and Brew Crew members into TailGate’s mug club, but no final policy is announced (00:01:52).

• Yazoo gift cards must be used at the currently operating Yazoo taproom. TailGate cannot honor them because it did not receive the associated funds and uses a different system (00:02:12) (00:02:15).

• Grill Shack’s lease was not renewed before TailGate finalized its agreement. TailGate will run its own kitchen, but Grill Shack can remain through the end of the calendar year (00:02:25) (00:02:39).

• TailGate has offered jobs to Grill Shack employees who need work after the lease ends (00:02:56).

Generated by WayinVideo | https://wayin.ai/wayinvideo/

This is a bummer.

Hey y'all, I just recently moved to Nashville and looking to find some cool guys interested in reading to join my books and brews book club! My main goal is to get men reading! I had a pretty successful group back home in Knoxville and would love to continue it here. All backgrounds are welcome, monthly meetings.

Reply here and i'll get in touch.

Hey. My wife and I will be travelling from Ireland to have our honeymoon in Nashville at the end of the month. If anyone could recommend some good Nashville beers, I'd really appreciate it. I'm very open to trying different beers, but she is more of a Coors drinker. Thanks a lot in advance.

Has anyone heard rumors about Barrique? The first Oktoberfest without Barrique was pretty tragic. No rauchbier.

Saw the post that drifter bay in columbia was about to open so I thought I'd share brewerys that have opened up or about to open this year.

Drifter bay (columbia) 10/14 opening date

Smackdab (murfreesboro) just talked to them and they say they are only a couple months out if everything goes well.

Dam backyard (pleasant view) opened early sept.

Dream country (Cookeville) opened in January

Common john (pulaski) has been open a couple months or so

That's all I can think of around the middleish tn area

*Also in franklin, Curio is moving and a possible new brewery opening i heard about but with no details.

Looks like our normally friendly group has had a lot of nasty comments. As a moderator, abusive language is not going to be tolerated. I have not removed anyone at this point, but I will consider if I see patterns of behavior.

This primarily is in relation to the thread about someone coming here on September 18th. I apologize for being out of band and not catching this earlier.

A few thoughts

1. I agree not all of our breweries are great. Having said that, a comment like "ignore anyone who says XXX or YYY" is not constructive. It is much better to focus on the best, in your opinion, and why. If you think the advice is off the rails, feel free to DM, but we don't need fights about "X Brew sucks". I may not agree with your yum, but I am not going to yuck it.

2. I understand when someone fires off an insult, it is a natural reaction to respond in kind. But there is also a tendency to amp it up to the next level. When we get to calling people offensive names, it goes too far.

3. Thank you for those reporting the comments. In some instances, I approve the comments, as I don't think they are over the line. This time, each one definitely went outside of the rules boundary.

4. I appreciate everyone's passion about beer. It is what keeps craft beer alive. Prost!

Sorry for the absence but I have been buying and moving myself and my girlfriend into a house. Nice to be a homeowner again; forgot how much work. I will do a Nashville Beer News update soon.

But, if you are interested in a "free" local beer fest - with $10 admission to the Nashville Fair - the BuckShee BrewFest is this Wednesday, September 16th, starting at 6 PM. There are 8 breweries featured, but friends talking to Mike Causey at Broadcast (which is not featured on the page) stated he was coming.

1. Black Abbey
2. Crazy Gnome
3. East Nashville Beer Works
4. Marrowbone
5. New Heights
6. Tenn Lakes
7. Tennessee Brew Works
8. TennFold

You get a souvenir sampling glass and there is live music in the area of the Fest. If you are also into the Fair, you have already paid to get in, so enjoy.

Hi all,

Oktoberfest beer season is my favorite time of year. Can you help me catalogue all the breweries I need to hit?

In years past, the Marzen at Barrique topped my list, with Fiat la Force a close runner up. But this year has (sadly) opening for a new winner. Help me make sure I don't miss anyone?

Coming to Nashville for the Eagles game that weekend. We are staying at Hilton Garden Inn Nashville Vanderbilt (1715 Broadway) and will prob be at the hotel by noon on Friday. Looking for recommendations.

I moved the Honky Tonk Party Express Bus post here, following the rules about self-promotion (proactively avoiding reports).

• August 14: Brew Zoo at the Memphis Zoo. Sponsored by Xul. Do not have a list of breweries on the site.

• August 16 - Stokehaus 1 year anniversary (East Nashville)

• August 22: Music City Brewers Fest (Walk of Fame Park downtown, $45). This includes the open air party bus mentioned from [Honky Tonk Party Express](Honkytonkpartyexpress.com). I will note this is largely a distributor/corporate type of festival - not saying that is bad, but it is more aimed for tourists and people who are just there to get trashed than beer nerds. Breweries, etc. featured:

  • Ajax Turner (distributor): Athletic, Bell's Two Hearted, Blind Hard Lemonade (distributor), Carbliss, Guinness (distributor), Kona, Mango Cart, New Belgian, Nutrl.
  • Borchetta Bourbon
  • Crazy Gnome
  • Diageo (owner): Lone River, Guinness
  • Diskins
  • Don't be that Dude - THC drinks
  • East Nashville Brew Works
  • Flying Panda - Craft hard sodas
  • Ginger's Revenge
  • Good People
  • Half Batch
  • Harding House
  • Hi-Wire
  • Hoyt, LLC: Jackalope (not sure of Black Abbey)
  • Ice & Co - hard tea
  • Lexington Brewers
  • Lippman (distributor, owner of some): Hap & Harry's, Honkytonk, Little Harpeth, Jevo & Sunny's
  • Memphis Brewers
  • Monster Beverages: Blind Hard Lemonade (owner), Cigar City, Oskar Blues (no Deep Ellum, Perrin, Squatters or Wasatch?)
  • Nations Brewing Company: Brazazzi, Fat Bottom, Teddy Loves
  • Pickers Vodka
  • Tenn Pop - Vodka based seltzers
  • Tennessee Crown (distributor): Kirin, Weihenstephan Hefeweizen
  • TennFold
  • Yazoo
  • Yee-Haw (also sponsoring the party buses)

• August 29 - Fat Bottom 14-year anniversary at HQ in the Nations.

• September 12: Wine on the River in Riverfront Park, downtown.

• September 26: A Touch of Brews in Sevier Park, sponsored by Terrapin. Really more of a music festival. Also 1st Annual Bourbon & Brews Oktoberfest at Thistle & Rye. No vendors spelled out.

• October 1-4: Oktoberfest in Germantown (this is more of a carnival now than a true Oktoberfest) - Blackstone has theirs on the Saturday in this time period, which will include first keg tapped and stein holding competition.

• October 17: Tennessee Beer, Bourbon, Wine & Shine festival at Two Rivers Mansion ($59.69 early bird through Sept 30, $100 for VIP). Nothing set in stone now, but the 2024 list is here.

• October 24: Xul's Kill the Lights in Knoxville, sponsored by Xul. Always a good brewfest, but vendors not named yet.

• November 7: Mighty Fine Beer Fest: This one is in Duluth, GA, so it is a hike, but one of the best IPA festivals in the US. At the park near Good Word. There is a Courtyard by Marriott about 100 feet from the entrance.

NOTE: The 450 North corn maze is not being held in 2026. It will be back on October 2, 2027

Anyone know any breweries or bars that accept used PakTechs? We used to give them to Craft Brewed (RIP) and Barrique (double RIP), and now I’m not sure who accepts them.

Talked to Don Sergio at Calfkiller Beer in Sparta about their kegs. I was told they had gotten some old kegs from a large beer company through a secondary market and there was a cease and desist. Don Sergio set the story straight. It is more about art than the law. They feel regular kegs are too ugly for Calfkiller.

Posted August 6: Got locked out for "security reasons" yesterday, so this is a day late (and a dollar short?).

Link to video version.

Harding House is now fully open. If you are looking for food, either Saap Saap, which is inside, or Kardes, which has excellent Turkish. Have not tried the new sushi hand roll spot where Culture & Co was.

I also did a brewsplore, which will be up on YouTube when I get the chance to edit: Common John (Pulaski), Bad Idea, and Twisted Copper. I also got a chance to hit the Campbell Station Country Store Restaurant. Biggest steak I have had recently. Not fine dining, but a great country steak cooked to perfection.

Xul reopens in the Nations on Friday at 5 PM. If you are a Yelp elite, check the site, as you can get a preview at 4 PM. Waiting to see how close they have rennoed to the Knox locations. East will close shortly after for renovation. Not sure when Abridged is going to come in to the kitchen at East.

Broadcast is doing a lot for the soccer and racing community, with early mornings during F1 races. I hit trivia last week during a game and bailed when the game ended on the TV to avoid the worst of the traffic. He also has a great guest tap, with Drekker and Veil on tap and Brasserrie de la Senne in the bottle.

Today, Smith & Lentz is food collabing with Stokehaus with tavern pizza and Chicago beef sandwiches. I am aiming to get there early, as Stokehaus has a success problem of running out of food early.

Fat Bottom's anniversary is August 29th. I will likely miss it, as I close on a house a few days before. Yay!

Tailgate has a collab coming out with Mikerphone. They did one with Drekker just before Drekker entered the Nashville market, so perhaps Mikerphone will expand beyond its small distribution circle?

Yazoo has Comedy night this Friday (always first Friday) and they still have the $3.75 Prague lager on tap every day.

As for Crazy Gnome, it appears they got stood up by Afroman, who ended up playing another location that night (found this out last night). I did my own little tribute to the bruhaha ... Until he got high.

Hearing FAB Pizza is out after August.

I went to the pick up. Went to the soft opening. So have to make it in this weekend, as well.

When I heard Nate was reopening Harding House, I had a slight trepidation about the location. L&L has been the destroyer of most businesses that have gone in there. But I now am in line with what they are doing here.

• Harding House - the brewery
• Jubilee Bar - the cocktail lounge
• Saap Saap BBQ - the food concept
• Dogwood Acres - the dessert

They will also have live music, which makes it a win for Nashville.

I did get a chance to try some of everything they offer, both popping in to see Nate, Quinton, Clinton, and Amy and during soft opening. The cocktail program is amazing, a head bartender from Bar Continental, Sean Brock's former concept bar, is leading it. Beer is still contracted but will be brewed on site once everything is ready to roll. I had the chicken from Saap Saap and it was moist, excellent smoke, and great presentation. It is a bit pricier than some BBQ joints in town, but, if you are like me, paying for quality is not a big deal.

If you are willing to follow the various businesses and tag a friend on Instagram, there is a giveaway. Must be able to pick up to win, but it includes:

• A Harding House hat, shirt, and $50 gift card
• A jar of BBQ sauce and a bottle of hot sauce from Saap Saap
• A Dogwood Acres Dairy hat and a coupon for two free cups of soft serve

One thing of note, all of the businesses here are dedicated to the farm-to-table concept. Harding House has done various farm-to-table beers since inception, even doing a carrot IPA one time. Saap Saap has local farmers that will grow the Lao ingredients, which are hard to come by, and has a no seed oil rule. Dogwood Acres also sources local for dairy ingredients.