The Nashville Feed

Nashville brews some damn fine beer. The local breweries, with one notable exception, each scored highly when rated by our Nashville Feed panel.

Boscos topped our thoroughly unscientific study, but it bested third place Blackstone by less than six points. Yazoo planted itself almost evenly between the two. Such close scores indicate that each location produces an admirable beer menu. The short difference may have even been within the study’s margin of error, if we had calculated a margin of error.

Boscos minor lead may be accounted for by a switch in some panel members, the beeriness of those panel members at the time of tasting, or an unspoken bias amongst a few voters. Other random factors may have also come into play.

These variables do not take away from Boscos position at the top, however. They brew a good brew. Outside of the Rye Not crap, everything our group sampled was very well received. A true beer buff would not be disappointed by anything from a Boscos tap.

I, myself, have thrown away many evenings at the bar with a sketchbook and a frequently refilled pint of Boscos’ Scottish ale.

The brewers there take their task quite seriously, even to the point of geekdom. The beer is better for their obsession.

Yazoo and Blackstone also benefit from the same fixation. Each of these locations has earned a recommendation from our group.

In fact, self identified beer snob J.J. Bresowar marked Blackstone’s Grand Cru as the most enjoyable beer he’d sampled all night.

The pale offerings of both Yazoo and Blackstone scored at the top of their respective charts, but darker ales followed shortly behind the sunny beverages. The breweries do not focus their efforts solely on one flagship selection. Rather, they do their best to craft a fine beer in each category.

To the consumer, this means a variety of tastes and moods can be satisfied by the offerings of our top three brewers.

Big River…well, they just sucked. They should not be considered in the same league as the other Nashville locations. They might be fine for tourists accustomed to mass-produced pilsner swill, but they do not register with demanding beer drinkers.

This all reeks of snobbery. It, admittedly, does have an element of the highbrow. In fact, the very title beer snob accepts some snootiness.

But it is important to qualify “snob” by the addition of the word “beer.”

This differentiates ale connoisseurs from those in other holier than thou crowds.

The wine people are typically removed from the common man. Likewise, those sippers of 12-year old Scotch, perfectly aged Jamaican rum, and other top shelf liquors are not anywhere near blue collared folk.

Beer, however, is the drink of the genuine. The citizens on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale are much more likely to pick up a six-pack on payday than those who do not even recognize when their payday comes.

Beer snobs are grounded in the working class.

Most beer snobs recognize humble beginnings, with cases of Milwaukee’s Best and Keystone. With a little more income, Michelob Light and Genuine Draft become more common. But as the beer fan develops socially she begins to search for more. It is a growth process, a maturing, a natural evolution.

Eventually, drinking becomes more a pursuit of taste than intoxication. Once one discovers the wonder, and appreciates the complexities of a finely crafted beer, it is nearly impossible to return to less.

Beer snobs, in actuality, are more true to their blue-collar roots than Anheuser-Busch customers. Our hard working ancestors in England, Ireland, Germany, etc. spent many hours following their shift enjoying dark and tasty beverages at their local public house. It wasn’t until the large brewing corporations began manipulating public opinion that the masses were convinced that beer should lack taste and color.

Only then did something called “Lite” become preferred by gruff and heavy construction workers.
Unfortunately, Nashville’s brewpubs seem determined to move the beer snob away from his heritage.
Panelist Chip Greene described Blackstone as: “Middle of the road, WASPy…” This was true of each brewpub on the night’s itinerary. Big River, Blackstone, and Boscos shared a similar atmosphere. Young female hostess at the door, servers in boring and unflattering uniforms, customers who looked alike and dressed alike. Each was a protected environment removed from the diversity of the Nashville demographic.

Yazoo stood out amongst the other locations. Its primary function is a brewery, to make beer that will be trucked elsewhere. A taproom with limited hours was added to give customers a place to enjoy the freshest Onward Stout possible.

The taproom is housed in a converted factory with minimal luxuries added. It creates a very real atmosphere of candid life. An old automotive assembly plant growls something about blue-collar lack of pretension. There is no smooth jazz or top 40 music. Actual conversations provide the only soundtrack. No hostesses greet customers. The servers and bartenders are dressed comfortably in clothing of their own choosing.

At the brew pubs, customers in sheep outfits ordered beer in an effort to convince themselves that they were still real.

Fortunately, Nashville offers a compromise. Yazoo and Blackstone have their kegs in several locations around the city. A Dos Perros in the Broadway Brewhouse offers the beer snob an opportunity to enjoy a true Nashville brew amongst true Nashville people.

At the end of our study, a few members escaped the mundane middle class environment of Boscos in favor of the realism of H-Cue’s Upstairs Poolroom down the street.

The smoke filled pool hall could benefit a larger selection of local beers, but it does have an intriguing mix of customers, and the best damn juke box in Nashville.

If H-Cue’s would just fill their taps with Boscos, Yazoo, and Blackstone products, it would be this drinker’s paradise

Other Posts:

• Drink It In, Nashville! The Idea
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 1: Yazoo Brewing Company
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 2: Big River Grille & Brewing Works
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 3: Blackstone Brewing Company
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 4: Boscos - The Restaurant for Beer Lovers

Technorati Tags: beer, brew pub, brewery, microbrew, nashville, boscos, blackstone, yazoo, big river

Boscos has long been an anchor to Nashville’s urban hip Hillsboro Village neighborhood. It has become an expected stop for any thirsty beer snob visiting or residing within the Nashville city limits.

The area also hosts other bars/restaurants, varied shops, and a great independent theatre.

These few blocks promote walking amongst the various establishments to the point that it is one of few locales where one can consistently expect pedestrian traffic. Nashville natives, and residents of the surrounding suburbs/exurbs, may be intimidated by the perceived lack of parking in the area. But anyone who has spent time in western or northern cities, those not quite so infected with the suburban sprawl virus, finds parking hardly challenging in the Village. If anything, it promotes a welcome oasis of foot and bicycle traffic within an otherwise motorized commuter city.

While in Hillsboro Village, one might be fooled into thinking that Nashville is an honest city drawn from a similar blueprint as Seattle, New Orleans, or D.C.

Boscos is an immoveable part of the feel of this neighborhood. It is removed enough from downtown to avoid a serious tourist infestation and promote an honest representation of Nashville. On the night that we visited, Georgia fans swarmed over Blackstone following the game, while the local Vanderbilt supporters found their way to Boscos.
Inside the front door is a forward bar that is friendly to regulars, strengthening its ties to the Village. This area frequently becomes overrun by Vandy folk, but most locals know what times hold the best chance to secure a barstool.

This small bar space is for the beer lovers. Much of the rest of the building’s square footage is dedicated to diners. Unfortunately, due to the size of our group, we were pushed back to that dining space.

On the upside, our wait was almost nothing. This may have been due to the fact that a few within our party had connections with the manager on duty. Or maybe this manager had been pre-warned of the power wielded by a Nashville Feed reporter.

It was probably due to the connections, since most everyone knows that a Nashville Feed reporter has little to no power.

Unfortunately, our party had lost a few expected voices on our panel to the comforts of their homes. Gone were the odd observations of Mark Lemley and invented adjectives of Tasha French. We had also lost the unpredictable words of Kristin Bresowar. Gone with her was her husband, J.J. He had been our leading beer connoisseur (and chastiser of Bud drinkers as “monkeys and construction slaves”).

In the panel’s favor, we had gained a few new voices with some beer knowledge. To make our last stop still more interesting, everyone was now registering themselves as feeling pleasantly buzzed or a bit crazy with judgment nicely impaired.

This impairment may or may not have worked in Boscos favor.

It’s difficult to get people to focus when they are under the influence. In my own muddled state, I had some difficulty reminding the panel members to fill out their ballots, comment on their ballots, and give the fuckin’ ballots to me!

Most were quite interested in drinking beer at this point, however. They just didn’t want to be bothered with registering their thoughts about said beer.

Our loopy panel declined to order a sampler tray, as they had at previous stops. Instead, they gravitated towards the seasonal ales on tap. Most had already established some familiarity with Boscos’ consistent offerings. They wanted to sample something new and adventurous.

This experimentation met with some tasty results, but, as with any risk, it also met with some disappointment.
A few members of our panel completely opted out of drinking. This small minority preferred the dessert menu to the beer menu. Peer pressure and half assed efforts at shunning didn’t get them to drink with the cool kids. But there were no ballots cast for the ice cream. I would not allow the integrity of our survey to be tainted by the delectable sweets of any venue.

As with Nashville’s other brewpubs, Boscos felt compelled to offer an Oktoberfest of their own making. This was sampled widely within our group, and it was well received. It was, by a solid 26 points, the preferred Oktoberfest of the night.

Mike’s Rye Not, however, was not well liked. It actually evoked distaste amongst the samplers. This seasonal landed a noticeable F on an otherwise impressive report card. It landed itself in the midst of Big River scores.

Fortunately, the other brews compensated nicely for their deformed bastard brother.

The Isle of Skye Scottish, the only non-seasonal offering on our chart, brought in the highest score of the night.

Again, this may have been owed to our combined blood alcohol level. But I would have to say, having sampled this beer before and since, that the Scottish is a damn fine brew. On the verge of magical, in fact.

Also representing Boscos well is the appropriately named Hop God. If our own Lauren Orr, aliased Hop Goddess, could enter into some sinful relationship of a holy nature with the Hop God, she likely would.

IPA enthusiasts throughout Davidson County, should allow themselves an opportunity to sample a Boscos Hop God. It may make one question his or her current religion.

A healthy stout in the spirit of California (read: Sierra Nevada) dark ales also pulls in points for Boscos.
While this list is admittedly limited and may not be an accurate representation of all Boscos beers, it does attest to a commitment to crafting fine beers. Fans of well-done ales should feel comfortable sampling anything on the Boscos beer menu, with the possible exception of that Rye Not crap.

Check back on Thursday for the final word on where the best drinking in Nashville is to be had.

From the panel:

American Style Stout
“This is a decent stout. Strong espresso background. I’m generally not a fan of stouts, but this one is tasty…would I reorder? Prob[ably] not.” –Jamie Ray
Mike’s Rye Not
“I’ll tell you rye not, because it has a bit of a soapy aftertaste. It’s not bad, but it’s not something I would pay money for.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a. Hop Goddess
“Maybe it’s just me, but…yuck. Tastes like licorice and I hate licorice. There is nothing good about Good ‘n’ Plenty.” –Jamie Ray
Hop God
“Good and hoppy, like a bunny hopping through a carrot field or a kangaroo about to get laid in the outback. The word jump’s got nothing on the Hop God. If you have no taste buds, you might be able to taste this.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a. Hop Goddess
Oktoberfest
“Great beer with a taste of maple-syrup finish. Best breakfast I’ve had all day.” –Chip Greene
“This (to me) is much better than Blackstone’s. Very nice finish. Aunt J. would be proud.” –Jamie Ray (Author’s note: I do not know who the hell Aunt J. is or why she would be proud).

Previous Posts:

• Drink It In Nashville! The Idea
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 1: Yazoo Brewery
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 2: Big River Grille
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 3: Blackstone Brewery

Technorati Tags: beer, brew pub, brewery, microbrew, nashville, boscos

Blackstone Brewery and Pub had drawn us out of a crowded downtown to a crowded West End.

Padded young men were smashing into each other at nearby Vanderbilt stadium when we reached the brew pub. Cars from throughout Georgia and Tennessee lined the streets, but Blackstone’s dedicated lot offered several spots.

By this time our group had grown, but it was less than ten minutes before a young hostess escorted us to one long table built from several short tables.

Those of us with pronounced alcoholic leanings surveyed the beer menu first, while those with healthier priorities scanned the food menu.

It was far enough into the night to lead us towards non-liquid sustenance. This may have colored our perception of the beers, but it also provided an opportunity to determine how the beers worked with a meal.
The dinner menu offered enough variety to satisfy the tastes of all within our panel. But food is not the focus of this article. You are here to read about beer, and I will not waste your time with edible distractions.

It was immediately obvious that Blackstone aims for a more sophisticated palate than Big River. While they did offer some selections with a lighter tint (a Chaser Pale and a delightful blond thing called the Grand Cru), they did not craft these brews to appease Budweiser devotees. The sunny offerings here were tasty and well done, despite their translucent appearance. In fact, the two palest offerings scored the highest in our rankings.

This isn’t to say that Blackstone doesn’t give adequate attention to the darker end of spectrum.

I admittedly prefer darker beers. My kindergarten education in fine beers began with a beautiful porter at the Elysian Brewery in Seattle’s cool as shit Capitol Hill neighborhood. Once you go black, you never go back. While I’ve enjoyed all shades of beers, my preference still leans towards the darker complected.

Blackstone does not disappoint in this genre. Their St. Charles is a fine example of a porter. Very little light escapes its pull. It has smooth texture going down, but you never forget that you are drinking an honest beer. It does align itself more closely with dark browns than with stouts, but it does this well.

Several in our party felt an obligation to sample Blackstone’s Oktoberfest in honor of a page on the calendar. This seasonal ale turned out to be the brewery’s weakest offering. Some on the panel even went so far as to prefer the Big River Oktober thing. It almost seemed as though Blackstone’s skilled brewers half-assed this one just to have something for October, or Oktober, or however the hell it is supposed to be spelled.

A half-hour into our third stop of the night people were beginning to display some mild effects of the previous tastings. Ballots were forgotten, handwriting became a little looser, conversations became a little louder. This may have impacted some perceptions of the beers, but there were enough fresh tasters to balance any bias of the buzzed.
Just as we were beginning to consider leaving, the room was invaded by football fans. Most of them were wearing Georgia Tech red, but are any football fans really that different from one another, regardless of team preference? Up to this point the environment hadn’t been infested with many obvious sports drones. There were no televisions in the dining areas, forcing anyone who must see the game into the bar area. Even there, the mood was reserved.

The service seemed to depend on section. While MmmDave described his service as “sucked, slow, tall,” on the opposite end of the restaurant we had no complaints. I’m not certain how I would apply our server’s height to her waitressing ability, but she was efficient and polite.

We left Blackstone reassured that Nashville can make a damn good beer in a brew pub.

Several members of our team had to abandon us at this time. They made wussy excuses about needing to be up early or liver disease or some other hardly relevant factor before retreating to the comfort of their boring little homes.
Fortunately, we had added a few willing tasters at Blackstone. These new panelists were fresh enough to provide us with sober rides to the Hillsboro Village home of Boscos Nashville.

Read that story here on Monday.

From the panel:

St. Charles Porter
“Good, but not great. Nice nuttiness, sweet with burnt (pleasant) taste, smooth like a babies (sic) bottom.” –J.J. Bresowar
“Porter? Really? Tastes nuttish.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
“Molassey, like a porter ought to be. Best dark beer I sampled tonight.” –Mark Lemley
“I could get drunk off this beer. Fermented grain, it’s beautiful.” –Kristin Bresowar

Oktoberfest

• “Almost like a PBR with some pretty red/brown food coloring added.” –J.J. Bresowar
• “I would not be able to drink very far on this one.” –Tasha French
• “Tasty. Me likey.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “Boring.” –Mark Lemley
• “…this is not memorable.” –Jamie Ray

Grand Cru

• “It’s sweet. It’s nice to have something unique, with a twist.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “Well rounded sweet beer. Honey really comes out, but isn’t too vanilla…” –J.J. Bresowar

Nut Brown

• “Very flavorful. Tastes earthy/woody.” –Tasha French
• “Dense and sweet, like Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Honey overtones, but no bees.” –Mark Lemley

Chaser Pale

• “Light, yet good.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “Favorite Pale Ale…very smooth and clean.” –Matt Kerske

Red Springs Ale

• “All I taste is the red onion from my salad. Don’t drink beer with red onion.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “Britishy bitter but American microstyle.” –Heather Barksdale

Previous Posts:

• Drink It In, Nashville! The Idea.
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 1:Yazoo Brewery.
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 2: Big River Grille & Brewing Works.

Tags: beer, brew pub, brewery, microbrew, nashville, blackstone

A pleasant early Saturday evening in downtown Nashville shortly before a Predators game makes for sucky parking and crowded streets.
After a quick hunt, we discovered street parking on the northern end of Second Ave. Well developed parallel parking skills open up a whole world of free spots downtown.
A quick march past karaoke bars and fuck me clubs brought us to Big River Grille and Brewing Works, at their longstanding but often overlooked location on the corner of Second and Broadway. The attractive young hostesses pleasantly informed us that we could expect a 45 minute wait for a table.
Bitches.
They did, however, propose that we could scout out our own table in the sizable bar area. Lauren, a former hostess herself, quickly secured a station with neighboring seats that could be annexed as our panel expanded.
Entranced football fans surrounded us on all sides, their gazes jumping from one big screen to the next. Waitresses purposefully danced through the patrons with trays of grease held high. Portly couples and their offspring were sprinkled throughout the loud room; the men in baseball caps and mustaches, the women in large Walmart clothing to hide the loss of youthful curves, and the children in the wrong place if they wanted to enjoy themselves.
The pool tables near the back of the room were largely unused, save for a mulleted gentleman and his challenger.
A great many of these people were presumably tourists. It’s unfortunate that they may have returned to Nutbush, TN with the idea that Big River is representative of Nashville brew pubs.
Big River offered more lightly colored selections than our other stops. This is presumably to comfort patrons accustomed to the urinal water bottled by Miller and Coors.
The three anemic offerings were not well liked by much of our panel. The Oktoberfest was the most well received brew, but even it was stuck in D territory.
When Big River did attempt the richly colored mainstays of other brewpubs it disappointed. A golden ale, pilsner, or light lager is typically compared with those mass produced offerings out of Milwaukee. Anheuser Busch and Pabst set the bar pretty low. A local brewery should be able to trump corporate offerings on freshness alone. But before it treads into the dark waters of beer snob favorites such as stouts and brown ales, it should be certain that it can swim.

Big River, despite their aquatic moniker, cannot swim. Their offerings were the blandest of the night. Other than a certain unidentifiable funkiness that seemed to run through each of their beers, there wasn’t a great deal of taste. That certain unidentifiable funk, according to our leading theory, may have been rooted in Big River’s brewing water. Perhaps they pipe it in unfiltered directly from the nearby Cumberland River.
A few members of our panel did find redeeming qualities in some of the selections, however. And Big River is well positioned for tourists to get loaded before the game or line dancing. The environment is welcoming to loud, obnoxious sports fans and vacationing families. If this is you, and you don’t really care what the hell you drink, then Big River may be worth the 45 minute wait.
We, however, were anxious to leave. Blackstone held a great deal more promise.
Check back Thursday to find if Blackstone kept that promise.

Taste Responses

Oktoberfest

• “Has that sweat sweaty smell of summer in Nashville.” –Kristin Bresowar
• “Mellow and rich…Creamy and upfront, like the Germans.” –Mark Lemley
• “Smooty, foody, bitter aftertaste.” –Tasha French

16th Avenue Pilsner

• “Pretty bad…” –J.J. Bresowar

Nashville Steamer Golden Ale

• “Starts with greywater and finishes with clay.” –J.J. Bresowar
• “Quite tangy and feels like a party in your mouth.” –Kristin Bresowar

Southern Flyer Light Lager

• “Very clean finish, but alas, that initial taste sucks.” –J.J. Bresowar

Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale

• “Nice color. Flavorless mostly.” –J.J. Bresowar

Thick Brick Red Ale

• “Tastes like a wet brick in my mouth…They should make sure sewage doesn’t seep into beer.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”

Iron Horse Stout

• “Something went wrong. I think that those beer yeasts got swapped with the nasty kind that cause unpleasant infections that women prefer not to speak of.” –Kristin Bresowar
  • • Drink It in Nashville: The idea.
    • Drink It in Nashville: Stop 1 - Yazoo Brewery.

  Previous posts

  beer, brew pub, brewery, microbrew, nashville, big river grille

The Yazoo (YazooBrew.com) taproom has a historic feel that many pubs strive for in their new construction. The building was built at the start of the 20th century to house the Marathon Motor Works factory. The inappropriately named Marathon did not last long against Henry Ford’s assembly line, but the solidly constructed brick building remained. Yazoo moved in its vats and other equipment at the end of the 20th century and began making lots of beer. They then threw in a small wooden bar, a few spartan tables, and developed a taproom just filled with character and charm.

Tasha French curiously described the place with “feels northern.” Lauren Orr got more of a European feel from it. In either case, the taproom enjoys a unique character amongst Nashville pubs.
It does not offer a great deal of space for large crowds, but it suits the late afternoon group of regulars and young professionals well. A lack of television sets keeps the sports louts away, and well-lighted rooms make sure no one is there simply for a cheap hookup. Customers come here for the beer, and maybe some quiet conversation; but mostly for the beer.

It was a pleasant environment in which to wait for our guided tour. We had purchased our tickets, appropriately, from the bar. Tickets for the Yazoo brewery tour come in the form of a collectible pint glass, which we were encouraged to take home and cherish for a lifetime.

Before long, Head Brewer Quinn Meneely had called us into the back of the classic building. Meneely doesn’t usually give tours, but he knew how to please the group. In addition to demonstrating a great knowledge of his craft, he provided each of us with a sample of Yazoo’s Dos Perros at the outset of the tour.

A generous portion of beer is a recommended method for warming up a crowd prior to any presentation.
Meneely then took us through the beer making process, giving us malt and barley to snack on between beer samples. The final product is considerably better than the sum of its parts. Not only is it in a tasty liquid form, all of that yeast eating sugar gives it alcohol.

And that alcohol is closely regulated by Tennessee bureaucrats who pretend to know how much you can handle.

Meneely confessed to favoring the Yazoo IPA today, primarily because it is a batch he crafted himself. But on most other days, he is a fan of the Onward Stout.

Following the tour, our panel returned to the taproom and began sampling with a purpose.
It quickly became apparent that the preferences within the group varied. Hops can be scary to some people who have not yet acquired a test for them. Others, however, had acquired a taste, some even a love, for the hops.

A little darkness was not intimidating, however. The blackness of Meneely’s preferred Onward Stout was sampled by many, but it did not receive the glowing reviews that one might expect. Of the beverages that cast a heavier shadow, the flavorful Dos Perros was preferred by most of the group.

The ESB was pronounced “watery and sucky” by this author. Our panel tended to agree that it was the weakest of the Yazoo offerings.

Overall, however, the group was pleased with the beers coming out of the renovated Marathon Motor Works. The beers of Yazoo did not disappoint our beer snobs, nor those with a less developed palate.
Yazoo earned a combined score of 77.78 out of a possible 100. A high C.

It also earned a recommendation from our panel. The fact that it bottles its beer makes it an attractive choice in supermarkets and convenience stores around middle and western Tennessee. It’s prevalence on the taps of several local watering holes also makes it a consistently enjoyable selection on a sometimes crowded menu of beers trucked in from all over the country and, in some cases, shipped in from around the world.

Sampling the newly birthed beers of Yazoo illustrated to us the impact of freshness on the quality of the beer. It’s a short trip from the Marathon Motor Works to the Broadway Brewhouse. For the youngest beer behind the bar, Yazoo wins in almost every Nashville venue.

With any Yazoo buzz still unnoticeable, our panel left the industrialization of north Nashville for the tourist infestation of downtown Nashville. This is the zip code of Big River Grille and Brewing Works.

Panel Responses:

Onward Stout

• “…cold coffee that tasted like beer.” –Tasha French
• “…maybe it will fool me into thinking it has caffeine.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “Yummy. Tastes like chocolatey coffee.” –Kristin Bresowar

Dos Perros

• “Foody—like food. I felt like I was eating.” –Tasha French
• “Excellent dark ale. Very tasty. Kinda sweet with nice aroma.” –J.J. Bresowar

Hop Project

• “I like my beers like I like my bullfrogs: hoppy and wet.” –Mark Lemley
• “Nice!” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “I feel like a hop just died in my mouth.” –Kristin Bresowar

Pale Ale

• “Nice hopping, but not too bitter. Perhaps a little light on depth…” –J.J. Bresowar
• “Crisp, good flavor…” –Phil Orr

Hefeweizen

• “…I would enjoy it more naked on the beach.” –Kristin Bresowar

ESB

• “I thought ESB stood for Extra Special Bitter. This ain’t bitter.” –Kristin Bresowar

All Series Posts:

• Drink It In Nashville! The Idea
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 1: Yazoo Brewing Company
  
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 2: Big River Grille & Brewery
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 3: Blackstone Brewing Company
  
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 4: Boscos - The Restaurant for Beer Lover
• Drink It In, Nashville! In Conclusion

Technorati Tags: beer, brew pub, brewery, microbrew, nashville, yazoo

Locally brewed craft beers have been popping up all over the country in the last fifteen years. Microbrews are no longer limited to the likes of Denver and Seattle. Today even citizens of small cities such as Missoula, MT and Chapel Hill, NC can enjoy a hometown brew.
Nashville has not been left out of this nationwide trend. To date, the Music City hosts three brew pubs and one full brewery.

Each of these has been financially well received. All are holding on to their share of the market, if not expanding.
Yazoo, Nashville’s lone complete brewery, has recently been exporting its kegs to Memphis as well as various locations throughout Davidson County. It has also been trucking bottles of its flagship beers (Dos Perros and Pale Ale) to destinations in both Davidson and Shelby counties. Their next goal is to jump the stateline and make their brews available in Birmingham, AL.

Blackstone has also been sending kegs and bottles full of flavorful concoctions throughout the middle Tennessee area. It is the lone brew pub in Nashville to reach beyond its walls and share its products with other venues.

Thus far, Boscos and Big River, Nashville’s two other brew pubs, have remained satisfied with the sales generated inside their respective buildings.
This all translates into opportunities for some good drinking in Nashville. Nashville Feed wanted to find out where the tastiest of those opportunities lies.

To discover this, we could have compared honors bestowed on each brewery. Each place brags of awards. In addition to scattered other accolades, all have received recognition from the Great American Beer Festival. But this isn’t about what attendees of an exclusive national beer festival in Colorado think; this is about the tastes of Nashvillians.

And an article solely about certificates of achievement would be catatonically boring for me, the writer, as well as you, the reader.

We also might have assembled a panel of middle Tennessee’s most well regarded beer aficionados to sample each microbrew. But are these people actually representative of the drinkers in Nashville? The city has a very diverse population of people enjoying the local brews on any given night. Many of them don’t know what gravity or malt is, but they know what tastes right.

So we opened up the voting to whomever would like to join us for at least one stop on a four part tasting journey through Nashville. We felt that this approach would give us the most accurate representation of what the city’s drinkers actually preferred, as well as giving the Nashville Feed writers an excuse to knock back a few pints of fine ales ourselves.

Our tasters put themselves into one of three categories:

• Occasionally sample something with taste and character
• Enjoy microbrews, but not real knowledgeable
• Beer snob

There were two other options on the ballot, but no one wanted to admit to being a fan of corporate beers or a lord of the fine brews. Thus, our survey was conducted by a sample of solid, middle of the road beer drinkers.

Tasters were asked to sample whichever beer they wanted. They then were instructed to comment on the beer and give it a rating from one to five (five being the Angelina Jolie/Johnny Depp of beers) on a ballot provided for them. Additional information was also collected, such as intoxication level at the time of sampling and notes on ambiance, service, location and any other miscellaneous ranting the voter wished to offer.

Not all beers offered at each location show up in the results. Some selections may not have been sampled by anyone on the panel, or the beer may have been sampled but no ballot was submitted for it.

At least two ballots per beer had to be submitted for that particular beverage to be considered. This was to insure that one person’s fickle tastes or established love for one selection did not unfairly slant the results.

Our study was in no way intended to represent any sort of accurate system of measuring beer quality. It was put together solely so that we could drink lots and get a vague, unprofessional, nonbinding concept of where the good beer is made.

With that disclaimer in mind, below is links to all the articles in the series:

• Drink It In Nashville! The Idea
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 1: Yazoo Brewery
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 2: Big River Grille
• Drink It In Nashville! Stop 3: Blackstone Brewery

Tags: beer, brew pub, brewery, microbrew, nashville

Step dance shows have ridden hip-hop culture to recognizable popularity. Unfortunately, due to the voluntary racial segregation of both supporting organizations and potential spectators, many people have not yet experienced this rhythmic expression.
The fraternities and sororities of the National Pan-Hellenic Council put on a great show at the University of Memphis campus last Friday. While a storm stirred behind them, these young people stomped, screamed, and leapt all over the fountain mall. Those who have not yet seen a performance are missing one of the great forms of American dance.

For Nashville and national information, look to the National Step Show Alliance.

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