The Nashville Feed

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