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I started the year with a New Year’s Resolution to drink a beer at every brewery in Tennessee. This goal wasn’t one of June’s resolutions, but she’s a good sport and is along for the ride.
It’s a big goal, and June and I are still unsure of the exact number we’re shooting for. There are roughly 130 brewing companies across Tennessee from Memphis to Bristol. This 130 count is brewing companies, not locations. Breweries like Abridged (Knoxville), Bearded Iris (Nashville), Wiseacre (Memphis), and Yee Haw (Johnson City) have multiple locations. Here are a few caveats to the goal:
- We are not hitting every location a brewery operates. We’ll visit the main site, maybe the satellite taprooms. We enjoyed a flight at Yee-Haw in Johnson City, but I doubt we’ll go to the Nashville location. But we hit both Wiseacres in Memphis because we were near both locations on our trip.
- We’re going to breweries — nothing against cideries and meaderies. We’ll stop by if convenient.
- Brewpubs are not breweries — they are restaurants that make a little beer on-site. We’re interested in production breweries that widely distribute their beer. But Bosco’s was not to be missed in Memphis. They were the first independent small brewer in Tennessee, opening in 1992. We may hit some brewpubs, but they are not a priority.
We’ve made excellent progress, visiting 42 locations in the first three months of 2023. We have already knocked out Memphis to the West, most of the Tri-cities breweries to the East, and many breweries in the counties surrounding Nashville in Middle Tennessee. The next up are Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville.
We’d love to meet some of our followers. We’ll try to give you a heads-up when we head to Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville breweries. Let’s share a beer and get to know each other. If you can meet up with us, your first pint is on us!
Follow along with our progress here and on Instagram.