Done. Maybe. 

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The 2023 Beer Makes Three Tennessee Beer Adventure is done (trip details here)! Well, at least for now; more on that in a minute. 

I stopped by Hop Spring’s Beer Park in Murfreesboro a few days ago after realizing they are now opening the taproom on Thursdays through Sundays. With that, I’ve had a beer at 143 brewers in TN. Most are production breweries, but I also enjoyed beers at about a dozen brewpubs, one distillery, and one winery. I actually went to 151 locations; these breweries have multiple locations that I was able to get to:

  • Oddstory
  • Star Spangled Brewing
  • Tailgate
  • Tennessee Valley Brewing
  • Wiseacre
  • Xül

I’ve kept stats on miles driven, fuel burned, hotel stays, and dollars spent. Next year I’ll share the final numbers once the quest is done. The surprising thing to me is how much time the adventure took. I didn’t think about that when I came up with the idea. I also thought there were only about 100 breweries in the state; the extra 40ish made it more challenging.  

A few time stats:

  • 58 days – I visited breweries on 58 different days, about 16% of the year.
  • 23 Saturdays – Of that 58, 23 were Saturdays! I spent almost half the Saturdays in 2023 at a brewery. (All year, I wondered why I never rode the new motorcycle I bought in March. Now I know!)
  • 76 hours – We spent at least 30 minutes at each place, so 76 hours enjoying TN beer and meeting the great folks who make it. 
  • 139 hours – Driving time, crisscrossing this beautiful State of Tennessee.

It’s been a fantastic year, but I’m glad it’s done. And now that I’ll have some free time in 2024, I’ll share a lot more with you. There are a lot of stories to tell.

But there may be one more stop. Seriously. A new brewery is planning to open on New Year’s Eve in Clarksville. At least it’s only 45 minutes away. If they actually open on 12/31, I’ll be there.

I hope this journey inspires you to visit some of Tennessee’s great breweries too. Have a great 2024!