Nashville Craft Beer Week and East Nashville Beer Fest

Though apparently I don't brew anymore (or at least not nearly as often as I would like), I have had some fun beer events to attend.  Last week was the Nashville Craft Beer Week, and there were tons of events around town to celebrate, including tap takeovers and casks from several breweries; bunches of beer and meal pairings; a few beer/cheese, beer/dessert, beer/glassware events; and several beer tastings and discounts at various beer and wine stores.  I was only able to make a few...  M.L.Rose hosted a Sweetwater takeover, where six taps were devoted to Sweetwater beers, as well as a couple casks and some free glassware.  I had had all of the beers on tap prior, but I still went for this year's Happy Ending stout and Festive Ale.  Both are quite good.  I also took the opportunity to score some glassware:

Glassware:  Nashville Craft Beer Week (L) and Sweetwater (R)

I also briefly attended the BBC, Yazoo, and Terrapin promo night at Mojo/Broadway Brewhouse, and the Yazoo Taproom (though, really, that's a normal event and not a Beer Week event for me).  Most of the events were just too late in the evening for me to hit on a work night, but there were a few (the Yazoo/
Spiegelau event in particular, and also New Belgium Beer pairing dinner) that I wish I had been able to attend.


The week culminates with the East Nashville Beer Festival, which is one of two annual tastings that are really out of the ordinary and well worth attending, with the 12 South Winter Warmer being the other.  Both of these events feature a lot of beers that aren't available here, as evidenced by their brewery lists (here and here).  I also attend the Main Street Brew Fest (which was this month as well), as it is right up the road from my house and I have a lot of friends who attend, but the beer selection is rather ordinary.  No matter...  still fun in its own right.


This festival brought yet another tasting glass into my life...

Tasting glass, filled with tasty beverage...

I had over 70 beers during the five hour event (I skipped all ciders, but did have one fermented mint tea because it sounded interesting...  It wasn't) and didn't nearly hit all of the available beers.  

The Yazoo booth, and many more down the row...

Nearly every local brewery (except Cool Springs Brewery... hmm... well, I had my fill of them at the Main St. Festival) was represented, with Yazoo bringing the heat with several casks of their beers with dryhops or additives such as cocoa nibs, etc.  Blackstone also brought nine quality beers, and Jackalope, Bosco's, Black Abbey, Jubilee, Fat Bottom, Calfkiller and Broadcast also represented the local beers quite nicely. 

The Calfkiller guys with their unique tap handles (and their unique beers)...

The largest breweries represented were Sam Adams, with a mix of their standard and hi-gravs; and New Belgium, who brought their Lips of Faith series as well as the brand spanking new Shift.  Well, technically Pabst was there with their McSorley series, but I digress.  All the craft biggies were there...  Sierra Nevada, Victory, Stone, Shiner, Abita, Sweetwater, Brooklyn, BBC, Goose Island, Left Hand, Terrapin, Magic Hat, Schlafly, North Coast, etc.  There was also a nice mix from the beer hotbeds, specifically Colorado and Asheville.  But the fun is in the small breweries that we can't get in our area...  Straight to Ale, Twain's, Hat Trick, Flat12, Nebraska, Rivertown, Wild Heaven, etc.

Yazoo Gerst Amber cask hopped with Tettanger...

There was also a nice mix of music, with a stage of rotating acts...

As well as a small band that rotated through the crowd...

Finally, there were a great many of the quality Nashville food trucks, and some booths with shirts, crafts, etc.  My LHBS was represented, and were pouring homebrew from their staff.  Also, the Nashville and Murfreesboro homebrew clubs had several taps of very tasty homebrew available for tasting.  A former co-worker had a beer on tap at the Nashville booth.  


We wrapped the afternoon with a stop at one of the famous/infamous Nashville Hot Chicken shacks...  The park that housed the festival was a block from Bolton's, so we walked over and had some extra hot goodness...

A great day all around!


A goal for me?  To get a beer at the festival sometime in the next few years...