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Nashville Breweries: Where to Celebrate National Beer Day in Music City

Beer and music go hand in hand, that’s a given, so what better place to celebrate National Beer Day than Nashville? First of all, what is National Beer Day, anyway? Well, it falls on April 7 and celebrates the day in 1933 when the Cullen-Harrison Act was signed into law, which was actually March 22. This act ended the prohibition on selling beer in the U.S. In 2009, April 7 was unofficially named National Beer Day by a man in Virginia named Justin Smith.

Now, if you’re in Nashville looking to celebrate National Beer Day, where should you go? How about the best breweries in Nashville for this historic day? Settle in with a brew (or two) and get ready to celebrate.

Nashville Breweries That Put a Little Boot Scoot in Our Boogie

  • Best brewery for a unique small-batch selection: Southern Grist Brewing Company
  • When you’re looking for a good IPA: Bearded Iris Brewing
  • For a brewery founded by women with a focus on sustainability and great beer: Jackalope Brewing Company
  • Best brewery for beer that honors its Tennessee roots: Tennessee Brew Works
  • For a big presence and a beer for every season: Fat Bottom Brewing Company

Southern Grist Brewing Company

Website: southerngristbrewing.com
Location: East Nashville Taproom – 754 Douglas Ave, Nashville, TN 37207
Nations Taproom – 5012 Centennial Blvd, Nashville, TV 37209
Socials: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

If you’re looking for a truly unique beer experience, look no further than Southern Grist. The brewery takes pride in its creativity and is always looking to push the boundaries of what beer can do. Recently, they brought back their Strawberry Banana Shortcake Melted Sno Cone fruit smoothie beer. The beer is a 4.0% ABV sour ale full of strawberry and banana puree, lactose, vanilla, and marshmallows. Sour, yet sweet, and oh so different. They also recently released a non-alcoholic beer as well.

Southern Grist opened in Nashville in 2016, founded by Kevin Antoon, Jamie Lee, and Jared Welch. Within a year, the place was so popular that they were already looking for a bigger space. From then on, Southern Grist has brewed over 600 beers, and is always looking for the next big breakthrough in craft beer. Their specialties are complicated and unique flavor profiles, dessert-style beers, and fun fruity sours.

Bearded Iris Brewing

Website: beardedirisbrewing.com
Location: Germantown – 101 Van Buren St, Nashville, TN 37208
Sylvan Supply – 4101 Charlotte Ave Suite 40, Nashville, TN 37209
Socials: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Bearded Iris Brewing has IPAs and pilsners down to an art form. The brewery has a series of their own brews plus a selection of collaborations that are mostly hops-focused. They specialize in IPAs and Double IPAs, as well as pilsners and Double Dry Hopped brews. Bearded Iris stocks a selection of high ABV beers, from 5.4% to a whopping 8.5%. Their Mood Ring with raspberries looks especially delicious; it’s a double IPA made with raspberries, lactose, and vanilla, and hopped with Mosaic, Citra, and Vic Secret hops.

Bearded Iris cultivates not style, but hops; the brewery takes pride in its IPAs and DIPAs and provides the most varied array of hops in its brews that it can. Its signature beer is Homestyle, which is an oated IPA brewed with Mosaic hops. The brewery opened its Germantown location in February 2016 and requests that you please send cake.

Jackalope Brewing Company

Website: jackalopebrew.com
Location: 429B Houston St, Nashville, TN 37203
Socials: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Jackalope Brewing Company was founded in Nashville by two women–Bailey Spaulding and Robyn Virball–who met each other in Scotland; initially, they went their separate ways but came together again after realizing something was missing in their respective lives. That something turned into Jackalope Brewing Company in 2011. Jackalope was the first brewery in Nashville to can its beers, and the legacy of this brewery keeps on growing. Their lineup of quality brews features an IPA, a pale ale, a maple brown ale, and a pilsner.

One of the great things about Jackalope is its commitment to sustainability. They’ve taken many steps to reduce their impact on the earth while continuing to brew their amazing beer. First, they reduced their packaging, lighting in their production facility, use only local ingredients, and use grain from a producer that also holds their sustainability values. To read more about their dedication to sustainability, check out their website.

Tennessee Brew Works

Website: tnbrew.com
Location: 809 Ewing Ave, Nashville, TN 37203
Socials: Instagram | Twitter

Tennessee Brew Works loves being from Tennessee; the brewery prides itself on its roots. Founded in 2013 in Nashville, the brewery is still independently owned, and aims to “pay homage to the land, traditions, and culture of Tennessee.” Their biggest achievement was introducing all-Tennessee grain beers in 2018 in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

Additionally, the brewery sources local ingredients from Tennessee farms. They also send all their spent grains to Southwinds Cattle Company to feed their cows. Talk about honoring the land. Tennessee Brew Works is proud of where they’re from, and their beer reflects that pride. As far as their beers go, their most popular are the Southern Wit Witbier and State Park Blonde Ale. They also have a few IPAs to choose from, plus a lager and an amber. They also have three seasonal beers, plus limited editions and commemorative brews.

Fat Bottom Brewing Company

Website: fatbottombrewing.com
Location: 800 44th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37209
Socials: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Fat Bottom Brewing has a big presence and a big list of beers to match. The brewery began in 2012, started by Ben Bredesen, who had an untamable passion for brewing and beer history. It holds the honor of being East Nashville’s first brewery, but after 4 years, needed more space. The company purchased an acre and a half in West Nashville and made the move to a 33,000 square foot facility. Fat Bottom’s bigger space also features the Hop Yard, which is a restaurant and patio attached to the taproom.

As far as the beers go, Fat Bottom Brewing has a brew for every occasion. They have their flagships, such as Ruby the red ale, Knockout the IPA, Ida the golden ale, and Teddy Loves the pilsner. Fat Bottom also has four seasonal beers, Wallflower spring saison served from March to May, Two Piece summer wheat from June to August, Firestarter smoked pumpkin porter from September to November, and Icebreaker coffee porter from December to February.