Andy and I had the opportunity to take a quick road trip to Nashville this past weekend for a friend’s 40th birthday party. Although we’ve both been there on quick trips the last few years (me for work and Andy for a football game), we haven’t been there together in a LONG time (since we moved?). And we left Nashville in 2003. Wow – it has changed!!

Nashville has always been a fun place to live and visit for us. But now? NOW they are into craft beer like Cincinnati. Although one brewery told us they were about 3-years behind Cincinnati on local breweries, the Nashville area now has 16 breweries. Our hotel was in the West End area and Andy quickly discovered we could easily walk to four breweries in The Gulch area. (The Gulch is another new happening area that did not exist when we lived there, but it is very cool!)

Jackalope Brewing Company

We started our afternoon self-guided walking tour at Jackalope Tap Room. It was a fun atmosphere with a good number of tables indoors and outdoors. Many groups of people were playing games. Especially Jenga – the normal game and the jumbo over-sized outdoor one. There were two food trucks onsite if you wanted to get food. We enjoyed the beers we tried and moved on to the next stop.

Tennessee Brew Works

Tennessee Brew Works was probably our favorite location. The place was a diamond in the rough. Looked like we were just walking to a dead-end street and BAM! This awesome building showed up. Lots of outdoor seating to enjoy and indoors a view of the brewing process. The staff was super friendly and did not hesitate to chat with us and fill us in on the Nashville beer scene.Plus, the beer was great and they had food! We ordered the Tachos. Oh.my.yumminess! These tater tot nachos were to die for. If you are ever there, order them. You won’t regret it. So we split those for lunch and then headed on our way.

Czann’s Brewing Company

We were going to skip Czann’s due to the extra walk, but Tennessee Brew Works convinced us not to. And we were glad we went a bit off the beaten path. The brewery was much, much smaller. But the beer was good and you could choose the number of beers you wanted in your flight. We were getting full and only tried two each. Because their “flight samples” were pretty big.

Yazoo Brewing Company

Our final destination on the way back to the hotel must be one of the most well-known, because Yazoo was crazy crowded. There was a line out the door to get to the bar. Luckily, our friends got there ahead of us and ordered drinks and food from the food trucks. The only thing I didn’t like about their beer was that the flight was a designated sampling – no substitutions. So once the line shortened, I ordered a pint instead.

The strangest thing about these breweries? The hours are “weird” in my opinion. Craft beer must be for day drinking in Nashville right now because a lot of them closed early. On a Saturday! Like 6:00 PM early. So definitely check the hours and food options if you go in the future.

What (and where) is your favorite brewery?