The Best Breweries in Nashville: A Local's Craft Beer Crawl
By Paul Whitten, Founder of Nashville Adventures
Everybody comes to Nashville for the whiskey and the honky tonks. Fair enough. But if you only ever drink on Broadway, you are missing the part of this city that locals actually spend their weekends in.
The best breweries in Nashville are tucked into old warehouses, converted garages, and neighborhood corners you would never stumble on by accident. That is where Music City drinks when the tourists go home.
I have spent a lot of afternoons doing what I like to call field research. Here is my honest map: where to go, who started it all, and how to build a brewery day that does not end in a rideshare bill you regret.
How Nashville Went From Zero Breweries to a Beer Town
For a city this loud about music, Nashville came surprisingly late to craft beer. You can blame Prohibition and a long century of stubborn Tennessee liquor laws.
Before the 1990s there was almost nothing. Blackstone Brewing arrived in 1994 as one of the city's first craft operations, and then in October 2003 a homebrewer named Linus Hall opened Yazoo Brewing, the first production brewery Nashville had seen since Prohibition. He started it in the old Marathon Motor Works building, ordered his first homebrew kit off a magazine ad, and more or less lit the fuse on the whole scene.
Hall has always been generous about how that scene grew, and he tells the origin story like a man who knew he could not do it alone.
I had this idea in my head to start a brewery and come back to Nashville. Breweries back then had so little market share, we knew we had to help each other, to raise all tides for all boats. (via CraftBeer.com)
That cooperative streak is the reason Nashville now has dozens of breweries instead of two. When you sit in these taprooms, you are drinking the result of people helping each other up.
Yazoo Brewing: Where the Best Breweries in Nashville Trace Their Roots
Start with the granddaddy. Yazoo sits up in Madison now, in a big riverfront building with a beer garden, after years in the Gulch.
Order a Yazoo Pale Ale or a Dos Perros and you are drinking history. In 2009 Yazoo brewed a smoked porter called Sue that became Tennessee's first legal high-gravity beer, which quietly helped push the state to lift its old cap on alcohol content. Half the strong, interesting beer poured in this city today exists partly because Yazoo picked that fight.
It is worth the short drive north. Bring a designated driver and stay for the pretzels (Yazoo Brewing).
The Nashville Breweries Worth Building a Day Around
Here is my working shortlist. These are the taprooms I actually send friends to.
Bearded Iris Brewing (Germantown). The name locals drop first when hazy IPAs come up. Their Homestyle series put Nashville on the map for the soft, juicy, New England style, and the Germantown taproom is an easy walk from the farmers market.
Jackalope Brewing Company (Wedgewood-Houston). One of Tennessee's first woman-founded breweries, started by Bailey Spaulding back in 2011. Bold beers, a big mural out front, and a taproom that feels like a neighborhood living room.
Southern Grist Brewing (East Nashville and The Nations). The experimental one. Wild sours, pastry stouts, and a rotating list so long you will need a minute. Adventurous drinkers start here.
Tennessee Brew Works (SoBro). A two-story taproom with a real kitchen, walking distance from downtown, which makes it the easiest brewery to fold into a Broadway trip.
TailGate Brewery. Homegrown and everywhere, with locations in West Nashville, on Demonbreun, in East Nashville, and Germantown. Reliable pizza, reliable pours.
Fat Bottom and Bassline in The Nations. The Nations neighborhood has quietly become brewery central, and both are dog friendly and easy to bounce between on foot.
A quick honest note. The taproom scene changes fast, breweries open and close and move, so check current hours before you drive across town. The good news is most of these cluster by neighborhood, so you can hit several without much of a commute.
How to Do a Nashville Brewery Day the Right Way
You do not need a plan so much as a shape. Here is mine.
Pick one neighborhood, not five. The Nations, East Nashville, or Wedgewood-Houston each have enough breweries within a mile to fill an afternoon. Bouncing across the whole city is how you spend the day in traffic instead of taprooms.
Eat first, then pace yourself. Grab barbecue on the way in. If you want my picks, I keep an honest list of the best BBQ in Nashville for exactly this reason.
Go early on weekends. The taproom fills up fast on a Friday, you will want to get there before the after-work rush claims every table.
Sample, do not chug. Flights exist so you can taste six beers responsibly instead of committing to one bad pint. Use them.
Line up a ride. Nashville is not built for driving between breweries. Plan the rideshare before the second flight, not after.
If beer is only part of your drinking curiosity, Nashville rewards the full tour. I connected the dots between the city's whiskey story and its bar culture in Tennessee whiskey, more than just the song, and if you want the caffeinated flip side of a slow Nashville morning, my ranking of the best Nashville coffee shops covers where locals actually start the day.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the oldest brewery in Nashville?
Yazoo Brewing Company is the oldest production brewery in Nashville, founded by Linus Hall in October 2003. It was the first production brewery to open in the city since Prohibition, and it helped launch the modern Nashville craft beer scene. Blackstone Brewing, which opened in 1994, is often cited as the city's first craft brewpub.
What neighborhood has the most breweries in Nashville?
The Nations in West Nashville and East Nashville both have dense brewery clusters, which makes them the easiest areas for a walkable brewery day. Wedgewood-Houston and Germantown are also strong picks, with several well-regarded taprooms within a short distance of each other.
Are Nashville breweries family friendly?
Many Nashville breweries welcome families and dogs, especially those with outdoor beer gardens like Fat Bottom, East Nashville Beer Works, and TailGate. Policies vary by location and time of day, so it is smart to check ahead if you are bringing kids or pets along.
Do you need a car to visit Nashville breweries?
You do not always need your own car, but you do need a plan. Breweries cluster by neighborhood, so you can walk between several once you arrive in an area. Getting between neighborhoods is easiest by rideshare, which also keeps everyone safe after a few tastings.
For the bigger picture, this guide is part of my complete Nashville drinks guide. And if your perfect Nashville day swaps pints for vinyl, here are the best record stores in Nashville.
Turn Your Brewery Day Into a Real Nashville Story
Here is the truth about a great drinking day in this city: the beer is better when you know the story behind the streets it is poured on.
That is what we do. Our Historically Tipsy pub crawl walks you through the real history of Nashville's drinking culture, from Prohibition raids to the honky tonk boom, with stops that go a lot deeper than a wristband bar hop. Prefer the harder stuff? Our Nashville distillery tour takes the same storytelling approach to Tennessee whiskey and local spirits.
Come thirsty and curious. In Nashville, every glass has a history, and I would love to pour you the whole thing.
