By Chris Chamberlain
For those New Nashvillians who didn’t arrive in town until after the 2010 flood, it may be difficult to imagine what the craft beer scene was in town before Yazoo Brewing Co. opened in those antediluvian days. Suffice it to say that the pickings were pretty slim in town before Linus Hall released his first Pale Ale in 2003, and now here we are 20 years later.
To recognize this auspicious accomplishment, Hall has decided to share the love by reaching out to some of his favorite local, regional, national and even international brewers to create collaboration brews throughout the 20-year celebration. Among the brewers he plans to share tanks with: Wiseacre Brewing in Memphis; Smith and Lentz Brewing in Nashville; the German Hop Growers Association from Germany; Perennial Brewing from St. Louis; Calfkiller Brewing from Sparta, Tenn.; Brooklyn Brewery from Brooklyn; Jolly Pumpkin Brewing from Dexter, Mich.; Columbus Brewing from Columbus, Ohio; and Wooly Pig Brewery from Fresno, Ohio.
First in the fermenter is a collaboration with Wiseacre. Linus took a trip to Memphis to brew a coffee-infused pale ale with Wiseacre brewer Davin Bartosch, who returned the favor by traveling to Nashville to create a dark lager infused with vanilla bean and cocoa nibs. Once both beers are officially available, Yazoo encourages carefully pouring the dark then the lighter beer into a pint glass to create a cross-regional Tennessee black and tan.
You can sample your first taste of these beers at Yazoo’s Madison taproom on Thursday, March 2, or at a celebration of Yazoo’s 20th anniversary this Friday, March 3, starting at 3 p.m. at the original location of M.L.Rose Craft Beer & Burgers at 2535 Eighth Ave South. You’ll soon find both the Yazoo and Wiseacre beers on tap and in cans all over town, so you can try the black and tan at home.
This should be a great year for Yazoo, and by extension, beer lovers all over town!
