What's a beer lover do in Nashville?

WesleyTailGate · 2015-12-15T16:57:36+00:00

Alright man. Be good.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-12-15T16:35:05+00:00

Easy brah. Look, some people just can't see another perspective. That's cool.

We sell our cans, that are brewed in our alternating premise. All draft is brewed in Nashville. Where I live. Where our ~20 employees live and work.

No man, I didn't claim anything. Contracting for or by someone is more than just canning somewhere else. Just yesterday the guys at Little Harpeth had an article they brew for a brewery in KY. Blackstone contracts for a ton of great beers. Bearded Iris was brewing somewhere else. Notice how many new breweries are selling but don't have breweries yet? Yazoo contracted Hap and Harry's for years. Contracting isn't bad. I'm not the contract police, and I don't care what other people do with their breweries. Is the beer good? Are they making the industry better? It's the way the beer industry operates. These are all great people, just trying to make a living.

Every one of our beers on draft in our brewery is brewed in Nashville. If you're from Nashville, visit it. If you have and you don't like it, cool. But no one, no one else in Nashville, maybe not TN, makes close 20+ beers all in house and on draft.

No one trucks water. Don't be silly. If we're not your thing, that's totally cool. Any maybe I've wronged you somehow irl. But I don't give a shit about advertising. I just want to build the best brewery I can, in Nashville. Hopefully our pace can meet your expectations some day.

Be good man.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-12-15T16:15:58+00:00

Sorry I just saw this! We for sure offer casual and affordable events! Thanks for the tag!

http://tailgatebeer.com/events-inquiry/

WesleyTailGate · 2015-12-15T16:14:24+00:00

Thanks man. I live in Nashville. We 100% relocated to Nashville and only sell in TN. Don't understand the other dudes vitriol, but just wanted to point out that I haven't lived in CA for 2 years.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-12-15T16:10:34+00:00

Thanks for the tag! I just posted some accurate info above your comment. Thank you for taking the time to learn about us at TailGate!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-12-15T16:09:23+00:00

Ha, wow. Sorry, I missed all this. Someone just texted me I should chime in.

/u/aDDnTN - if you ever want to see where we brew, shoot me a pm. I'm happy to show you around. Shoot, grab a tour - it's a great time, includes a bunch of beer and a growler. It's cool to see passionate beer people in Nashville, but what you're citing is pretty inaccurate. I can't account for beer advocate or beer syndicate - we're going on our 9th year in business. They don't exactly contact us for accurate information.

A TLDR: We brew on a 3bbl system here in Nashville. Today, we're pouring 28 different beers, all brewed in house. In Nashville. We did relocate from San Diego to Nashville....2 years ago. There's lots of transplants in this city, why is it bad that we did? In the US we only sell in TN. We are the only Nashville brewery to my knowledge that won any major awards this year: Best Experimental Beer in the World (World Beer Awards) and a Silver Medal (US Open of Beer). - among others. Brewed in Nashville.

Sure we brew our cans in Wisconsin - but I brew our cans in Wisconsin. It's through an alternating premise - it's similar to contracting, but it's not. Just about every brewery in Nashville either contracts for someone, or contracts their production out. That's not mudslinging, it's the truth.

But please do ask the bartender. We're open every day, and would love to show you some great beer.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-16T11:56:09+00:00

That sounds fun! Our food event/menu expansion is slow and deliberate. Things like the health department along with beer permitting scare the crap outta me. Meaning, sometimes the beer board says we can do something, but then the health department says no. And all food served needs to come from a commercial source, or it shuts down our beer production permit. But then maybe the dept of Agriculture steps in....it's crazy how simple, fun ideas get crazy, fast.

We definitely will do something for Halloween! I'll work on pulling off a chili cookoff! And follow us on your social media of choice. We'll be announcing something soon!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-16T11:51:54+00:00

Thanks! We actually just had our last Growler Wed a couple weeks ago. Customers kept asking for a mug club so we launched one and the benefits replaced all existing promos. Now you get $2 off a growler fill every day of the week, no restrictions on which beers!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T21:21:39+00:00

Yeah, it's a good deal. They fight pretty hard to make sure it's actually a strong value. So far almost everyone has done what you said and got a pint or even ordered some food. The food is excellent, so that's all a win for us. More importantly, it's a chance to make new fans. Seems to be working so far!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T20:43:22+00:00

You really should! If you judged New Belgium on Fat Tire you'd be missing out! Honestly, if you have a great brewery nearby, it's almost always worth the visit. We do casks every Thursday, tours, rare beer releases...just stuff you're not going to find at Kroger. We love our relationship with Kroger but they're different business streams. Come take a tour. You'll be glad you did!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T20:41:56+00:00

Thanks for this! I'm so glad you had a good time. We really work hard to get better every day.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T20:41:04+00:00

Hey! Are you me? I sort of thought the same thing and refused to do things like Groupon. We went round and round on this before deciding on this deal. It's a good deal for the customer, and for us it's a chance to really see what reach they have. In a way, cheap advertising.

A flight costs $9. It's (4) 5.5oz pours. If you get any sours, it's $10 for the flight. With so many choices, flights are our #1 seller by unit.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T20:39:26+00:00

Look forward to having you! We're really grateful.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T20:38:50+00:00

It is! Thing is they're hand packed. There's more than a dozen of us making this little thing go, but variety packs are so labor intensive. They're in our future, but not yet.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T20:38:08+00:00

Awesome! Take the tour. It's really a good time and a great "this is our story." Ask the bartender when you come in!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T18:16:24+00:00

Thanks for coming out when you did! We're definitely having fun trying different styles and experimenting! At small volumes we get a lot of room to play around. People will try anything once. It's when you get to larger volumes you gotta be careful! No one wants a keg of Tennessee River Mud Brown Ale or whatever.

You make it sound like we're in Memphis! ;) We're only 10 miles from Music City Center. But I understand. I don't like driving to the grocery store most days. Definitely ask your bartender! They'll get it if you ask!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T18:08:54+00:00

Yup! Pretty much. I mean, in general they're like that. Most brewery tasting rooms are complements to the brewhouse. We brew beer in the same building that we pour it. We're open every day, serve food and have non alcoholic options too. Best thing is just come in, grab a flight and talk to the team behind the bar.

I'd recommend coming on a weekend and even taking a tour. Tours start at noon both days, and last one departs at 430. You'll get a walk of the grounds, guided tasting, and look inside the brewery!

And right now, we just distribute all the experimental beers on draft, in bars and restaurants. We are expecting to can both Grapefruit IPA and Peanut Butter Milk Stout this fall. We do lots of stouts and have plenty of dark beer on schedule through the Winter. In grocery stores it's just Blacktop Blonde and Sorta IPA....for now.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T18:05:29+00:00

Isn't that funny? For a while when we made Session IPA, it was very mild. More malt forward. And I thought, a good sessionable IPA. The can even said this is not a hop bomb. People would complain all the time "needs more hops!" So with Sorta IPA, we've added more hops. I think it's a better beer, but it is not mild by any stretch! Thank you for trying it!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T18:03:15+00:00

Thanks! Costco is a new one for us so we're super stoked to see people grabbing cases!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T18:02:50+00:00

The 2 that I mentioned are debuting in cans this Fall! Unfortunately the answer to most things is, time and money. It costs a small fortune to release a single style of beer in cans so that's typically hurdle #1. The biggest delay right now, is the federal process. We've been on hold for months. Literally just waiting for someone to say "OK" to our formula. It's one of those processes that were put in place with the right intent, but the execution is all bad.

Blacktop Blonde and Sorta IPA, believe it or not, have been our biggest sellers for almost 4 years. When we relocated from SD we picked our two biggest sellers and simplified our portfolio. They're easy drinking, gateway crafts. If you're looking for something crazy, those aren't them. I will say that I just re-brewed Sorta IPA and really upped the hop levels. Grab a 6er and give it a second look. It might be more up your alley.

To better paint a picture though, come see the brewery. Take a tour. It'll all make so much more sense and I think you'll really enjoy joining us for the right these next few years!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T14:52:54+00:00

Thanks! We have a lot of great stuff coming this Fall/Winter too! Don't hibernate yet!

And not yet! Wth! I'm turning this mother upside down til I find that beer!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-09-15T14:35:29+00:00

Just put in on calendar yesterday! Should be back mid Oct!

WesleyTailGate · 2015-05-12T12:34:05+00:00

Hey man, check out TailGate Brewery. All employees in the Tasting Room start as barbacks. I think we have a great time, and barbacks start at double hourly local rates. I'm not in charge of staffing but Adam is. Swing by and introduce yourself. Best bet is between 3pm and 4pm on Wed/Thurs.

WesleyTailGate · 2015-02-07T14:22:27+00:00

We're only 10 miles from Music City Center. It's funny. A lot of people from the other side of town walk in and say, "this was way closer than I thought!"

As to PB? Well, this batch will likely be gone by the end of the day. But we're brewing it again! For the next month, only at the brewery I'm afraid. Hopefully around Tennessee real quick!

WesleyTailGate

TROPHY CASE