Spring time is the season for college graduations and my niece-in-law, Anna, was graduating from Middle Tennessee State. Hey a road trip to my sister-in-law's home in Nashville for the graduation party and why drive that far without finding a new brewery to visit.
The Black Abbey Brewing Co.: The Nashville Predators were playing in town and in the process of winning their playoff series which put them into the Stanley cup finals. So Downtown was crazy and in gridlock. So we headed to South Nashville and a visit to Black Abbey Brewing. Walking into "Fellowship Hall" ( their tasting room ) I thought I walked into a 15th Century costume party. As it turned out they were celebrating banner day. Fortunately my Brother-in-law and I were not required to have a banner to purchase a flight of beer. Black Abbey Brewing has taken the theme of brewing beer in the tradition of Martin Luther's brewing during the Protestant Reformation in the early 1500's. They have a strong focus on Belgians, Marzen, Saisons and Ales. THey do have a few pale ales, IPAs and stouts, however, their speciality is the Belgians. Banner Day brought a very festival atmosphere and I did not have an opportunity to chat with anyone to learn more about the brewery. I do believe they have a 300 barrel capacity and you can find their beer at a few establishments in town. The tasting room had a small bar and few wooden picnic tables. We sampled 12 brews on our visit, my favorites were the Grand Design Tripel and The Rose Belgian Blonde. If you are around South Nashville, I highly recommend a visit, no Banner required.
The Black Abbey Brewing Co.: The Nashville Predators were playing in town and in the process of winning their playoff series which put them into the Stanley cup finals. So Downtown was crazy and in gridlock. So we headed to South Nashville and a visit to Black Abbey Brewing. Walking into "Fellowship Hall" ( their tasting room ) I thought I walked into a 15th Century costume party. As it turned out they were celebrating banner day. Fortunately my Brother-in-law and I were not required to have a banner to purchase a flight of beer. Black Abbey Brewing has taken the theme of brewing beer in the tradition of Martin Luther's brewing during the Protestant Reformation in the early 1500's. They have a strong focus on Belgians, Marzen, Saisons and Ales. THey do have a few pale ales, IPAs and stouts, however, their speciality is the Belgians. Banner Day brought a very festival atmosphere and I did not have an opportunity to chat with anyone to learn more about the brewery. I do believe they have a 300 barrel capacity and you can find their beer at a few establishments in town. The tasting room had a small bar and few wooden picnic tables. We sampled 12 brews on our visit, my favorites were the Grand Design Tripel and The Rose Belgian Blonde. If you are around South Nashville, I highly recommend a visit, no Banner required.
Country Boy Brewing: On the way home from Nashville, I decided it was time for a break and by coincidence we were near Georgetown,Kentucky. To my surprise (ha ha ha) Country Boy Brewing had recently opened their new production brewery and Tasting Room north of Georgetown. Located a few miles to the east I-75, Country Boy built a beautiful facility with a 90 bbl brewhouse and numerous fermentors. This brewing capacity expansion was necessary to meet their growing distribution market. The new facility included a 4,000 sq.ft. tasting room and a 5,000 sq.ft. patio. Their is plenty of room to enjoy a flight or a pint or two. Country Boy is keeping their original downtown brewery and taproom open. They will continue to operate this location to serve the UK students and downtown crowd, along with brewing small batch beers and experimental brews. OK...back to the beer at Country Boy North. In addition to the large tasting room and patio, they have a very large selection of brews. Making it difficult deciding what brews selectfor a tasting flight. So I did two flights, allowing me to enjoy a nice variety of their beer. My favorites were DY9NASTY IPA, Last year's was better IPA,Infinite Sadness black IPA and Fuego Del Oro stout. Great visit and I'm sure the new location will be very successful. In addion to a large Toyota plant next door, the area is growing.