Notes from Nashville, Part 2: A taste of Music City

Image: Brian Brown/Beer in Big D.

Following up Tuesday's article on the business aspects of this year's Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, here's a look at what Music City has to offer in terms of its beer.

All together, I visited six different breweries between time sitting in on economic, political and even historical seminars during the conference. I wasn't able to get to all the spots on my list, but I did manage to hit roughly a third of the breweries that exist in and around the immediate Downtown Nashville area. Thoughts on each are presented below, in no particular order.

As for recommendations, if you're looking to grab a bite to eat in an area with a number of breweries nearby, I'd suggest heading to an urban neighborhood called The Gulch. The district is home to restaurants like Peg Leg Porker, for the BBQ fiends, and Party Fowl, for those who've got a hankerin' for hot chicken. From there, three breweries are within easy walking distance - Yazoo Brewing Co., Jackalope Brewing Co., Tennessee Brew Works, with two more just a few blocks away - New Heights Brewing Co., Czann's Brewing Co..

Cheers!


Bearded Iris Brewing

To be clear, Bearded Iris does make other types of beer, but it was a little ironic to be ordering from a menu with the heading "Cultivate Variety," when every item on it (at the time) was some type of IPA. In any case, I worked my way through four beers of varying haze and juice content, eventually settling on DDH Chief of Chiefs as my choice for the leader of the tribe.

Left: Foeders for thought at Bearded Iris Brewing.
Right: Overlooking the framework of Black Abbey's brewing operation.
(Photos: © Brian Brown/Beer in Big D)

Black Abbey Brewing Co.

With beers of American, Belgian, English, German and Scottish influence, Black Abbey's portfolio was a melting pot of styles. Some were crafted by the book, while others featured a slight twist (The Champion is an American pale ale with smoked malt). Regardless of recipe, balance was a common descriptor across the board, which made for an array of well-executed, approachable beers. The place gets points for having a cask engine as well, from which I sampled The 5 Points, a West Coast IPA conditioned with licorice root.

Smith & Lentz Brewing Co.

Set up east of Downtown Nashville, Smith & Lentz was the only brewery in this survey where I drank a lager. Actually, I drank two, a Vienna lager and a pilsner. Both were solid, but the German Pils was the star of the show at this particular taproom. Parliamentary Mild, an English mild ale infused with coffee, came in a close second.

Tennessee Brew Works

With its multi-level indoor/outdoor setup, the taproom at Tennessee Brew Works was probably the most unique one I encountered on this trip. It was also the only brewhouse to employ a mash filter (at least that I noticed), which ended up being the centerpiece of conversation as I drank a pint of Country Roots, a smooth stout brewed with sweet potatoes.

Left: A musical theme permeates the place at Tennessee Brew Works.

Middle: Barrels reaching New Heights are sourced from a variety of Tennessee distilleries.

Right: Yazoo gets its name from a river in the founder's hometown.

(Photos: © Brian Brown/Beer in Big D)

New Heights Brewing Co.

It may have been the smallest taproom of those I visited, but New Heights certainly wasn't short on beer. A dozen house brews were supplemented by a quartet of special releases, all of which were barrel-aged takes on the brewery's imperial stout, Navel Gazer. Of those, I took a shot (pun intended) of a version aged for 15 months in Eagle Rare barrels. Nothing wrong with a little pick me up, but were I to return my first pour would be a pint of Coffee & Cream, a coffee and vanilla cream ale.

Yazoo Brewing Co.

Recommendations for Yazoo seemed to center around brewery's Embrace the Funk series, but this place is no slouch when it comes to its year-round selections. Along those lines, my top picks from Yazoo's everyday lineup would be Dos Perros, an American brown ale, and Gerst Amber. The latter is an homage to the original Nashville Brewing Co., which was renamed the William Gerst Brewing Co. in 1893.

Notes from Nashville, Part 1: The 2018 CBC and the State of the Industry address

Photo: Brian Brown/Beer in Big D.

The shifting sands of the craft beer landscape were a topic of much discussion last week, as industry players met for the Brewers Association's (BA) annual Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Key issues at hand included the inevitable economic slowdown, a subject that gave rise to conversations on how current and future breweries can best position themselves for the coming headwinds.

Speaking on the "State of the Industry," Bart Watson, chief economist for the BA, detailed declines in pricing and volume growth, while also providing perspective on the outlook going forward.

"Total beer was down 1% in 2017, whereas the craft market was up 5% by production volume," said Watson. "Looking at growth over time, we had double digit growth rates for six out of ten years, but we've settled into a longer-term growth pattern in the mid-single digits. That might be disappointing, but I think this is more realistic as a long-term growth rate and is something we should come to expect."

Slower growth is one reason 2017 saw an uptick in closings, with 165 such events being the highest number seen in the modern craft era. That's less than 3% of the entire industry, though, and less than the nearly 5% closure rate observed in North Texas alone (three closings out 65 local brewing operations during 2017).

Despite these closures, Watson pointed out that there are still a lot of people looking to open a brewery. The BA recorded 997 openings in 2017, bringing the total number of breweries operating all or part of last year to 6266. And, more are coming. Based on TTB data from the end of Q1 2018, there are nearly 9200 active brewing permits in the U.S.

So, how best to compete in such a crowded market? A panel of industry veterans offered their two cents on how to maintain focus in the face of the craft beer headwinds.

• Eric Ottoway, CEO of Brooklyn Brewery: "It's not headwinds, it's reality. Until about two years ago, we were living in la la land. It didn't matter what you did, you opened your doors and grew 25% a year automatically. That's not reality. Now, reality is settling in and all of us have to [realize] we've got businesses to run."


• Laura Bell, CEO of Bell's Brewery: "As we start to look at the shift in the industry, we remind ourselves is that it's not enough to be a great brewer. The headwinds are forcing us to be really good business people and to really think about business from a strategic planning perspective versus just making great beer."


• Chris Cramer, CEO & co-founder of Karl Strauss Brewing Co.: "We've been around long enough to see down cycles before. One of the things we learned from the 1990s is that you have to have a strong business plan, you have to have capital sufficiency, and you have to focus on those things that make you important to your core customers."


• Natalie Cilurzo, co-founder and president of Russian River Brewing Co.: "Pay attention to what your customers are asking for and what your employees are saying. If you're making beer that you like to drink and it isn't selling, it doesn't matter. If you're employees can't get behind it, they aren't going to help promote your business and sell your product to customers."


• David Walker, co-founder of Firestone Walker Brewing Co.: "This is not a job, it's a lifestyle, and there are real sacrifices to make. Everybody in the chain needs to be engaged. People you work with, your wholesalers, your retailers and your consumers. It's a little bit of a religion. And if you're not ready for that I would disengage right now. You need to know you are. You need a plan. If you haven't got 2019 in the bag by Memorial Day of 2018, you're reacting rather than being proactive. You need to be positive. Don't diminish others to elevate your brand. Focus on yourself, focus on the beers you make, your story and what you're trying to do."

Adding to those insights, Watson was joined by Paul Gatza, director of the BA, in suggesting that brewers need to find ways to differentiate. Along those lines, Gatza talked about digging into what beer drinkers are thinking. These days, it's not just about drinking the beer anymore. It's about the experience, and if brewers can find ways to elevate the experience (what's new, what's different, blur the lines, blending of beverage categories, macro trends), that may be a way to innovate.

Watson added that brewpubs are one type of place where "experiences" tend to occur. Not only that, great beer plus great food can be a differentiator in a competitive market. It's a thought process that certainly applies to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, considering production breweries outnumber brewpubs in the region more than two-to-one.

Either way, no matter how breweries choose to battle the headwinds, it's all about finding ways to stay in the race. And, like it or not, as David Walker suggests, it's going to be a survival of the fittest.

"I love to run, and there's nothing better than a good hill in a race to sort people out," said Walker. "We're just hitting a hill at the moment. When we get to the other side, we're going to be running next to the people we should be running next to. It's just a natural evolution."

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More metrics:

On being the shiny new penny: Breweries opening since 2014 grew up to 50% in 2017, while breweries that opened in 2013 or earlier grew only about 1%. The message: things are great while your brewery is the shiny new penny, but once the gleam wears off, you'll need to make sound business decisions if planning to be around for the long haul.

Production not reaching capacity: New data introduced tracks the gap between production capacity and actual production. As for how wide the gap is today, the industry would have to grow 5% a year for 12 years to reach capacity. The message: when making expansion decisions, think about whether there are better ways to spend your money in the short term (e.g. quality control, invest in your people).

Style trends: Hoppy styles (IPA, DIPA, Session IPA, Fruit IPA, American Pale Ale) accounted for more than 75% of growth in 2017, with lighter styles (blonde ale, cream ale, kölsch, pilsner, wheat ale) leading among the remaining 25%.

Oak Highlands honored at 2018 San Diego International Beer Competition

Image credit: San Diego International Beer Competition.

It seems the brewing industry has hit upon an awards season of sorts, as results from the 2018 San Diego International Beer Competition have been released after the completion of judging at the event in mid-April.

Working from a more refined list of styles compared to other recent competitions, the 2018 installment of the San Diego International Beer Competition accepted entries to only 56 categories (including ciders and meads). Beers were judged in a closed, blind event according to guidelines derived from those published by the Brewers Association.

Perusing the list of winners, only one recognized brewery hails from North Texas, as Oak Highlands Brewery of Dallas was awarded a gold medal for its year-round tripel, Freaky Deaky.

Oak Highlands Brewery

• Gold for Freaky Deaky in the Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale category.

The win represents the second notable honor bestowed upon Oak Highlands in recent months. Earlier this year, the brewery was named Grand Champion in the Low_ABV Aged Beer category for Red Wine Hypocrite at the 2018 United States Beer Championship.

Banner night for North Texas at the 2018 World Beer Cup

Image credit: Brewers Association.

This evening in Nashville, Tennessee, four breweries from North Texas were called to the podium to receive medals at the 2018 World Beer Cup (WBC). It was a banner year for the region, since four medals represents the most North Texas has won in a single year since the advent of the WBC.

Known as the most prestigious beer competition in the world, this year's WBC recognized beer excellence in 101 different categories. Styles were judged based on the 2018 World Beer Cup Style Guidelines, with a total of 8234 entries submitted by 2515 breweries from 66 countries.

Surveying local honorees, all four of the breweries listed below medaled at the WBC for the first time, though it's worth noting that Armadillo and Revolver have previously won medals for Honey Please (bronze, 2017) and Anodyne (gold, 2016), respectively, at the Great American Beer Festival.

Armadillo Ale Works

• Gold for Honey Please in the Honey Beer category.

Revolver Brewing

• Gold for Anodyne in the Other Strong Beer category.

Twin Peaks Brewing Co.

• Silver for Double Barrel Knotty in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer category.

Wild Acre Brewing Co.

• Gold for Thunder Hug in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout category.

Cheers and congratulations to all!

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For more on the 2018 World Beer Cup, click the following links to view the Winners List and 2018 WBC Fact Sheet.