Country Music Marathon and 1/2 Marathon Advice, from a beer drinker/ runner...

Here we go again!  The last Saturday of April, when over 30,000 people take to the streets of Nashville for the Country Music Marathon.  I've run the full marathon once, and the half-marathon about 5-6 times, and I thought I'd share some tips I've learned that can make the day as easy as possible:

1.  The night before, don't do the whole carb-loading thing, where you force yourself to eat five plates of pasta washed down with just water.  Have a light dinner, like a sandwich and a salad, drink a couple of beers, and go to bed early.
2.   Yeah, seriously, have a couple of good beers.  It'll help you sleep, and good beer is has plenty of carbs.  Better yet, have a couple of unfiltered hefeweizens.  The brewers yeast is full of vitamins like B12.
3.   Get to the shuttle buses at LP Field by 5:15 AM.  It can take 20-30 minutes to get through the line to get on a bus, and then another 20 minutes to ride to Centennial Park.
4.   Get a cup of coffee and a banana, and go directly to the porta-johns.  The lines there will take 45 minutes - seriously.  You won't think you need to go, but as the start time approaches and you get nervous, you will - and then the lines will take forever.
5.   Get in your corral and head to the side away from Centennial Park.  You won't get pushed around as much by people trying to get in as the start time approaches.
6.   Start slow.  You are going to want to run faster than your pace to try to get away from the crowd, but in a race this big, you never get away from the crowds.  And the hill going up Demonbruen to the Musica Roundabout is a killer if you started out too fast.
7.   There are always fresh oranges and bananas in front of the International Market on Belmont, and they always give you a good burst of energy.
8.   Pace yourself on 12th Ave South.  There are two long hills that can take a lot out of you.  And seeing everyone drinking a beer at Mafioasa's and 12th S Taproom is tempting.  Don't give in.
9.   The road through the Gulch can be tough on your legs.  Watch out for ruts and potholes, and don't turn an ankle.
10.  Pace yourself on 8th Ave and through the Bicentennial Mall.  It feels like you are almost done, but you have a killer hill ahead.
11.  The hill coming up James Robertson Parkway, in front of the Capitol Building, is the last big one.  Once you get to the top, it's all downhill from there!
12.  Smile when you pass through the finish line and make sure they can see your number!
13.    Drink a couple of good beers, take a shower, and go take a nap.  Congratulations!

Hope to see some Yazooligans during the race!  Lila and I are doing the half together.

Cheers,

Linus

2nd run of Gerst today!

Bottling Gerst today!  2nd run in two weeks.  We've been getting a lot of calls and emails asking where it is available.  It's getting out there - should be in most area grocery stores and retailers who carry Yazoo over the next month or so.  Midtown Beverages, Frugal Macdoogals, Mt. Juliet Beer all took big orders this week, so try there if you can't find it in your local store.  And of course, we have some cases for sale here at the brewery! Here's a link to a youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQhGAWT0sA8

Super secret event this Monday...

Hey guys! This is something cool at the Yazoo taproom this coming Monday, which might have slipped under your radar. Our friends at City House and Capitol Grille are teaming up with Yazoo for a fundraiser for the Southern Foodways Alliance this coming Monday, April 16, at the Yazoo taproom. Tyler Brown from Capitol Grille (Hermitage Hotel) and Tandy Wilson from City House will be grilling some great local brats and sausages, and guests are asked to bring a side dish for a good ole potluck dinner. There will be award-winning chefs grilling on our patio, live music, and plenty of tasty beer, plus some surprise dishes from our guests. Tickets are still available at:

http://stpnashville.ticketleap.com/potluck/

It sure is an interesting time to be in the beer business...

Sierra Nevada building a second brewery in Asheville (500k bbls) ... New Belgium building a second brewery just down the road from them (600k bbls) ... Lauganitas building a second brewery in Chicago (600k bbls) ... Terrapin selling equity to Tenth and Blake, the Blue Moon division of MillerCoors, and expanding to 100k bbls ... Sweetwater expanding to 500k bbls this year ... over 900 breweries-in-planning, hoping to open this year ... Savor in DC selling out in about 2 minutes this year, at $120 a ticket ... GABF is probably already sold out.

So with just those existing breweries I mentioned, about 2.3 million barrels of capacity added ... and that was not a complete list by far. By comparison, Boston Beer (Sam Adams) sold 2.259 million bbls in 2010. So in a few years, the increase in capacity from just the brewers I listed will be like adding another Sam Adams to the craft beer market. Pretty amazing...