Chattanooga Beer Fest this Saturday

We're heading down to the 'Noog this weekend for the annual Southern Brewers Fest, held down on the riverfront in front of the Aquarium. If you have never been, it's a little unique as far as beer fests go. You buy a cup and three tokens for beer when you get in, and get a full pour of whichever beer you like for one token. You can purchase more tokens as the day goes on.

It's all for a good cause, and there will be more breweries and beers there than I can ever remember. Come on down!

http://www.southernbrewersfestival.com/

The lowdown on Hop Project #35

Hop Project #35 was bottled the forth week of August (check the left side of the label).
For this one, we used Columbus and Nugget for first wort hops, then Goldings and Nugget at 30 minutes, Goldings and Nugget again at 5 minutes left in the boil, and then Goldings for dry-hopping.

We have ramped up production of the Hop Project, as it gets out into more stores in the six-packs, and as we expand it out into markets outside of Nashville. So if you are checking stores around Nashville, you may be lucky enough (and confused enough) to find three or more different versions of Hop Project available. We're having a lot of fun with this particular beer, and love experimenting with different blends and different techniques.

Knoxville got a delivery of #34 in cases and sixth barrel kegs last week. We'll be sending a limited number of #35 up there in half-barrel kegs this week. Memphis just get a limited number of cases of #35 (and of Sue) this week as well.

Hop Project #34 now out in bottles...

Hop Project #34 was bottled third week of August. For this batch, we decided to feature a hop we have never used before, Sorachi Ace. We used Warrior hops at the beginning of the boil, and then the Sorachi Ace at 45 min, 5 min, and dry hopped in the fermenter.

It's got a unique lemony aroma and a dry lingering bitterness. I like it. And I hope you will too.

Cheers,

Linus

Fun little side project...

Thanks to our friends at Corsair Artisan, we have 12 small 5 gallon barrels that recently held an experimental bourbon, but now have "Sue" aging gracefully. It should be fun to see what flavors the beer picks up in a few months. Check out our twitter feed @yazoobrewmaster in a few months, and we'll let you know when and where we'll be tasting it.

Refresh on our 6-pack recycling program, since you asked...

Hey guys and gals,

We're always trying to figure out ways to lower our impact on our environment at Yazoo. We capture all of our cooling water for hot water for the next batch; our spent grain goes to a local cattle farmer, and to Provence for their Yazoo bread; we recycle our cardboard down at Smurfitt-Stone (even though they quit paying anything for scrap cardboard!); and so on. One of the things that has always bugged me was the fact that after they are purchased, our six-pack carriers go straight into either the trash or recycling, when they could be used again.

So we're starting a 6-pack recycling program at Yazoo. Bring in your Yazoo 6-pack carriers during normal taprooom hours, Thur-Fri 4-8 PM and Sat 2-8 PM.

Ten Yazoo 6-pack carriers will get you a pint on the house. Thirty Yazoo 6-pack carriers will get you a free t-shirt.

The carriers need to be in good shape, and ready to be reused again. That is, no tears, no water damage, no cigarette butts, etc.

Hey, free beer and swag, just for doing something you hopefully do already (drink Yazoo)! And you'll feel so much better knowing that you're helping the environment. Save your 6-pack carriers, bring them down to the taproom during normal taproom hours, and enjoy a pint or a t-shirt on us!

Beer Fest!

We're getting ready for not one, but TWO beer fests on the same weekend coming up. The first, of course, is Nashville's own Music City Brewers Fest, voted one of the best parties of the year. The second night session is completely sold out but you can still get tickets for the earlier session. Personally, I prefer the earlier session, since all of the beers are still available and the level of sobriety is higher. You can still get tickets at www.musiccitybrewersfest.com.

The second is the Top of the Hops Brewers Fest in Jackson, MS. I'm excited about this one! It's going to be the first time we've had our beer out in my home state of Mississippi. We'll be bringing our Pale Ale, Dos Perros, Hefeweizen, and Hop Project down. I don't have a firm date when we will start selling our beer down in MS - but I will be glad when all my relatives can buy it in their local Kroger, instead of me filling up my trunk every trip down.

Meet the newest Tennessee distillery...

It's Yazoo Brewing Company! Yes, we now are the proud and poorer owners of a TN Dept ABC Distillery License! That will allow us to legally produce in Tennessee beers over the 5% by weight cap. Yes, I said legally. And that is all I will say about the past. Anything that happened before today is kind of fuzzy in my memory.

So a batch of a beer named "Sue" is on tap for next Friday. It will tax our new brewing system with double the amount of malt as Hop Project or Pale Ale, but we think it is well warmed up and ready for the challenge. The aromas around the Gulch will be a wonderful mixture of bread baking at Provence, smoke from Jimmy Carl's Lunch Pail, and cherry-wood smoke from our batch of Sue. And all will be right with the world again, for a little while.

Cheers,

Linus