The Nashville Feed

Blackstone Brewery and Pub had drawn us out of a crowded downtown to a crowded West End.

Padded young men were smashing into each other at nearby Vanderbilt stadium when we reached the brew pub. Cars from throughout Georgia and Tennessee lined the streets, but Blackstone’s dedicated lot offered several spots.

By this time our group had grown, but it was less than ten minutes before a young hostess escorted us to one long table built from several short tables.

Those of us with pronounced alcoholic leanings surveyed the beer menu first, while those with healthier priorities scanned the food menu.

It was far enough into the night to lead us towards non-liquid sustenance. This may have colored our perception of the beers, but it also provided an opportunity to determine how the beers worked with a meal.
The dinner menu offered enough variety to satisfy the tastes of all within our panel. But food is not the focus of this article. You are here to read about beer, and I will not waste your time with edible distractions.

It was immediately obvious that Blackstone aims for a more sophisticated palate than Big River. While they did offer some selections with a lighter tint (a Chaser Pale and a delightful blond thing called the Grand Cru), they did not craft these brews to appease Budweiser devotees. The sunny offerings here were tasty and well done, despite their translucent appearance. In fact, the two palest offerings scored the highest in our rankings.

This isn’t to say that Blackstone doesn’t give adequate attention to the darker end of spectrum.

I admittedly prefer darker beers. My kindergarten education in fine beers began with a beautiful porter at the Elysian Brewery in Seattle’s cool as shit Capitol Hill neighborhood. Once you go black, you never go back. While I’ve enjoyed all shades of beers, my preference still leans towards the darker complected.

Blackstone does not disappoint in this genre. Their St. Charles is a fine example of a porter. Very little light escapes its pull. It has smooth texture going down, but you never forget that you are drinking an honest beer. It does align itself more closely with dark browns than with stouts, but it does this well.

Several in our party felt an obligation to sample Blackstone’s Oktoberfest in honor of a page on the calendar. This seasonal ale turned out to be the brewery’s weakest offering. Some on the panel even went so far as to prefer the Big River Oktober thing. It almost seemed as though Blackstone’s skilled brewers half-assed this one just to have something for October, or Oktober, or however the hell it is supposed to be spelled.

A half-hour into our third stop of the night people were beginning to display some mild effects of the previous tastings. Ballots were forgotten, handwriting became a little looser, conversations became a little louder. This may have impacted some perceptions of the beers, but there were enough fresh tasters to balance any bias of the buzzed.
Just as we were beginning to consider leaving, the room was invaded by football fans. Most of them were wearing Georgia Tech red, but are any football fans really that different from one another, regardless of team preference? Up to this point the environment hadn’t been infested with many obvious sports drones. There were no televisions in the dining areas, forcing anyone who must see the game into the bar area. Even there, the mood was reserved.

The service seemed to depend on section. While MmmDave described his service as “sucked, slow, tall,” on the opposite end of the restaurant we had no complaints. I’m not certain how I would apply our server’s height to her waitressing ability, but she was efficient and polite.

We left Blackstone reassured that Nashville can make a damn good beer in a brew pub.

Several members of our team had to abandon us at this time. They made wussy excuses about needing to be up early or liver disease or some other hardly relevant factor before retreating to the comfort of their boring little homes.
Fortunately, we had added a few willing tasters at Blackstone. These new panelists were fresh enough to provide us with sober rides to the Hillsboro Village home of Boscos Nashville.

Read that story here on Monday.

From the panel:

St. Charles Porter
“Good, but not great. Nice nuttiness, sweet with burnt (pleasant) taste, smooth like a babies (sic) bottom.” –J.J. Bresowar
“Porter? Really? Tastes nuttish.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
“Molassey, like a porter ought to be. Best dark beer I sampled tonight.” –Mark Lemley
“I could get drunk off this beer. Fermented grain, it’s beautiful.” –Kristin Bresowar

Oktoberfest

• “Almost like a PBR with some pretty red/brown food coloring added.” –J.J. Bresowar
• “I would not be able to drink very far on this one.” –Tasha French
• “Tasty. Me likey.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “Boring.” –Mark Lemley
• “…this is not memorable.” –Jamie Ray

Grand Cru

• “It’s sweet. It’s nice to have something unique, with a twist.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “Well rounded sweet beer. Honey really comes out, but isn’t too vanilla…” –J.J. Bresowar

Nut Brown

• “Very flavorful. Tastes earthy/woody.” –Tasha French
• “Dense and sweet, like Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Honey overtones, but no bees.” –Mark Lemley

Chaser Pale

• “Light, yet good.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “Favorite Pale Ale…very smooth and clean.” –Matt Kerske

Red Springs Ale

• “All I taste is the red onion from my salad. Don’t drink beer with red onion.” –Lauren Orr, a.k.a “Hop Goddess”
• “Britishy bitter but American microstyle.” –Heather Barksdale

Previous Posts:

• Drink It In, Nashville! The Idea.
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 1:Yazoo Brewery.
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 2: Big River Grille & Brewing Works.

Tags: beer, brew pub, brewery, microbrew, nashville, blackstone