The Nashville Feed

Nashville brews some damn fine beer. The local breweries, with one notable exception, each scored highly when rated by our Nashville Feed panel.

Boscos topped our thoroughly unscientific study, but it bested third place Blackstone by less than six points. Yazoo planted itself almost evenly between the two. Such close scores indicate that each location produces an admirable beer menu. The short difference may have even been within the study’s margin of error, if we had calculated a margin of error.

Boscos minor lead may be accounted for by a switch in some panel members, the beeriness of those panel members at the time of tasting, or an unspoken bias amongst a few voters. Other random factors may have also come into play.

These variables do not take away from Boscos position at the top, however. They brew a good brew. Outside of the Rye Not crap, everything our group sampled was very well received. A true beer buff would not be disappointed by anything from a Boscos tap.

I, myself, have thrown away many evenings at the bar with a sketchbook and a frequently refilled pint of Boscos’ Scottish ale.

The brewers there take their task quite seriously, even to the point of geekdom. The beer is better for their obsession.

Yazoo and Blackstone also benefit from the same fixation. Each of these locations has earned a recommendation from our group.

In fact, self identified beer snob J.J. Bresowar marked Blackstone’s Grand Cru as the most enjoyable beer he’d sampled all night.

The pale offerings of both Yazoo and Blackstone scored at the top of their respective charts, but darker ales followed shortly behind the sunny beverages. The breweries do not focus their efforts solely on one flagship selection. Rather, they do their best to craft a fine beer in each category.

To the consumer, this means a variety of tastes and moods can be satisfied by the offerings of our top three brewers.

Big River…well, they just sucked. They should not be considered in the same league as the other Nashville locations. They might be fine for tourists accustomed to mass-produced pilsner swill, but they do not register with demanding beer drinkers.

This all reeks of snobbery. It, admittedly, does have an element of the highbrow. In fact, the very title beer snob accepts some snootiness.

But it is important to qualify “snob” by the addition of the word “beer.”

This differentiates ale connoisseurs from those in other holier than thou crowds.

The wine people are typically removed from the common man. Likewise, those sippers of 12-year old Scotch, perfectly aged Jamaican rum, and other top shelf liquors are not anywhere near blue collared folk.

Beer, however, is the drink of the genuine. The citizens on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale are much more likely to pick up a six-pack on payday than those who do not even recognize when their payday comes.

Beer snobs are grounded in the working class.

Most beer snobs recognize humble beginnings, with cases of Milwaukee’s Best and Keystone. With a little more income, Michelob Light and Genuine Draft become more common. But as the beer fan develops socially she begins to search for more. It is a growth process, a maturing, a natural evolution.

Eventually, drinking becomes more a pursuit of taste than intoxication. Once one discovers the wonder, and appreciates the complexities of a finely crafted beer, it is nearly impossible to return to less.

Beer snobs, in actuality, are more true to their blue-collar roots than Anheuser-Busch customers. Our hard working ancestors in England, Ireland, Germany, etc. spent many hours following their shift enjoying dark and tasty beverages at their local public house. It wasn’t until the large brewing corporations began manipulating public opinion that the masses were convinced that beer should lack taste and color.

Only then did something called “Lite” become preferred by gruff and heavy construction workers.
Unfortunately, Nashville’s brewpubs seem determined to move the beer snob away from his heritage.
Panelist Chip Greene described Blackstone as: “Middle of the road, WASPy…” This was true of each brewpub on the night’s itinerary. Big River, Blackstone, and Boscos shared a similar atmosphere. Young female hostess at the door, servers in boring and unflattering uniforms, customers who looked alike and dressed alike. Each was a protected environment removed from the diversity of the Nashville demographic.

Yazoo stood out amongst the other locations. Its primary function is a brewery, to make beer that will be trucked elsewhere. A taproom with limited hours was added to give customers a place to enjoy the freshest Onward Stout possible.

The taproom is housed in a converted factory with minimal luxuries added. It creates a very real atmosphere of candid life. An old automotive assembly plant growls something about blue-collar lack of pretension. There is no smooth jazz or top 40 music. Actual conversations provide the only soundtrack. No hostesses greet customers. The servers and bartenders are dressed comfortably in clothing of their own choosing.

At the brew pubs, customers in sheep outfits ordered beer in an effort to convince themselves that they were still real.

Fortunately, Nashville offers a compromise. Yazoo and Blackstone have their kegs in several locations around the city. A Dos Perros in the Broadway Brewhouse offers the beer snob an opportunity to enjoy a true Nashville brew amongst true Nashville people.

At the end of our study, a few members escaped the mundane middle class environment of Boscos in favor of the realism of H-Cue’s Upstairs Poolroom down the street.

The smoke filled pool hall could benefit a larger selection of local beers, but it does have an intriguing mix of customers, and the best damn juke box in Nashville.

If H-Cue’s would just fill their taps with Boscos, Yazoo, and Blackstone products, it would be this drinker’s paradise

Other Posts:

• Drink It In, Nashville! The Idea
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 1: Yazoo Brewing Company
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 2: Big River Grille & Brewing Works
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 3: Blackstone Brewing Company
• Drink It In, Nashville! Stop 4: Boscos - The Restaurant for Beer Lovers

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