Mug Club Beer at Tailgate Brewery

Best Breweries in Nashville, TN Local Craft Beer Guide

Tailgate Brewery, Bellevue

So, you want to explore the best breweries in Nashville? 🍻 You’re in for a treat! Music City’s craft beer scene is buzzing with flavor, offering everything from bold IPAs to smooth, easy-drinking lagers.Whether you’re touring taprooms, sampling flights, or simply kicking back with a pint, Nashville’s brewery scene is an experience worth raising a glass to! 🍺

This content is taken from the upcoming book Nashville Local’s Guide for Visitors and Newbies, which you can support on Kickstarter by clicking the link above. This article may contain affiliate links, which compensate me a bit for my time at no extra cost to you.

The Fermatories

To help you explore, these maps are keyed to the listings (numbers for breweries, letters for others), offering two perspectives:

🗺️ County-Wide View: The first map provides a broad look at the county, ensuring you can pinpoint breweries across the area.

📍 Downtown-Focused Inset: The second map zooms in on East, West, and South Nashville, highlighting the heart of the brewery scene. Look for the black box on the first map—it outlines the area covered in the inset.

County wide view

Nashville Breweries map inset

Inset View, centered on Downtown

Brewery Listing

Below is a complete list of Nashville’s breweries—use the accompanying maps to pinpoint their exact locations. I have an asterisks (*) by the ones routinely consider the best breweries by Nashville beer geeks.

🍺 Want to keep it local? Any brewery name marked in bold and italics is headquartered outside of Nashville, helping you focus on homegrown favorites.

  1. Barrique Brewing & Blending – East Bank; specializes in wild & mixed-fermentation sours and lagers; taproom is not climate-controlled.Bassline – West Nashville; pub food, cocktails, live music, happy hour Tue-Fri (2-4-1).
  2. Bassline – West Nashville; pub food, cocktails, live music, happy hour Tue-Fri (2-4-1).
  3. Bearded Iris – Germantown & Sylvan Supply; flagship beers in Germantown, small batches in Sylvan Supply. Food trucks & Black Dynasty Ramen.
  4. Black Abbey – South Nashville; Abbey-style brews, cask ales, limited food menu with food trucks on weekends.
  5. Blackstone – West Nashville; oldest brewery in Nashville, taproom since 2016.
  6. Broadcast Brewing – South Nashville; smallest craft brewery, great for pre-game before Nashville Soccer matches.
  7. Crazy Gnome – East Nashville; Grayson Miller, also owns Cyanide Cider, PUB Pizza on-site.
  8. East Nashville Beer Works – East Nashville; great outdoor seating, kid-friendly, serves pizza, sandwiches, and salads.
  9. Fait La Force* – South Nashville; Belgian-focused beers, food from Jam Box Sandwiches & Il Forno.
  10. Fat Bottom – West Nashville; large event space, full food menu.
  11. Jackalope – South Nashville; moved to its current location in 2018.
  12. Living Waters* – East Nashville & West Nashville; craft beer & coffee, known for barrel-aged stouts, early morning beer spot.
  13. Marble Fox* – Downtown; opened in 2023, cozy taproom near Arnold’s Country Kitchen.
  14. Monday Night – East Germantown; Atlanta-based brewery, Tuesday token special, great outdoor seating.
  15. New Heights – South Nashville; known for Navel Gazer stouts, food truck & 312 Pizza available.
  16. Rock N’ Dough – North Nashville; brewery & pizza joint, extensive whiskey selection.
  17. Smith & Lentz* – East Nashville; beer & pizza focus, specializing in lagers & IPAs.
  18. Southern Grist* – East Nashville & West Nashville; flagship in East Nashville, production facility in Nations.
  19. Tailgate – Multiple locations; hazy IPAs, barrel-aged releases, half-price pizza on Wednesdays.
  20. Tenn Fold – East Nashville; similar to Tailgate, serves pizza, sandwiches, & salads.
  21. Tennessee Brew Works – Downtown; live music, full food menu, half-price premium pours Tuesdays.
  22. Yazoo – Madison; historic brewery, offers Embrace the Funk series, Grillshack burgers.
  23. Yee-Haw is headquartered in Johnson City, TN and pairs with Old Smokey at 6th & Peabody.

Breakdown

Below, you’ll find a full breakdown of their location, rating, main beer styles, and whether they serve food—plus a special column for those offering cask ales. Because every airport visit is better with a great local pour. ✈️🍺

BreweryAreaRatingKnown ForFoodCask?
Barrique14.13Sours, LagersSometimesX
Bassline63.68Yes
Bearded Iris14.07Hazy IPAsYes
Bearded Iris, Sylvan Supply34.07Hazy IPAsYes
Black Abbey53.69BelgianYesX
Blackstone43.67Lagers???
Broadcast53.81No
Crazy Gnome43.7Sometimes
East Nashville Beer Works43.64Yes
Fait La Force53.9BelgiansYes
Fat Bottom63.53Yes
Jackalope53.65Yes
Living Waters, East34.02DarksYes
Living Waters, West44.02DarksYes
Marble Fox14.02
Monday Night13.86Limited
New Heights53.8Darks
Rock ‘N Dough123.77
Smith & Lentz43.8LagersYes
Southern Grist, East44.07Fruited SoursYes
Southern Grist, Nations64.07Fruited SoursWeekends
Tailgate83.73Hazy IPAsYes
Tailgate Tangers93.73Hazy IPAsYes
Tailgate, East43.73FunkYes
Tailgate, Germantown13.73SeltzersYes
Tailgate, Music Row33.73CiderYes
Tenn Fold23.73Yes
Tennessee Brew Works13.61Yes
Yazoo113.66YesX
Yee-Haw13.66Yes

If you want things broken down by styles, check the Brewery Guide online.

Nashville Airport Breweriess

Flying in or out of Nashville International Airport? You don’t have to wait until you hit the city to enjoy local craft beer! Little Harpeth (23) has a taproom in Concourse B near gate B7, bringing their signature lagers straight to travelers. Fun fact—this brewery used to operate where Barrique Brewing & Blending now stands, though they don’t have additional locations outside the airport.

Other Nashville craft staples you can grab during your layover: 🍻 Tailgate BreweryFood court, Concourse C 🍻 Tennessee Brew WorksConcourse A/B rotunda (food court) 🍻 Yazoo BrewingConcourse C near C25

Cideries

  • Cyanide Cider (B) brews dry English style ciders. Grayson does keep some other local beers on tap, primarily from Crazy Gnome, which he also owns. Birria Babe has a permanent pop up in their kitchen.
  • Diskins Cider (A) is in WeHo and serves a variety of ciders, mostly sweet. My favorite was seasonal, as it is bourbon barrel aged, but BTC (Bourbon Tart Cherry) is year round now. They do have a limited, somewhat upscale food menu.
  • Tailgate Cider runs out of their Music Row Location, but you can get their flagship cider at any of their locations. Has a full food menu.

Meadery

Nestled in East Nashville, Honeytree Meadery (C) isn’t just the city’s only meadery—it’s a hive of creativity and community. While their honey isn’t produced on-site, their very own apiaries ensure each sip of their mead is infused with locally sourced sweetness.

Beyond crafting exceptional meads, Honeytree doubles as a gathering place, hosting unique events like clothing and book swaps, making it one of Nashville’s most intriguing fermentation hubs. Whether you’re a mead enthusiast or simply looking for a fresh and flavorful experience, this spot is buzzing with charm.

How to Visit the Best Breweries

Hop on board the ultimate brewery adventure! The Music City Brew Hop Trolley makes brewery-hopping a breeze with its two distinct routes—but if you ask me, the East Route is the way to go. While the West Route covers downtown spots that you can easily stroll to, the East Route takes you on a craft beer journey you won’t want to miss. It also hits some of the best breweries in Nashville.

Here’s my game plan for maximizing the East Route’s best stops—each number corresponds to a trolley stop:

🚏 Downtown’s Quick Picks: Kick things off with Yee-Haw Brewing (22) in SoBro, grab a pint at Marble Fox (13) in the Lower Gulch, and don’t miss Tennessee Brew Works (21) in Pie Town. Oh, and if you’re near midtown, swing by Tailgate, Music Row (19) for a brew with a view. These are on the west tour, but you can easily walk over.

This lineup is exactly why I’m an East Route advocate—it hits all the right spots while letting you sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Ready to roll? Grab your tickets on their site and let the brew tour begin!

The Music City Brew Hop Trolley kicks off its journey at The Omni at 11:50 AM, rolling through Nashville’s best brewery spots until 6 PM. You can also snag a spot at any spot on the journey with your tickets.

NOTE: If you are not wasted after the trolley, you can walk down to Tailgate near the baseball stadium or cross the Jefferson Street Bridge and go to Barrique.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about the Nashville beer scene and Nashville’s best breweries.

If you are also seeking an intinerary to quickly explore Nashville, check out the aritcle The Short Trip Nashville Itinerary: How to Explore Music City in a Day or a Weekend .

Peace and Grace,