🍻 Beer Central (on Central) 🍻

 

There was a time when “going out for a beer” meant heading to the neighborhood watering hole for a PBR or a Stroh’s, complete with sports on TV and all the smoke you could handle. Fast forward to 2022 … and the “neighborhood bar” in Knoxville is very likely to be a microbrewery, complete with the sports on TV and no smoking!

At current count, Knoxville has 22 operating microbreweries, most with taprooms where you can sit for a spell and have anything from a good pilsner to something dark, fruity, or both, and sometimes with enough hops to choke a horse (think double, triple, quad IPA). NOTE: This post was A LOT longer in the beginning – we were going to try to cover them all. Thankfully, you’ll have to watch for more later!

The best thing about the explosion of microbreweries is that most of them also have good stories – either about their buildings - many of which are in renovated historic properties - or about the owners and brewers or both.

Knoxville seems to have its own “Beer Alley” on North Central, just north of downtown … maybe we should call it “Beer Central” street.  It’s entirely possible to start at the top of the corridor at Fanatic Brewing Company and stay on Central all the way down to 5^th, where a slight turn will finish at Xul / Geezers combined facility … and hit 9 of the breweries in town along the way. For safety reasons, we would recommend trying this with a designated drive or jump on one of the two brew busses now operating in town.

Our favorite strategy is to park in one place near the corner of Broadway and Central then walk to 4 or 5 breweries and see what they have that day.

Luckily, we enjoy beer! So here are some of our thoughts on these “Central” breweries and how to find what you really enjoy.  These are in no particular order because it’s hard to choose a favorite.

Hexagon – This one is in the Dutch Valley area. White Chocolate Buddha. Need I say more?  They also have food and an outdoor patio area. Not a historic property, but a good fit for the surrounding area.

Fanatic – Marty Velas is a beer fanatic and award-winning brewer. Lots of solid offerings. Their space is compact but cool. They grill some great burgers, which are on special most days.

Elst – Talk about a cool story. Four neighbors decide to open a brewery. They have a large variety on tap with some creative flavors like Vanilla Milkshake Ale (a favorite) in a historic space. They recently added their own food truck!

Schulz Brau – Probably one of the coolest breweries around! They took an old warehouse and turned it into a German castle, complete with a biergarten that is furnished from actual German biergartens! And the beer is solid (how can you go wrong with serving traditional German beer in 1-liter steins just like Oktoberfest?) Their kitchen serves authentic German fare. We are certain we could dress in our lederhosen and dirndl and be accepted here year-round!

Next Level – They have an ideal location at Central and Broadway, and some crazy good beers!

Barrelhouse – Cider anyone? If you can’t find something to your taste here, just go to a winery. (But they also have their own wine here too!) And they have some great food options too.

Crafty Bastard – Crafty indeed. This small space on Emory Place is putting out some big ideas in beer! They made one recently that tastes exactly like a rye Manhattan (complete with a coupe glass). You never know what you’ll find here, but it’s always crafty, and tasty!

Xul  – Dark beers that are 100% amazing, and one of the biggest selections of IPAs in town. They also do some awesome sour beers (Peach Betty is one of Christy’s favorites).  And they are in the show room of an old VW dealership! How cool is that?

Geezers – Located in the former service garage of the VW shop, they share the building with Xul. Just a cool hangout space with a growing selection of great beer! When you’re ready to hydrate (which you should do) grab a tallboy can of Liquid Death – don’t be scared, it’s just really good water! The owners are pretty fantastic too.

Oak Room by Abridged – Taste some of the best barrel sours in town in a room surrounded by the barrels! They also have one of the best charcuterie boards around, and you can pair it with a flight of 8 of the sours for a very reasonable price #datenight. They also now have liquor!

Ebony & Ivory – They are brewing some great beer and collabs and promise that a tasting room is in the works on North Central very soon!

Last Days of Autumn – If we had to pick a brewery that also has fantastic food, this one would be at or near the top! Slightly #offthetipsypath on Magnolia near Hall of Fame, their ribs, shrimp boils, and pierogies (yes, those filled pockets from up north) are incredible. The beers are fantastic as well! They have a great patio hangout space with live music too.

We realize there are other great breweries around Knoxville, but we’ll save those for another time. Did we miss any of your favorites?  If so, let us know in the Comments section below.

One great way to get introduced to some of the varieties and breweries without having to work too hard is to try one of the cool beer bars. Pour Taproom in particular offers “fill your own” options where you can try an ounce at a time at more than 30 taps from around the world … including a rotating menu of locals.

And three cheers to the return of beer festivals, which is absolutely the best way to taste your way around the city and region and figure out what you like and where you want to visit once you sober up.