Taste of TN Craft Brewers Festival

We had a great Friday evening at the inaugural Taste of Tennessee Craft Brewers Festival. It was located at the state fairground on the infield of the speedway. It was a festival showcasing beer from 25 Tennessean breweries. The entrance fee included unlimited brew all night (which totaled to over 55 different beers!). There are three different tickets you can get: VIP ($75), regular admission ($40) and the designated driver ($15) which I think is really cool that they offered that.

When I first saw this event, I wanted to take Jason as an early birthday present. But then the flood happened and we didn't have the extra money to spend, so I got bummed out. But then I saw that Yelp was giving away a pair of tickets, so I took my chances and entered-- and I WON! It was really awesome.

So right after work, we got ready and headed out. We just walked there because it's only a mile and a half from our house- plus we knew parking would be crazy. We entered the speedway and were handed small little tasting glasses that were mini mason jars.

We headed towards the tents and started making the rounds. There was plenty of beer, but also some non-alcoholic drinks for those who weren't drinking-- for the designated drivers.

 That night was also my very first time playing cornhole. For my first time, I was actually pretty good. J was telling me how good I was and I explained how I used to be a pitcher for slowpitch softball, so that probably gave me an upperhand. When J first told me about cornhole several years ago, I just laughed at the idea-- I mean, throwing beanbags in a hole-- seems like child's play! But, you know what- it's actually really fun!

Along with a plethora of beer being served, there were a few food trucks as well. The Grilled Cheeserie, Wrapper's Delight, Hoss' Loaded Burgers, and Biscuit Love Truck were all there dishing out some good eats. After several minutes trying to decide what we wanted, we finally decided to split up and get something from different trucks.

J went to the Biscuit Love Truck because he saw a guy walk by with some and it looked good. He got The Princess: Hot Chicken, honey, homemade pickles and mustard on top of biscuits (of course). It was actually really good!

I was craving something more fatty, more juicy... so I went to the Hoss' Burgers truck. I ordered the Red, White and Blue: a burger stuffed with blue cheese, topped with wing sauce and ranch. Oh my-- it was awesome, especially all the melty blue cheesiness! I also got some parmesan fries-- also really good.

It was a really fun night and J enjoyed himself- which I'm glad because it was for his birthday afterall!

Some of the favorite brews from the night (J made a list):
- English Pub Ale (Black Abbey Brewery)
- Pumpkin Ale (Blackstone Brewery)
- Berliner Wiesse (Cool Springs Brewery)
- Raspberry Wheat (Smoky Mountain Brewery)
- Lovebird (strawberry raspberry Hefeweizen) (Jackalope Brewery)

Great times. Good drinks. Good foods. We'd definitely go to the Taste of TN Craft Brewers Festival again!