Tennessee Brew Works

Tennessee Brew Works: The perfect combination of brews and bites

By Pam Windsor

Since brewing its first beer a decade ago, Tennessee Brew Works has become a Nashville favorite. Not only for the beer, but the unique approach to crafting it, and an adjoining restaurant (or brewpub) that uses many of the flagship beers in some of the recipes.

Founder and President Christian Spears said creating high-quality craft beer begins with the ingredients. Back in the days when he first became interested in homebrewing, his best friend would make beer with ingredients he got at the local farmer’s market. When Spears opened Tennessee Brew Works, the goal was to brew the beer with natural ingredients and source them from local farms when possible.

“We really want to work with the land and traditions and culture of Tennessee,” he said. “We do farming extremely well here in Tennessee and that translates into beer, in this case.”

So, in 2018, Spears and his entire team were excited when Tennessee Brew Works introduced its first official, commercial-sized brew of an all-Tennessee grain beer. The State Park Blonde Ale, described as “light and crisp with honeysuckle aromas and a subtle biscuit finish,” was innovative in another way, too. It was named the official beer of the Tennessee State Parks.

“It was the first of its kind in the country where a government entity stamped the beer,” he said. “Right here in Tennessee. And the face of the beer is a state naturalist named Randy Hedgepath. He’s an amazing guy. And a portion of the proceeds goes back to the state parks.”

Since then, the brewery has turned out other beers made with all-Tennessee grain including Southern Wit, a Belgian-style white beer, and a lager called Urban Hiker.

When Tennessee Brew Works opened in 2013, there was no plan for a restaurant. But Spears connected with a local chef who offered to help design a kitchen, then came on board to craft the menu. Spears said they worked out an agreement where the chef would be free to create, as long as the menu related to the beer.

“And he said that’s unbelievable, beer gives me tons of options,” Spears recalled. “Because beer can be an IPA, a wheat beer, a Belgian white beer, a stout, and so forth. You’ve got this huge range of things a chef can do.”

With the beer already in-house, it wouldn’t be as costly to use in recipes as it might be for another restaurant having to buy beer wholesale.

“So, he started replacing the water with beer in the recipes. And suddenly your palate is trying this food and you’re getting something that’s somehow translating to a pairing with the beers we have.”

Today, all of the items on the menu are either made with or inspired by beer. One of the most popular is the Five Beer Burger. True to its name, five different beers are used to create it. It starts with a Creekstone Farms beef patty, then each item – from the bread to the pickles and onions to the sauce and condiments – has the added flavor of an individual beer.

Incorporating beer throughout the menu allows for quite a bit of creativity and some culinary surprises.

“The famous old saying for brewpubs is you come for the beer, you come back for the food,” Spears explained.

“We think if you come here for the beer, you’re going to be very happy. We have a seriously talented team of brewers led by Matt Simpson, who has been brewing professionally since 1994. So, people come for the quality of the beer, but when they try the food, there’s this reaction of ‘Wow, this is a brewery?’ Ours is elevated bar food. It’s the perfect combination.”

Tennessee Brew Works is located at 809 Ewing Ave., Nashville, and open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Visit them online at tnbrew.com or call 615-436-0050.