Final 4 Road Trip- Recommendations for TN/AL/MS

I've been to Good People Brewing Co. in Birmingham and Southern Prohibition Brewing Co. in Hattiesburg, both of which have the top ranked beers on Beer Advocate for each of those respective states, and both of which I enjoyed visiting. Good People is across from the Birmingham Barons minor league baseball stadium (keep an eye out for the statue of Willie Mays there) and Southern Prohibition is in the old downtown area of Hattiesburg--I recall one of their side rooms had a large painting of Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2 to watch you as you drink.

I don't live in New Orleans, but recommendations pop up in the US-South forum with regular frequency--here is a thread from last year which has a few post-COVID bar and brewery suggestions: https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...s-during-after-ish-covid.656897/#post-7219752.

I know I've seen recommendations for Chattanooga and Knoxville pop up in the US-South forum as well, so you might scan through the threads there for ideas.

I saw you're from West by God Virginia--I went to high school in Morgantown. Welcome down south! Drive safely!

 

A few extra tidbits:

Knoxville: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/knoxville-beer-recommendations.665481/

Chattanooga: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chattanooga-tn-trip.658250/#post-7257083

Birmingham: Hop City was a very large and extensive bottle shop with local and national/international selections when I went there in 2017.

Hattiesburg: According to their Facebook page, Southern Prohibition's taproom is currently closed for construction. I don't know what that means regarding their beer access--you might try calling. You might be able to find some Southern Prohibition cans elsewhere (likely even in New Orleans).

Enjoy your Final Four trip!

 

P.S. A good Morgantown friend of mine recommended the restaurant 'Turkey and the Wolf' in New Orleans to me a couple years back, though I haven't had a chance to go there yet. According to what he said, it is run by someone he knows who transplanted to New Orleans (I can't remember if it was somebody he knew from Morgantown or from Charlottesville, which is where he currently lives). I think he said they make specialty sandwiches. Looks like they're rated fairly high on Trip Advisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...urkey_and_the_Wolf-New_Orleans_Louisiana.html so might be worth checking out.

 

Bham: Hop City for bottle shop and bar tap list is strong. Check Untappd for latest list. For breweries there would hit Trimtab or Monday Night. Good People a nice option as well or Birmingham brewing or Ferus’s new downtown taproom

Knoxville: Xul for hazies and pastry stouts. Bearden for bottle shop.

Chattanooga: would say Heaven & Ale or Naked River. Totally different vibes though. Heaven &Ale small, very quiet, bookish theme. Naked River a loud, brewpub. Both good ipas. Could also consider Hutton and Smith or Odd Story. Very close to each other.