Heading to Nashville soon and would appreciate the craft beer scene 101 please. Has Goose Island come in yet?
I went to this place last time i was there, http://www.bigrivergrille.com/index.php They had some pretty good beers and a cool location right on broadway down by the river near the hard rock. Do yourself a favor and go watch a titans game. Good times, fun crowd. Cheers.
The only store I was rather impressed with was http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20033/?view=beerfly Yazoo was surprisingly good beer for a brewery I have never heard of. I would have loved to make the brewpub but they have very limited hours. Hop Project & Sue were very tasty. I even saw some of the Hop Project at a gas station, cool it's that available.
I'd suggest starting with the Nashville guide page: http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/city/68 Breweries with taprooms: Yazoo, Jackalope, Turtle Anarachy, Fat Bottom Breweries with a brewpub/restaurant: Blackstone, Boscos Local beer you can get bottles of: Yazoo, Blackstone Local beer you should seek out on tap: Calfkiller Best places to bottle shop: Midtown, Frugal's, Grace's To the OP: Goose Island isn't here as of yet
You should definitely go to 12th South Taproom one of the nights you are there. Good music, good food, great beer collection. Also, some places like Whole Foods do growler fills of a sweet potato stout beer that is awesome, not sure who makes it though. I second what one of the posters said about Yazoo. Sue, Hop Project, Pale Ale, Dos Perros...all of them are great, even the Hefeweizen (and I hate hefeweizens). As far as picking out beers to take home to Chitown, Frugal McDougals and Midtown are your best bets... Hope the bears destroy the Titans....
12th South Taproom, Broadway Brewhouse (I prefer the one more south) and Flying Saucer are usually my stops.
