Tennessee Brew Works founder Christian Spears (in black shirt) with local dignitaries at the announcement of their new Lenoir City facility.

The future home of Lenoir City Barrel House

I was recently trying to read the entire internet over my morning coffee when I came across this interesting piece from Nate Rau and John Frank of Axios . The story describes how many Tennessee breweries have been rebounding well as they emerge from their pandemic funks, listing independent, non-contract breweries and ranking them by their percentage of production growth year-over-year, 2021 vs. 2020.

Now admittedly, 2020 probably sucked for most breweries as COVID protocols closed taprooms and their restaurant and bar customers, limiting the amount of sips to lips, so these growth figures are over a limited base. Still, it’s a source of optimism to see that many Tennessee breweries are surviving and thriving.

The Axios piece lists Memphis juggernaut WISEACRE Brewing  as the production leader with an impressive almost 25,000 barrels of beer brewed in 2021, the traditional way in which breweries express their volume to combine keg and packaged products sales. Naked River Brewing in Chattanooga demonstrated the greatest percentage growth in 2021 with a 49 percent increase, albeit over a much smaller base of 1,200-plus barrels in 2020. Locally, Bearded Iris Brewing stood out with a 42 percent growth to 15,400 barrels in 2021, gaining ground on the market leader Yazoo , who reported production of 16,000 barrels.

Looking at the list, I wondered about some Nashville breweries that didn’t appear. Were we not seeing growth as a city? That would be surprising considering the white-hot growth of the tourism market and expansion of new bars and restaurants. This list was derived from self-reported numbers to the Brewers Association , and not every brewery reports their numbers to the trade association.

I reached out to Bart Watson, the chief economist at the Brewers Association, specifically to ask about Tennessee Brew Works , because I knew that they had been running at close to tank capacity over the past year. Watson sent me his complete list of Tennessee breweries that had reported data, or that the association had good estimates for, explaining via email: “The data we have shows Tennessee Brew Works at 5,500 barrels in 2021, up 57 percent. That’s very strong growth for a brewery their size (and the highest percentage of the breweries listed below), though I have to add the caveat that 2020 and 2021 weren’t particularly ‘normal’ years for the craft brewing industry due to COVID. The Axios table is missing a few breweries.”

I asked whether Tennessee Brew Works could have possibly been excluded because they had done some contract brewing or weren’t considered an “independent” brewery, and Watson replied, “ I don’t know why they weren’t included in the original chart. ... I can confirm that Tennessee Brew Works is a small and independent brewer and not a contract brewer.”

Now that that’s out of the way, we can confirm that Tennessee Brew Works pretty much kicked butt last year. Their 5,500-barrel production puts them in the same tier as other successful Nashville breweries like Blackstone Brewing  (6,500 barrels), Jackalope  (6,403 barrels), and Black Abbey  (4,111 barrels). That’s pretty good company!

When I reached out to TBW founder Christian Spears for comment, he pointed out that they had experienced this growth while undertaking what might seem like a counterintuitive strategy. He explains via email: “I should note that we are only in the state of Tennessee. ... We are NOT in Memphis or West/Northwest Tennessee either. Many years ago, we pulled back distribution to focus on a narrower market and it benefited us greatly in terms of market penetration and brand loyalty. So, our numbers come from a very small geographical area compared to others on the chart; pretty much middle Tennessee out to Clarksville and all of East Tennessee.”

While many other breweries push to expand their footprints, Tennessee Brew Works has sought to focus on Middle Tennessee. They've also leveraged the "Tennessee" part of their name, launching initiatives that partner with Tennessee State Parks and benefit the Tennessee State Parks Conservancy. They were also leaders in sourcing materials locally, teaming up with Willis Farms as a major supplier of their brewing grains and creating State Park Blonde, the first beer made with 100 percent Tennessee grains. The Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild took notice and expanded the initiative into a “source locally” program called Farm to Tap .

Tennessee Brew Works has finally decided to make a bit of a geographical leap into the East Tennessee market with their recent announcement that they are building a second manufacturing facility in Lenoir City, a lovely town known as “The Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains.”

The future home of Lenoir City Barrel House

Slated to open in the spring of 2024, the new 21,000-square-foot brewery will be called the Lenoir City Barrel House, and will be located at 200 East Depot St. in the middle of town — if you want to go ahead and program that into your GPS. The official announcement shares that the new facility’s primary focus will be “brewing and sharing old world and contemporary mixed fermentation beer styles, fermented in a range of wood tanks, stainless steel vessels, and oak barrels. In addition, the brewery will showcase experimental, historical, and small-batch specialty beers, including ales and lagers, as a significant part of annual production.”

It’s common for breweries to construct a separate facility to handle their wild fermentation and sour beer programs, because you don’t want those yeasty beasties getting into your regular production equipment, lest all your flagship beers suddenly become sours as opposed to the controlled strains used for day-to-day operations. 

Tennessee Brew Works founder Christian Spears (in black shirt) with local dignitaries at the announcement of their new Lenoir City facility.

TBW head brewer Matt Simpson is chuffed about the new opportunity. “I have wanted to build a brewery like the Lenoir City Barrel House for over 20 years,” says Simpson. “Imagination is not in short supply at Tennessee Brew Works; it is exciting to finally showcase our knowledge of wild and sour beers. We will extend the limits of modern brewing while paying homage to old-world beer styles and techniques.”

Joining Tennessee Brew Works’ original Pie Town location and airport taproom at BNA, the Lenoir City facility will be a family-friendly space, with indoor and outdoor seating, a fairly extensive food menu like they have in Nashville, and live music featuring local and regional acts. Considering their commitment to preserving nature through their association with the State Parks system, it only makes sense that Lenoir City Barrel House be your last stop before setting forth into Tennessee’s most visited National Park.

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