Last weekend saw the Nashville Brew Fest come and go, and I was lucky enough to attend this year. It was a hell of an event. 50 breweries and beer-related brands (hard seltzer, hard cider, beer yoga, etc.) threw up tents on the grounds of Nashville’s minor league baseball First Horizon Park as the crowds streamed in.
I ended up tasting about 40 of the beers on offer before I had to tap out (not sorry). And yeah, there were some good beers and a lot of “meh” beers. It all can’t be good, folks.
To that end, I’m calling out the 10 beers amongst those 40 or so at this year’s Nashville Brew Fest that really did stand out. My litmus for judging these beers was pretty easy: Is it well made? Does it deliver on what’s promised? Most importantly, does it actually taste good? I’m also coming off 14 years of living in Germany and two years of living in the Czech Republic, so I fully admit I was very spoiled by great beer for a good portion of my adult life.
Okay, let’s dive in and see if we can find you a beer to sip on as the leaves start to fall. I’ve included prices and where to find these brews on each entry, so click on those links!
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10. Bell’s Octoberfest Beer
ABV: 5.5%
Average Price: $12 (six-pack)
The Beer:
Bell’s is synonymous with great craft beer these days. This seasonal release is made from lightly toasted malt that’s mixed with Lager yeast, local water, and a few German hops. That’s it.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a light sense of herbal hops with a dash of sweetgrass next to soft caramel malts with a hint of sweetness. The palate largely follows the sweeter end of the malts with a hint of grassy hops underneath that sweetness. The end is balanced and refreshing with a light sense of hop flowers and more of that caramel malt with a light fizziness.
Bottom Line:
This is a perfectly good beer. I wouldn’t confuse it for an actual Munich Oktoberfest beer in a bazillion years — it’s way too sweet for that. Take that away, and it’s a nice and easy refresher with a good balance between the light hops and caramel malts.
Where To Buy:
Bell’s is available in most states now. Check here to find delivery near you.
9. Southern Grist Hardee’s Strawberry Biscuit Ale
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $12 (four-pack)
The Beer:
Southern Grist is renowned for its collabs and ability to make any dessert into a drinkable beer (their Key Lime Pie ale is shockingly tart and creamy and not overly sweet). This new collab with Hardee’s infuses 200 pounds of Hardee’s breakfast biscuits — which is arguably the best biscuit in fast food — with a dash of strawberry puree into their cream ale.
Tasting Notes:
The beer opens with a hint of that strawberry on the nose with the essence of a buttermilk biscuit lurking underneath, which actually works with the creamy malts. The palate is subtle and has a nice balance of real strawberry with creamy whipped butter fats, a hint of buttery southern biscuit, and a nice edge of tartness. There’s a whisper of hoppiness on the back end that works with the strawberry vibes.
Bottom Line:
This is way better than you’d ever expect. It’s still a fruity ale that has a gimmick, sure. But the strawberry feels real (not syrupy) and this isn’t overly sweet. It leans way more into the malt and biscuit, giving it a nice depth. It’s a good one-off afternoon sipper is what I’m getting at.
Where To Buy:
If you live in these seven states, click here for delivery.
8. Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $15 (six-pack)
The Beer:
Dogfish Head’s beloved Punkin Ale is back! The brown ale is made with fresh pumpkin meat, brown sugar, and a mix of spices.
Tasting Notes:
The nose hits on a savory pumpkin pie with a big dash of cinnamon and nutmeg next to what feels like a freshly cut pumpkin. The palate marries that cinnamon and nutmeg with a dollop of wet brown sugar with a more roasted pumpkin vibe to it and a nice dose of caramel malts underneath it all kind of like an almost burnt pie crust. The end has a nice fizziness to it that helps keep the spices, sugar, and pumpkin in balance.
Bottom Line:
This is another perfectly good beer. It’s not my favorite pumpkin ale or even the best one I tasted at the event — hence its lower ranking. But it is a solid sipper that delivers exactly what is promised without relying on too much sugar to hide defects.
Where To Buy:
7. The Bruery Siesta Saturday Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV: 18.6%
Average Price: $45 (750ml bottle)
The Beer:
The Bruery out in California is all about pushing beer into the future while still celebrating the great traditions of its various European roots. Siesta Saturday is a great example of exactly that. The brew is an imperial stout that’s barreled in ex-tequila barrels with cacao nibs, cayenne, cinnamon, and vanilla beans. After a long rest, that beer is bottled.
Tasting Notes:
A dusty sense of dark cacao powder laced with dried ancho chilis comes through on the nose and is tempered by a smooth vanilla bean with a hint of butter toffee. The palate leans into the dark malted barley with a sense of espresso bean oils next to waxy cacao beans. The spice quietly lingers under the bitter coffee/chocolate feel as the cinnamon adds a sharpness to the soft vanilla and hints of walnuts.
Bottom Line:
This was so complex while still feeling easy drinking. It was just smooth AF but carried distinct flavor notes that made sense on the palate.
Where To Buy:
Available in several states, but mostly California and the Northeast. Order here for delivery.
6. Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 6.7%
Average Price: $11 (six-pack)
The Beer:
This dark pumpkin ale is a true classic. The beer is made with a mix of Pale, Munich, CaraHell, C-20, C-45, and Special B malts that are cut with a dash of Magnum hops. Then the folks at Elysian add raw and roasted pumpkin seeds and some pumpkin flesh into the fermenter. After that, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice are added during conditioning.
Tasting Notes:
You really feel the fresh pumpkin on the nose with the ginger leading the way on the spice front. The palate folds all of this into a layered pumpkin pie that leans more savory and eggy than sweet as the spices stay sharp and a hint of sweetness comes in from the malty base with a whisper of burnt caramel. The end has a nice mouthfeel that’s part creamy and part fizzy, creating a nice balance.
Bottom Line:
This is a really solid pumpkin ale. It’s way less sweet pumpkin pie and far more layers of those ingredients without leaning into brown sugar. It’s distinct and very easy to drink.
Where To Buy:
Elysian is available in dozens of states, coast to coast. Click here to find it.
5. 3 Floyds Pillar of Beasts Barrel-Aged Barley Wine
ABV: 13.7%
Average Price: $25 (750ml bottle)
The Beer:
3 Floyds is one of those beers that people spend days lining up for. This release is a barley wine (a strong ale) that’s brewed with salted caramel, vanilla beans, and cocoa nibs. That brew then goes into ex-bourbon barrels for a 12-month rest before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
This has a subtle yet enticing nose full of dark chocolate that’s almost creamy next to sour espresso cut with salted caramel and plenty of fresh vanilla pods. The palate has a creamy nature with a hint of roasted malts that leans toward burnt sugars as the dark chocolate takes on the tartness of the espresso and sweetens slightly toward nutmeg and clove. The end has a hint of sour cherry tobacco rolled with vanilla bean husks and dusted with dark chocolate powder.
Bottom Line:
This was nicely complex and very tasty, especially if you’re looking for a hint of bourbon in your beer. This is also the part of the list where this ranking is basically splitting hairs from here on out.
Where To Buy:
3 Floyds is available in 19 states plus DC. Click here for delivery.
4. Black Abbey The Rose Blonde
ABV: 5.4%
Average Price: $11 (six-pack)
The Beer:
Black Abbey is the beer lover’s brewery out in Tennessee. The Rose mixes Belgian Ale yeast with malted barley and local water before barely hopping it. The result is everyone’s favorite Black Abbey brew.
Tasting Notes:
A light sense of cloves stuck in an orange peel leads to a hint of banana chips just touched by salt. The palate is pure silk with a hint of caramel malt next to a good sense of bright Belgian yeastiness next to more clove and a bit of allspice. The end gets a twinge of woodiness to the spices as the silky body of the beer leans into banana bread.
Bottom Line:
This is a super easy-drinking ale. To be fair, it was a great palate cleanser on the day too, which might be why it’s a little higher on this ranking. Still, this is a very crushable beer with a balanced flavor profile.
Where To Buy:
Tennessee and various high-end beer bars/stores outside of the state. Click here to buy for pick-up in Nashville.
3. Founder 4 Giants and the Haze of Destiny
ABV: 8.4%
Average Price: $11 (four-pack)
The Beer:
This New England IPA from craft-beer-darling, Founders, is more than just a fruit bomb like so many other NEIPAs. The barley is amped up with a large dose of oat and wheat to smooth out the whole experience and add in a more classic IPA vibe before hopping and canning.
Tasting Notes:
The beer opens way more like a West Coast IPA with good hits of pine resin, sawdust, dank hop flowers, caramel malts, and big notes of orange and grapefruit zest. The palate is deeply malty with a lemon-vanilla sheet cake vibe next to orange-laced honey, more grapefruit oils, dry sweetgrass, and a hint of dry black tea. The end leaves you with a sense of creamy toffee next to orange oil-laced sweetgrass dipped in pine pitch.
Bottom Line:
This felt like the best of both worlds: West Coast and New England IPAs. The fruit was there but it was sharp more than sweet. The woody resins were also there but complementary and not overpowering. It’s just a really well-balanced beer that was a joy to taste.
Where To Buy:
Founders beers are available nationwide (depending on the release’s availability). Click here to find it near you.
2. Xül Beer Paper Crowns New England IPA
ABV: 6.8%
Average Price: $20 (four-pack)
The Beer:
Xül Beer Co. has been burning up the awards circuit lately and is quickly becoming a beer lover’s favorite find. The juice in this can is brewed with London Ale III yeasts, and malted barley, and is both hopped and dry hopped with Citra and Citra Cryo hops.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a mix of old peach skins, mango juice, and plenty of dank pine resin that leans toward sticky cannabis flowers. The palate marries the resin to the mouthfeel with a chewy vibe as toasted coconut, pineapple skins, and more fresh mango lead to a light caramel malted sweetness. The end balances the dank hops with a burst of orange oils layered with almost sweet pine resin, pureed mango, and a hint of savory papaya.
Bottom Line:
On a hot day, this is a delight. It has a great balance between the dank hops and the super fruity ones. Nothing is overplayed but everything is distinct. This was a great sip of beer.
Where To Buy:
Xül Beer is available in various locations in the South and Midwest and expanding in beer aficionado corners. Click here to find one near you.
1. Victory Prima Pils
ABV: 5.3%
Average Price: $10 (six-pack)
The Beer:
Victory Prima Pils is one of those beers that truly nails a classic German pilsner vibe. The brew is made with Pilsner malts, local water, lager yeast, and a mix of Tettnang, Hallertau, Spalt, Saaz hops. And that’s all it needs.
Tasting Notes:
The nose feels crisp and full of soft yet aromatic grassy hops, summer wildflowers, and a dash of lemon oils. The palate is soft yet effervescent with a hint of sweetgrass and lemon tree bark next to soft malts with a faint hint of caramel sweetness. The end is lush and fizzy and leans into the balance of those mildly sweet malts and the grassiness of the hops with a hint of bright summer flowers.
Bottom Line:
This was exactly what it promised to be and just plain delicious. This was also the only beer I actually went back for a second pour of to actually drink and not just taste.
Where To Buy:
Victory is available in most states. Click here to find it near you.
