Luckily, while I was in Memphis, I did get to visit one great brewery.  Wiseacre Brewery is located not far from downtown in a warehouse that is a bit hard for the out of towner to find, but it is worth the trip. I found all of the beers here to be solid and true to their style.  I was even surprised that I liked a few of their beers that were typically styles I would avoid. The atmosphere here was also friendly and casual. It would be a great place to just hang out on a Saturday afternoon.

Tiny Bomb Pilsner was a good, light summer style beer that would be great after yardwork or cutting the lawn.  The beer would appeal to Budweiser drinkers, but still had enough taste to also work for the craft beer lover.  I also had one of these while at Rendezvous, a rib joint off of Beale Street in Memphis. To me this beer is preferable to the Ghost River Golden Ale that is generally available at local restaurants and was also on the menu at Rendezvous.

The Speilothek Rye Bock also a very solid beer.  Although  I am generally not a fan of rye beer, I would drink this on occasion.  I felt the same about the Belgium beer at this brewery.  If you’ve read my previous blogs, then you would know I am not generally a fan of Belgium beers,  but I would drink this one. I thought this beer had a banana taste at the end which was quite good.  However, this Fleur Verte Belgium was a bit darker than I would have expected, which might off put some Belgium lovers. Ananda IPA was also a solid beer; however, I personally like my IPAs very hoppy and piney and would have liked more flavor from this one.  The Neon Brown was my least favorite, but I have a great dislike for brown ales. I felt this would have been a great one for someone who likes brown ales. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to drink it– not because of the beer but because of personal taste. The Kerfluffle Stout was great for a stout and would have been fantastic on a cold day.

If you notice, all of the beers here are sort of low in alcohol content compared to most craft breweries. I used to live in Tennessee years ago and we always had trouble getting some of the good beer because of Tennessee’s alcohol laws. In talking with one of the owners here, I learned that such laws are still in effect.  The cut off to be considered beer is 6.2% and when it is higher it must be sold as wine.  The brewery had to get a distiller’s license in order to be able to brew some of their stronger ales.  Hopefully, these laws will be revisited because they could seriously impact Tennessee’s foray into the craft beer arena.