On the way back from the Asheville meetup...
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:01 pm
While the rest of the crew were still running about and raising havoc today in Asheville, I was unfortunately on the way home. I decided I needed one more beer experience, so I started to survey my options. Smoky Mountain Brewery is too far off the interstate, and with Gatlinburg traffic, it would have taken forever, so that one was quickly scratched. I have never visited either Mayday Brewery or the Green Dragon Public House in Murfreesboro, but unfortunately I found that both were closed on Monday. Then it hit me... Calfkiller! I have wanted to go visit this brewery in Sparta, TN for ages, and it's just maybe 20 minutes off of my path (and fortunately open!), so away I went...
This is an eccentric pair of brothers and eccentric beer, and the brewery, located in the middle of nowhere in very rural Tennessee, did not disappoint as it is equally as eccentric.
When I entered the gift shop/taproom, I was greeted by one patron in the four seat taproom, as well as the taproom employee, who with his long, straight grey hair, I'm 100% certain was a hippie in the 60s. Totally friendly dude. I started by browsing the little gift shop. Along with normal pint glasses and such, I loved the locally made clay mugs and the locally made leather coozies.
While browsing, hippie guy immediately asked if I wanted a beer. Umm... yes?
I asked what they had on tap, and he seemed unsure (which was kind of strange, as he was sitting behind the bar). Once he listed a few off, I settled on their quadruple dry hopped version of 'Sergio's Ole Evil-Ass Devil Bull Shit Ale' called 'A Special Kind of Evil', a pale with belgian yeast and local oats and honey. I've always been so-so on the normal version, but this version was quite good. (Side note... those barrels in the pic? Their mild has been aging for 18 months in them and is sitting on a bed of blackberries... yes, please...)
Here's where it gets funny... He gets up from behind the bar and walks outside in the rain, returning a few minutes later with the beer. Hmm, ok... weird. Then, every beer following, this was repeated. Out into the rain and back in.
I finally asked why he had to exit the building to get each beer. It seems that there is a law in their county that says that a brewery can't be within 'x' feet from a residence (don't remember the distance). Apparently, when they built the brewery in the existing barn structure on their property, they didn't realize the taproom was 110 feet too close to the nearest neighbor. Of course, the neighbor is an ass and didn't want the brewery there anyway, so they took it to the beer board and the council. The beer board was totally supportive, but the council... not so much... they were mostly old guys who were holdovers from the dry county days. Told them they couldn't pour beer in the taproom. So... solution? The taps are set up on the owner's porch next door, which is outside of the range of the neighbor. Until the issue is resolved, the taproom employee has to go next door for every... single... pour... Wow... He says they have up to 30 visitors a day (maybe more on weekends, since they do tours and also participate in a brewery/winery/distillery tour bus on some Saturdays), so I imagine that would become quite tedious.
By the way, this isn't the first time they've had to fight the law. Their county was dry when they started. Yes, they founded a brewery in a dry county that is 90 minutes from the main cities (Nashville/Knoxville/Chattanooga). Seems like not the best market strategy, but it works for them. They won that fight, and they were also on the front lines with Yazoo in changing the state beer laws, which has benefited Tennessee in getting more local beer produced at more breweries, and also in getting distribution from breweries who wouldn't touch Tennessee under the old tax structure.
They offered to let me explore the small brewery. This pic shows everything besides the brew kettle and one of the fermenters...
All in all, I had five 5oz tasters of beer... the Evil, a stout, an apple ale, their flagship pale, and a choco-coffee stout that had just been kegged. Asked how much I owed... nothing... zero... zilch. Wow. At that point, I felt like I had to buy something, so I settled on a half growler of the Evil.
So... back out the door and to the porch next door! I love this place. So unique. Fun, no style beers. Glad i made the side trip. Was a perfect contrast to Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Highland. I love the story behind all three and how they started pretty much where Calfkiller is to build something big/huge/massive. But these guys don't seem to have ambitions that big. They just want to have fun, make some fun and unique beer, and serve their local community. And... both of those paths are a-ok...
Their website is pretty cool. On the 'About' page, the header has a video that nearly completely shows their entire brew process on the little system. All of the other pages have fun little videos as well.
Oh, and the Calfkiller name? What? Are they killing calves? Actually, it's not so interesting... Simply, the brewery sits just off of the Calfkiller river...
This is an eccentric pair of brothers and eccentric beer, and the brewery, located in the middle of nowhere in very rural Tennessee, did not disappoint as it is equally as eccentric.
When I entered the gift shop/taproom, I was greeted by one patron in the four seat taproom, as well as the taproom employee, who with his long, straight grey hair, I'm 100% certain was a hippie in the 60s. Totally friendly dude. I started by browsing the little gift shop. Along with normal pint glasses and such, I loved the locally made clay mugs and the locally made leather coozies.
While browsing, hippie guy immediately asked if I wanted a beer. Umm... yes?
I asked what they had on tap, and he seemed unsure (which was kind of strange, as he was sitting behind the bar). Once he listed a few off, I settled on their quadruple dry hopped version of 'Sergio's Ole Evil-Ass Devil Bull Shit Ale' called 'A Special Kind of Evil', a pale with belgian yeast and local oats and honey. I've always been so-so on the normal version, but this version was quite good. (Side note... those barrels in the pic? Their mild has been aging for 18 months in them and is sitting on a bed of blackberries... yes, please...)
Here's where it gets funny... He gets up from behind the bar and walks outside in the rain, returning a few minutes later with the beer. Hmm, ok... weird. Then, every beer following, this was repeated. Out into the rain and back in.
I finally asked why he had to exit the building to get each beer. It seems that there is a law in their county that says that a brewery can't be within 'x' feet from a residence (don't remember the distance). Apparently, when they built the brewery in the existing barn structure on their property, they didn't realize the taproom was 110 feet too close to the nearest neighbor. Of course, the neighbor is an ass and didn't want the brewery there anyway, so they took it to the beer board and the council. The beer board was totally supportive, but the council... not so much... they were mostly old guys who were holdovers from the dry county days. Told them they couldn't pour beer in the taproom. So... solution? The taps are set up on the owner's porch next door, which is outside of the range of the neighbor. Until the issue is resolved, the taproom employee has to go next door for every... single... pour... Wow... He says they have up to 30 visitors a day (maybe more on weekends, since they do tours and also participate in a brewery/winery/distillery tour bus on some Saturdays), so I imagine that would become quite tedious.
By the way, this isn't the first time they've had to fight the law. Their county was dry when they started. Yes, they founded a brewery in a dry county that is 90 minutes from the main cities (Nashville/Knoxville/Chattanooga). Seems like not the best market strategy, but it works for them. They won that fight, and they were also on the front lines with Yazoo in changing the state beer laws, which has benefited Tennessee in getting more local beer produced at more breweries, and also in getting distribution from breweries who wouldn't touch Tennessee under the old tax structure.
They offered to let me explore the small brewery. This pic shows everything besides the brew kettle and one of the fermenters...
All in all, I had five 5oz tasters of beer... the Evil, a stout, an apple ale, their flagship pale, and a choco-coffee stout that had just been kegged. Asked how much I owed... nothing... zero... zilch. Wow. At that point, I felt like I had to buy something, so I settled on a half growler of the Evil.
So... back out the door and to the porch next door! I love this place. So unique. Fun, no style beers. Glad i made the side trip. Was a perfect contrast to Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Highland. I love the story behind all three and how they started pretty much where Calfkiller is to build something big/huge/massive. But these guys don't seem to have ambitions that big. They just want to have fun, make some fun and unique beer, and serve their local community. And... both of those paths are a-ok...
Their website is pretty cool. On the 'About' page, the header has a video that nearly completely shows their entire brew process on the little system. All of the other pages have fun little videos as well.
Oh, and the Calfkiller name? What? Are they killing calves? Actually, it's not so interesting... Simply, the brewery sits just off of the Calfkiller river...
