Music City Brewer's Fest

Is this Brew Fest or Oktoberfest?!

On Saturday, E and I attended the Music City Brewer's Fest. We had tickets for Session B (the evening session). I was a little nervous about the weather because most of the afternoon it poured cats and dogs and stormed like it was the second coming. Luckily, the weather cleared as we left to go to Nashville. The humidity definitely won out, but it was no match for the cold brews we imbibed.

Being a first timer, I had no idea what to expect. When we walked in we were given a small, plastic mug for tasting and a map to locate each brewery. While some of the breweries had exceptionally good beer, (i.e. Kentucky Ale's Bourbon Barrel Stout), most of the brews were rather unimpressive. My favorite of the night was Stone's Arrogant Bastard Ale .

Scott from Stone Brewing, E & me

 Throughout the evening E and I meandered through the crowds and explored our tasting options. E was happy to see an old "beer friend," that was in town for the festival. As we walked around, E noticed a cigar stand. While he purchased a cigar I was approached by one of the cigar salesman to purchase a cigar as well. I politely informed the salesman that a true lady would never stand and smoke and that I had no interest. He proceeded to share his opinion that the standing and smoking rule was a dumb rule and that I must of been a sorority girl from Western Kentucky. I had to laugh out loud at his guess. I couldn't deny the fact that he was right. What interested me even more was his judgment of where I came from. I told him I was, in fact, a graduate of WKU and a proud Kappa Delta Alumnae. After a few more minutes of conversation, I found out that the cigar jokester was from Owensboro, Kentucky....my hometown. Sure is funny how the world turns. Needless to say, the conversation was pleasant and made for a great laugh. E got to enjoy a vanilla bourbon cigar and I took away a smile while waiting for him.

Toward the end of the evening, I realized I had drank too much too fast. I had the curse of the hiccups. Usually I could nip this problem in the bud with the help of a little sugar or peanut butter. As you would guess, the Brew Fest had neither of these things. I was forced to try the old-fashioned way....H2O. The water didn't really do the trick, but because it took so long to get rid of them, E and I were fortunate enough to make one more friend. While sitting on a bench ridding myself of the hiccups, a nice gentleman from Louisiana  found humor in my hiccup predicament and we quickly found ourselves lost in conversation. My first instinct, being an SEC girl, was to ask him if he was an LSU fan. Of course he was, and I quickly apologized to him for his luck. He spent the next 20 minutes giving E and myself a much better impression of Tiger fans that I had initially thought (although I still have NO plans to EVER send a child of mine to LSBOOO/LSU)!

Being surrounded by Mr. LSU, his friends, and E.

The Brew fest was a pleasant experience, minus a not too happy tummy and torrential down-pour as we left. I paid for the experience all day Sunday and will never underestimate the power of a few good brews. If I decide to attend an event like this again, (perhaps the Beer & Bourbon Festival ), I will be MUCH more prepared. I will definitely bring a chair, a bottle of water, a pretzel necklace (see Beer Geek photo), and will eat MUCH more than I did this year before the event starts!

Until next time, may your week be filled with Magnolias, Bourbon and ENDLESS JOY!