The 8th Annual Music City Brewer's Festival was held Saturday, July 25 and featured some excellent beers.  The experience was fantastic with great food, great music, and some of the best beers I've ever tasted.  The best in the craft brew industry were there, Stone, Left Hand, Terrapin, Chimay, and the list goes on.  Local vendors were selling everything from hot dogs to cigars; the local homebrew club brought some of their own brews; and Tennessee's first brewpub brought something special!

My first stop on the way in was to get to the Bosco's booth.  Bosco's is a brewpub based in Memphis but have locations in Nashville and Cool Springs in Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas.  I'm a big fan of these guys as I work only a block away and I can go get some of their beer any time I want.  If you're ever in the area, I highly suggest it.  Bosco's makes some very good brews and features a delicious food menu as well.  This year, Bosco's brought their Tennessee Cream Ale, which you can get at Bosco's seasonally but they don't brew it year round.  They didn't just bring this wonderful beer, but they also pumped it through one of two hop infusers, that they call Marvin the Organoleptic Hop Transducer and his cousin Randall.  The aroma coming off the beer served through these devices was phenomenal.  They used cascade hops and they made the beer smell amazingly fresh and floral.  Bosco's really showed their stuff and brought smiles to many a beer fan this day.

The next brewery I tried is one I'd never heard of from Memphis.  Ghost River Brewing is based in Memphis and has a pale ale that really impressed me.  Their Glacial Pale Ale really showed what a hot weather beer should be.  It was full of great hop bitterness but was balanced so it wasn't over the top.  In addition to this, it was VERY crisp.  This was without a doubt the most refreshing beer I tasted at the whole festival.

Without a doubt, my favorite brewery featured at this year's festival was Good People Brewing out of Birmingham, Alabama.  I walk up to this booth and see the sharpie-inscribed cardboard posters that had the names of their brews on it and two guys that looked like mountain men.  I get to talking to these gentlemen and find out that they are some of the coolest dudes I'd ever met.  So, I decide to try their Snake Handler IPA.  Before I get it to my lips, I can smell the verocious hops on the nose.  I knew then that I liked Good People.  The flavors exploded on my palate.  I don't remember what they were, but they were good!  Snake Handler is a highly-hopped but very well balanced and most important, delicious IPA.

Next, I tried their coffee oatmeal stout.  Folks, when they say coffee, they mean it!  I LOVED this beer.  The coffee flavors were precise and focused.  They were true coffee flavors and they were in your face.  They were GOOD coffee flavors, too.  I thought I was at a gourmet coffee shop drinking some cup of joe that cost me $20.  Then I opened my eyes and saw these two guys and was snapped back to reality and I liked it!  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they distribute their beers to retailers, but there are quite a few bars in Alabama that serve their beer if you're ever in the neighborhood.

Another interesting fact about Good People is that they let people come down and be a guest brewer.  I plan on doing this myself in the near future so I can go down there and interview these guys and get to know a little more about them and their wonderful beers.

I honestly had one of the most fun times of my life in Nashville this year and I've already made plans to go back next year.  This festival is growing by leaps and bounds every year and I can only imagine how much fun it's going to be next year!