Geological engineer and Chattanooga native Jake Raulston quit his day job and moved back to Chattanooga last year to turn his homebrewing hobby into a brick and mortar that will soon become the newest brewery downtown.
Adjacent to the First Tennessee Pavilion off Reggie White Boulevard and across from Finley Stadium, Naked River Brewing Company is positioned to attract Chattanooga Market shoppers, sports fans and locals to its 11,000 square-foot indoor space and additional 2,500 square-foot outdoor beer garden when it opens in early November. With construction still underway, an exact opening date has not been determined yet.
Raulston moved back to his hometown from Louisiana last December to start making plans for the brewery. He has been a homebrewer since college, he said.
“Geologists really like craft beer,” Raulston joked.
Nathan Woods, Naked River’s head brewer, is a Pensacola, Fla. native who attended South College-Asheville for Professional Brewing Science and was a brewer at Asheville Brewing Company the past three years.
Raulston and Woods, both 28, met in college through a mutual friend and said they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to renovate the old building and make it something great again. The building was purchased by Chattanooga developer John Wise last September from the historic preservation group Cornerstones. According to their website, the site at 1791 Reggie White Blvd. is the former Ross-Meehan Foundry and was built around 1875 by Wasson Car Works, which made trolley cars in the city. The building was renovated to include the original roof design that can be seen in the first photograph of the building taken in the late 1800s.
The name – Naked River – combines the pair’s desire to “expose” the whole brewing process to customers with all the brewing and canning taking place in-house, Raulston said. Both outdoorsman and divers, Raulston said they also want to organize river clean-up days and provide donations to keep the Tennessee River clean and protected.
“The river and water source should be the most protected resource we have,” Raulston said.
Wearing a pineapple bandana and Naked River t-shirt, Woods checked on a fermenter Thursday afternoon holding what will soon be one of the first beers on tap. One of the brewery’s debut beers will be a Moon Pie Stout thanks to a partnership with Chattanooga Bakery. On Thursday, the bakery was picking up 900 lbs. of Moon Pies for Naked River.
Woods said he’ll focus on creating American ales and German lagers to start off with a signature pilsner.
“Most of our ales will just be weird,” Woods said. “We like to keep it entertaining.”
Naked River will open with about four beers on tap and eventually grow to 16 beer offerings and a couple house wine options. The 60-foot-long bar can easily accommodate the 10-15 employees that Raulston said they plan to hire.
Naked River will also include an upstairs area with a private, 5,000-square-foot room that can be rented out for events. Raulston said the brewery will be kid and dog-friendly and the outdoor space will include several lawn games.
While living and working in Texas and Louisiana the past several years, Raulston grew to love Texas-style barbecue, so there will be a food menu made up mostly of barbecue and traditional side items.
Other than food and beer, Naked River will have a merchandise section that will eventually include their own outdoor gear, like performance shirts. The shop will also have Moon Pie merchandise and items from other local vendors, tying in the local businesses at the Chattanooga Market next door.
For more information about the brewery and for updates, visit facebook.com/NKDRiverBrewing.
Contact staff writer Allison Shirk at ashirk@timesfreepress.com, @Allison_Shirk or 423-757-6651.