Beer in Chattanooga — past, present and future — is too storied, complicated and promising to fit into a couple paragraphs. The more you think about it, the more it seems like this introduction is going to slowly but surely foam over into a separate, sudsy article of its own. There are beers hardly anybody remembers, and beers nobody will ever forget. Beers brewed in uber-expensive horizontal tanks, and beers brewed with state-of-the-art counterflow chillers. Beers that started off as a home-garage hobby and others scrupulously crafted by a “master” who would probably be digging for religious artifacts in the Fertile Crescent if he wasn’t so passionately obsessed with the head of a bock.
This article will help you tap into the bubbling brewery culture here in Chattanooga. We take you behind the scenes and among the fermentation vessels of one local brewery. We introduce you to two Chattanooga “brewmasters” and learn why they love bringing beer from grain to glass. And we give you a rundown of the many local breweries around town. Whether you’re looking for a pale ale or a porter, here’s a look at what’s brewing in Chattanooga.
A Vat of Yeast and a Sprinkle of Art: A Tour of OddStory Brewery
Cliché as it may sound, the idea for OddStory Brewing Company was conjured up over a beer. Jay Boyd, fresh out of college and on the job hunt, sat alongside his dad, Bryan, on a summer day in Alabama in 2013. As they sipped their beers, the conversation turned first to family businesses, then to brewing, a skill that neither of them possessed at the time.
Inexperience did nothing to deter them. “All I know is beer was the vessel that took me where I wanted to be,” Boyd told me, half-jokingly. The two of them leaned into the idea, and three years later, the first OddStory location opened on West MLK Boulevard in downtown Chattanooga.