In a city saturated with craft breweries, one is the 16th-fastest-growing in U.S.

Hutton & Smith has a lot of reasons to celebrate.

Marking its fourth anniversary this month, the local brewery and taproom is also celebrating its recent ranking by the Brewers Association as No. 16 on its list of the fastest-growing small and independent craft breweries in the country.

There wasn't much happening in Chattanooga's craft brew scene when Hutton & Smith owners Joel and Melanie Krautstrunk visited the city back in 2014, she says. Still, they decided to move here from Las Vegas to open their brewery and taproom, named for the men considered to be the fathers of modern geology, James Hutton and William "Strata" Smith - who were rumored to have kicked back a few brewskies while taking breaks from writing books and making geological maps.

The Krautstrunks' production quickly tripled from 400 barrels in 2016 to 1,200 in 2017, leading them to open a larger production facility on Riverside Drive. As they slowly added markets one at a time, including Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis, production grew to 4,000 barrels in 2018.

Local microbrewery and taproom Hutton & Smith is ranked 16th on the Brewers Association's list of the fastest-growing small and independent breweries in the U.S. / Contributed graphic by the Brewers Association

This is the second year the not-for-profit Brewers Association has released its rankings of the fastest-growing small and independent breweries, comprising 50 craft breweries across 27 states. Hutton & Smith is one of four to make the list a second time. Last year, it was ranked No. 50.

The brewery's growth mirrors that of the craft beer scene in Chattanooga, which now seemingly has a craft brewery on every corner. When asked how Hutton & Smith has been so successful in a town now saturated, Melanie Krautstrunk gives much of the credit to their employees.

"We're really lucky the people that work here are so quality," she says, explaining that they rely on them to make sure their product is the best it can be. Once a month, they do a sensory analysis of warm and cold versions of each batch they brew so they'll know what each will taste like in the worst-case scenario. (Never keep your beer in the heat or under a window, especially a hoppy beer, because the taste difference is drastic, Melanie Krautstrunk stresses.)

The microbrewery has also made a name for itself in the Scenic City by giving back to the community, donating beer to any nonprofit event when asked, she says, or donating sellable waste aluminum to the Humane Educational Society to help purchase food for the animals and donating trays to use as litter boxes. Krautstrunk says they also help find homes for animals and welcome dogs in their taproom at 431 E. M.L. King Blvd.

Hutton & Smith's five-year plan is to become a regional brewery, expanding into Georgia and Alabama, she says.