Around the World in Beers: Memphis

Continuing my beer tour of western Tennessee (check out my other post on Nashville beers), here are the local craft beers that I tried in Memphis!

Ghost River Brewing Company

After a headache of a bus ride from Nashville to Memphis, my first stop had to be food and a good drink. Along with a sandwich at the Arcade Restaurant, I had Ghost River’s Riverbank Red Ale which hit the spot. Then after touring the National Civil Rights Museum, I decided to head on down South Main Street to the brewery itself. They have a great space with outdoor seating and have varying food trucks there every day. The beer that I had there was The Queen’s Rosemary Pale, a 6.25% pale ale brewed with rosemary as part of Ghost River’s small batch Brewer’s Series. This one was so good it left me literally saying WOW. If they sold it bottled or canned I probably would have bought a case right then and there to ship back to Philly!

Delta Sunshine Brewing Co.

At B.B. King’s Blues Club I had Delta Sunshine’s Hwy 61 Pilsner with my delicious po-boy sandwich and some afternoon blues. Delta Sunshine, which just launched in fall of 2018, does not have their own taproom yet. But it’s interesting to note that they started with a distribution that is remarkable for a new craft brewery, with beer available on the very first day in the states of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Memphis Made Brewing Company

At the spooky haunted bar Earnestine & Hazel’s on South Main Street, I was pleased to find that their entire draught lineup is local brews! They had two Memphis Mades on tap, an amber ale and an IPA. Wanting something on the lighter side, I decided on the 5.1% Memphis Made Fireside amber ale.

Flash forward to my second night in Memphis. I was out on Beale Street for a while and stopped in Blues City Cafe to listen to the band in there and have one or two last drinks before I called it a night. They had the option of 32-oz. draught beers, and I ordered Memphis Made’s Cat Nap. That was the other one that had been on tap at E&H’s the night before and I mistakenly thought Cat Nap was the name of the amber ale I had been drinking there. I soon found out that I had ordered 32 ounces of a 6.2% IPA as my wind-down drink! It was hoppy and refreshing and thankfully didn’t hit me too bad!

Memphis was such a fun and eccentric city, and I had a great time sipping my way through it. One thing is for sure: Beale Street, blues, and beer seem to be a match made in heaven.