Well, it’s official.  We are a whole year old.  It’s kind of weird…one of those things where it’s hard to believe we’re not brand spankin’ new anymore but also it’s hard to remember a time when we weren’t brewing bunches of beer. It’s even hard to remember those “character building” (as my mom likes to call them) days that ended a mere six months ago, when we slugged away on the Sabco system, one keg at a time.  We had an AWESOME time on Saturday, 97-degree heat and all.  I lived my dream of having bands (who all killed it!) play from the loading dock, Robyn lived her dream of playing flip cup in our parking lot, and Steve lived his dream of fixing the chiller 3 times during a 6 hour party (ok, maybe that was more of a nightmare, but he kept his spirits up like a champ).  Here are some photos of our day.  Thanks to everyone who came and who signed our giant birthday card (only one person out of several hundred drew a penis on it, so over all, great success)!  And extra thanks to the Music City Beer Society and our beloved bartender Jeff who did all the beer slingin’ for us so that we got to play during the party.  Don’t worry, we’re working on a misting tent/dunk tank for next year….

Now I tend to be the sentimental sap around this joint, and y’all are lucky it was so hot on Saturday or else I probably would have grabbed the mic and given a tearful speech about how much I loved each and every one of you.  So instead I’ll do it over the internet and you can read it at your leisure.  No matter what is going on here, even if our chiller is down, we’re on the 19^th hour of a double brew day, we don’t have enough staff to work the bar through the weekend, and we’re scratching our heads wondering how the h-e-doublehockeysticks to steer this ship, every single day I thank my lucky stars for even the chance to even be at the helm.  From friends like Robyn and Steve who believed in my brewery dream enough to turn it into our dream, to new friends who help us come up with hair-brained, so-awesome-it-just-might-work schemes, to people who like to drink a Jackalope beer at the end of the day, thanks to you all for your support.  Roughly once a week (or up to once a day, as necessary), I read myself the “Man in the Arena” excerpt from a speech delivered by Teddy Roosevelt in 1910.  In this past year we have experienced everything from devastating heartache to surreal joy, so thanks for the opportunity to even step foot in the arena.

PS – On Monday we’re driving down to Delvin Farms to pick up 200 lbs. of organic beets for the next rotating brew, Number One Frog (a Farmhouse Ale).  Seriously guys, I love my life.

PPS – Wondering who won the baby-picture contest?  There were a few good contenders but I think we can all agree that Mizz Jaime DeRensis is the winner, hands-down:

Well, the prisoners are running the asylum! Or something like that. Yep, Robyn is in Scotland, hopefully returning with many stories of brews (make that stories AND brews) from the motherland, so it’s up to Steve and me to run the place.  And blog the place.  Muahahaha.

Clearly we’ve come up with some really stellar ideas, as Steve is currently coming off an all-nighter double-brew marathon, and I am working on the details our FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY on May 26th.  I can really hardly believe it’s been nearly a year since we opened those doors and realized that none of us knew how to operate the cash register.  Almost a year later and I still can’t work the register and hold a conversation.  Multi-tasking is hard.

Anyway, we’re pretty excited to throw the ole ‘Lope a party.  Any requests?  It seems like party hats and birthday cake are definitely in order. We are working on our outdoor beer permit. We are ALSO working on some musical entertainment, including the debut performance of the Day Drinkers, a super group ala the Traveling Wilburys, composed of three of the five members of Bounty Bev, our distribution team.  Having realized that they all are musically talented folks, Josh, Mark, and Weston have decided to join forces in the name of beer, music, and fun.  Seriously, this is the best idea we’ve collectively come up with since the Nashville Craft Bushwacker Festival (someday….someday.).  This ain’t yo mama’s distributor; they move our kegs around town AND play music. I. Am. So. EXCITED.

 Oh, hey, Robs, uh, for when you get back…we also finally started that chicken coop out by the chiller.  Don’t worry, you only have to feed them once a day, and most of them are super friendly.

First, thanks to all of you who came out for Nashville Craft Beer Week events!  We said goodbye to Lovebird…

…and hello to Spruce Beersteen Black IPA (as our friend Weston said, it’s the darkness on the edge of town…)

…and had a really great time eating and drinking with all of you, even if my jorts are a little snug this week.

Things to look out for on the horizon: Get Better playing a LIVE SET in the taproom (April 14) to celebrate the release of their new album, the return of Grassy Knoll Movie Nights out by Bongo East (April 15),  American Craft Beer Week, fEASTival, and our FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY!  That’s right, Jackalope is turning one in May, and so we will be throwing ourselves a birthday party on May 26^th.  Details to follow but suffice to say we hope it will have significantly more beer and less crying than your typical first birthday party.

Now, moving on to more news, we often get the question, “how did you come up with the name for Jackalope?”. It basically goes back to the fact that I, Bailey, believed in them quite actively for many a-year (on a related note, I was also voted “most gullible” in my 8^th grade superlatives.).  The more people ask, the more I realize that I don’t remember ever having any kind of “a-ha!” moment when someone told me they weren’t real and my perception of reality was shattered.  So maybe the thing of it is that I still believe in them.  Nobody has ever proved to me that Jackalopes aren’t real, even though I admit they are a rather elusive bunch (as it was explained to me so many years ago, they are primarily nocturnal, thus people rarely see them).  And with that in mind, I am happy to announce that I, along with my sister and two obliging friends, will embark on a quest to find the wild Jackalope this summer.  This July, we will literally be searching high and low, starting at Badwater in Death Valley, the lowest point on the continent, and climbing up Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48.  Armed only with determination, Smartwools, 20-lbs of homemade GORP, and supposedly a gas-powered margarita machine, we will set about making our mythological dreams a reality and will not rest until any doubt about the Jackalope has been put to rest.  Or until we make it back down the mountain.  But hopefully both.  Who knows, maybe we’ll discover some other inspiring creatures along the way….

Do you guys know what next week is?!  It’s the first ever Nashville Craft Beer Week!  Matt Leff, the brains behind East Nashville Beer Festival and 12 South Winter Warmer has come up with this idea, and we think it’s the best idea since beer & pie (see Thursday, March 29th, below).  We’re involved in some really cool events so we thought we’d let you know so you can plan your week accordingly.

Sunday, March 25th:  We’re helping with the kick off of Nashville Craft Beer Week by providing kegs for the Nashville Craft Beer Week Kickoff Homebrew Extravaganza (extravaganza!!)!  From noon until 6pm, they’ll be doing an actual homebrew demo, brewing beer down at the Green Wagon in East Nashville, how cool is that? Proceeds from the event will go to the Community Food Advocates and Steve will be there representing Jackalope so be sure to go say hello!

Tuesday, March 27th:  It’s pretty safe to say I’ve never ordered anything from Fido that I haven’t loved, which is why I’m so excited that we’re doing a four course dinner with them, pairing each of our brews with such things as “sweet potato biscuit, country ham, brown butter gravy, honey, candied lemon zest.” Uh, yes, please. It’s sold out, but who knows, maybe you can sweet talk your way in.

Wednesday, March 28th: Beyond the Edge was the final bar on our pub crawl when we launched distribution back in January, so needless to say, we were in awesome shape by the time we showed up there.  And somehow they let us keep coming back!  We’re returning to reap havoc once again, but this time we’re bring pint glasses for a pint night.  So yay!  Presents!  From 7pm-9pm.

Thursday, March 29th:  We’ll be open for our normal tap room hours from 4pm-8pm, but something special starts at 6pm.  Beer and pie have long been two of Bailey’s favorite things, and on this very special night, they’re joining forces.  The amazing (I’m talkin’, this lady can BAKE) pies will be coming from Katy Branson Foxy Baking Co. fame, and we’ve paired each brew with a pie that will satisfy your tastebuds and your soul.  Get a pint and a piece, or get a sampler (that’s right, four types of beer, four types of pie, one hell of a good time). We’ll be starting at 6pm and going until the pies run out…. which if Bailey has anything to do with it will probably be around 6:15.

Friday, March 30th:  Normal tap room hours – 4pm-8pm!

Saturday, March 31st:  East Nashville Beer Festival!  The main event!  Bailey and I will be representing Jackalope while Steve takes us global at a bachelor party in Vegas.  We have a special place in our hearts for the ENBF since it’s where we debuted Jackalope last year.  We turned up with one keg of Rompo and an army of paper antlers and y’all couldn’t have made it a better time for us.  Even when we ran out of beer within the first hour and a half.   Well, we’ve come a long way, baby, and will be featuring five different brews this year through out the festival!  The tap room will also be open for our regular hours, if you were like most of Nashville and weren’t able to get tickets.

Whew.  We’ve put all of these event into a handy little calendar below so you can keep track of what’s going on. There’s a whole bunch of other very cool events going on for Nashville Craft Beer Week, so check out their website for all that information!  Now get your beauty sleep, it’s a big week ahead…

There’s a hole in our hearts here at Jackalope.  For the month of February, we had an intern, Stephanie*, who helped with the brewing and other back of the house things.  Stephanie came to us from upstate New York, where she works in a café that’s going to add a brewery component to the mix, so she came here to learn about our system.  I hope she learned a lot, but really we were the ones who won out.  Stephanie is extremely hard working, competent, intelligent and understanding of our Hootie obsession (she even showed us this gem).  So we’re left wondering how we actually functioned before she was here.  From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, Stephanie!  Come back any time, we’ll start working on a Mike Fisher personal assistant gig for you in the meantime.

And now for something completely different, the time has come!  We’re going to start doing tours of the brewing facility!  We’ll be starting them this Saturday, March 10^th, and every Saturday from here on in.  We’ll do two groups a day, one at 4:30, one at 5:30, giving folks the inside look on our brewing process, as well as a little lesson on the history of beer making (just so you know, if Bailey is leading your tour, she gets really  excited about the history of beer).  Tours will be $7 and will include a Jackalope pint glass (filled with beer at the end of the tour!).  We’ll take up to 12 people per tour and it works on a first come, first served basis, so if you’re interested then come right at 4pm on Saturday to sign up!

*For those of you who are wondering, Intern Stephanie is NOT just Steve in a wig.  We promise.

While running a brewery is sometimes not as glamorous as it sounds (Quickbooks, acid sanitizer, the occasional beer geyser…), it is true that it has some serious perks.  Like yesterday.  Yesterday, we got to hold one of what we have come to think of as our very favorite meetings:  a beer and cheese meeting.  Said meetings go as follows: our dear friend Kathleen Cotter the mastermind behind the Bloomy Rind: Artisan Cheeses, comes over with 10-15 different kinds of cheese; we pour sampler glasses of each of our brews; we then taste each cheese with each brew, and spend a serious amount of time contemplating how each works with each other, which pairings we like best, and what type of relationship it would be if  the beer and cheese were people (Rompo  goes with pretty much any cheese…it has garnered itself quite the reputation). We usually have these meetings when Kathleen has exciting new frrroomage, we’re bringing on a new rotating tap, or we’ve all just had really long weeks and want an excuse to eat cheese and drink beer and laugh.  This was a special meeting though.  We’re teaming with Kathleen  to put on a beer and cheese pairing class tomorrow evening here at the brewery, as a part of the University School of Nashville Evening Classes program.  Clearly we needed to decide what pairings we wanted to put together.  Observe, the carnage:

About 12 cheeses and a number of sampler glasses of beer later, we had our roster!  There are still just a couple of spots available for the class, which will start with Bailey giving you a tour of the brewery and then move into pairing portion of the evening.  If you’re interested in the class, you can sign up at the USN Evening Classes website.  We’re really excited and can’t wait to do more events like this in the future!

A fact that every small business owner will tell you:  when you own a small business, you pretty much work all the time.  This has put a bit of a damper of our social lives, which now consist of falling asleep on the couch while watching Top Chef.  Luckily, when part of the business you own functions as a bar, there are some things you can do to help, which is why we’d like to introduce to you the three ways we are becoming more social:

Trivia:  Back in the day, Bailey, Steve and I (along with some others) reigned supreme* at the Melrose Trivia on Tuesdays.    It was glorious.  Sadly it has been a long time since we were actually able to go, so we have decided to bring the trivia to us.  Every third Thursday (ie: February 16^th) of the month from 6:30-8:30 we hold Trivia Time Trivia.  It will be a pay-to-play set up, with all proceeds going to the Tennessee Literacy Coalition. There will be sweet prizes, including Jackalope Gift Certificates, and at the same time you’re helping out the Tennessee Literacy Coalition.  Winning and helping people?  Those are things we can get behind.

Music:  Who doesn’t love music?  Bailey used to be out seeing some different obscure band that you’ve probably never heard of every other night, but when you’re brewing at 6:30 am, it’s hard to stay awake until showtime.  That’s why we’re bringing the music to Bailey.  Not a band (though the East Nashville String Trio will continue to play in the taproom on occassion), but the amazing DJs Get Better will be spinning here every second Saturday of the month.  That’s right,  starting this very Saturday!  And we are getting things started celebrating the release of their  Valentine’s covers mix as well as the release of our Lovebird Hefeweizen!  If you came to our Halloween party or our Robbie Burns Party, you know how awesome Get Better is, so come try the new brew and listen to some great tunes!

Crafting:  Oh my goodness do we love crafting.  Steve makes the most beautiful cross-stitches.  Okay, he doesn’t, but he does make delicious pretzels.  Bailey and I like crafting though and we are teaming up with our favorite ladies, Kate and Ashley from OMG to start Crafty Bitches (get it?).  Come by every fourth Thursday from 6:30-8:30 to make some new craft and drink some craft beer.  More information coming on these shortly, and will be found at the OMG website.

So there you have it, our plan for being more social.  Our calendars are looking really full.  And don’t worry, we’ll remind you when an event is coming up.

A final note, this weekend we hosted the Pink Boots Society meeting (thanks for coming by, ladies!) at Jackalope and we met Melinda, a lovely lawyer who’s husband owns Good People Brewing down in Alabama.  She and he husband have been fostering seven (SEVEN!!) adorable puppies that her brother found abandoned on the road.  They’re ready to find some good homes for these pups so if you’re interested contact them through the Good People website.  I would totally take one but I think Olive is not ready to give up her position as an only child…

*May be a slight exaggeration. 

Can you believe Robbie Burns Day is but DAYS away!?  I know, you’re counting down the hours, practicing your short game and working hard to perfect your Scottish accent.  We’re in preparation mode here at Jackalope too, mostly trying to figure out how to build a golf hole and selecting poems for you to read to us (hint: you will have a choice of 4 poems.  And they will all be by Robbie Burns.).  We know that Robbie Burns is somewhat of a mysterious character, so we thought we’d introduce you to him through portraiture. 

Our friend Trent painted this first portrait for us over Robbie Burns Day last year.  How incredibly awesome is that (note: we love homemade presents.  I’m not saying the Highland Games are rigged, but I’m saying these judges are suckers.)? You may recognize it because it has been hanging in our mancave all year.  We like to think he’s watching over us.

Now, Steve’s dad gave this second one to us last weekend.  It turns out that Steve’s grandfather in fact had a painting of Robert Burns hanging in his office, and this painting will now be prominently displayed in our taproom.  It’s kind of eerie, right? Like Steve was destined to throw Burns Day parties.

So uh, this last one is in fact not of Robbie Burns, but it is too awesome and full of Scottish folk to not show you.  It is a second painting that Grandpappy Wright has in his office, and it is of Helen MacGregor, who was Rob Roy’s wife (slash badass emcee.  Clearly, look at her.) Me thinks she needs to join Mizz Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crocket on our list of inspirational ladies.

I know what you’re thinking – those are going to look great next to the Loch Ness Monster I made out of poster board.  You’re right, they will.

Remember, games start at 3pm! If you need a refresher on what the games are, you can find it here.  See you on Saturday (uhhh….Plaidurday?)!

P.S. - Lastly, a programming note, we’re going to be closed on Saturday, January 28^th and Thursday, February 2^nd for Private Events.  OooOOohhOOOhhhh.  If you’d like to rent Jackalope for an event, email us at hello@jackalopebrew.com!

Story time!  I moved to Nashville in October of 2009 to help Bailey start a brewery (spoiler alert: that brewery became Jackalope).  In October of 2009, we had nothing.  We had an idea, a name and Bailey had homebrewing experience, but we were months away from a completed business plan, a year away from a location, and two years away from actually being able to sell large quantities of beer.   A bunch of us had a trivia team and pretty much without fail, every Tuesday, Steve would ask the bartenders for a Jackalope.  The bartenders would look blankly at him, tell him they didn’t carry that beer and actually had never heard of it.  Steve, earnestly and with a straight face, would tell them it’s a Nashville based beer and that they’d have it one day.  It is through doing this that Steve earned the title “Jackalope’s Biggest Fan” a year before he would earn the title “Intern Steve” before moving on to his new title — “The Most Technically and Mechanically Competent of All Of Us” – that nickname rolls of the tongue right? The point of this rambling story, is that starting on Monday, Steve (and anyone else of legal drinking age) will be able to go into a select number of local bars and ask for a Jackalope and not only will they know what it is, but they’ll have it on tap.  We are beyond excited about this, as I’m sure you can guess, so we’re doing what anyone else would do when they see their dream becoming a reality – we’re planning a pub crawl.   We know it’s fairly last minute, we know it’s a Monday, but if anyone would like to join us along our route, we’d love to have a drink or five with you!  We’re solidifying the four or five places we’ll be heading, and we’ll let you know places and approximate times through Facebook and Twitter as we figure it out.  In an attempt to not be totally vague, I think we’re going to start in the 12 South area, head over to Midtown, and then over to the East Side, so we’ll be covering a fair amount of ground and would love to see people along the way!  So come out and meet us, and watch as we exclaim, “Guess what? I made that!” every time someone orders a Jackalope! 

Those of you who have read our blog for some time have now heard many references to the beloved Robbie Burns Day, my favorite day of the year.  Robert Burns was an 18^th century Scottish poet, as well as a romantic, a drunkard, a farmer, and a lout, who became known as the Bard of Scotland. 

The Scots celebrate his birthday every year with pipers, haggis, poetry readings, and of course whisky.  Because at Jackalope we like to do things a little differently, we have come up with our own way to pay tribute to this Great Scot…beer, plaid, and made-up games. On Saturday January 21st, from 2:00 pm till 8:00 pm, we will be hosting Jackalope’s first Annual Robert Burns Day Party & Highland Games Festival.   While we would have loved to include actual caber toss and stone put events, something tells me our insurance folks would not have appreciated it. SO, the games will go as follows:

Teams of four will compete in games of skill, intellect, and strength.  There will be four individual events and one team event to determine the winning team.  Each individual from the team must compete in one of the individual events, which will be:

1.     A Putting Contest.  We all know that Scotland is the birthplace of Golf. Robyn and I have even hit the links (ok, the driving range…ok, they laughed at us…) at the Old Course in St Andrews, so it only seems right to start the day off with a battle of the short games.

2.     A Highland Cow Drawing Contest.  Fact: highland cattle are the best kinds of cows.  They are also the namesakes of our Hairy Highlander Scottish Ale, the rotating brew that will be debuting in the taproom on January 14.  Individuals will compose their very best highlander drawings.  The favorite will be chosen by the public and forever immortalized on our wall.  To get your mind working:

3.     A Wall-Sit Contest.  And to keep it interesting, contestants will be holding a quarter barrel keg (don’t freak out, it’s going to be empty).  We have tested this concept out, and we can all do this. Not for long, but can.  Last one standing (errr, sitting) wins.

4.     A Poetry Reading Contest. This one is quite simple.  We will provide you with a (short) Robert Burns poem to recite aloud, showing off your best/most enthusiastic Scottish accent while you do.  I’m not gonna lie, this one is my favorite.

The team event, well, a gal’s gotta have some secrets, right? SO start putting your team of golfers, artists, weightlifters, and actooooors/pirates together!  Or just be an observer/cheerleader/heckler/beer drinker, that works too.  We will be giving bonus points for costumes (hint: PLAID), team names, and knowledge of Scottish trivia.  The first event will kick off precisely at 3:00 pm, with the last event planned for around 5:00. After that everyone can stick around to enjoy beer, music (remember the DJs Get Better from the Halloween party?  They’re back!), food, and general merrymaking.

Oh yeah, we’ll also have a very special one-off brew to tap during the party…

Slàinte!