Our Story

TailGate started brewing in Nashville, Tennessee in 2014. Since then, we have grown from a 3-barrel system to a 50-barrel production brewery with 30+ of our own house-brewed beers on tap at each of our brewery taproom locations across Tennessee!

All of our beers are brewed with a "beer first" philosophy, meaning that no matter how experimental our flavors get, we always make sure the beer itself shines through. We source our ingredients locally when possible and work with local Nashville farmers to make sure nothing goes to waste.

Our nine Tennessee taprooms offer a constantly rotating beer list, as well as wine, liquor, and several non-alcoholic options. Our full, craft pizza menu is as fun and experimental as our beer selection, featuring sandwiches (sammies!), salads, and appetizers! We are family-friendly at all locations all the time and offer craft cans and growlers to go! Our Mug Club has over 3,500 members—one of the largest in the country. It’s people who are in often, trying new beers and keeping us on our toes.

How It All Started

Our founder, Wesley Keegan, started out as a homebrewer and it just grew from there. We opened our Headquarters location in an old Moose Lodge in West Nashville in October 2014 with a 3-barrel brewhouse, beer on tap, and a panini press.

Today, that same location anchors a 7-acre campus with a 15-barrel pilot system, a 50-barrel production brewery (one of the largest in the country), and a full pizza and sammie kitchen. It’s grown into something way bigger than we ever expected—and we’ve been building on it ever since.

Outside, the space opens up into a massive patio with giant LED screens for watching games, one of the best sunset views in Nashville, and a laid-back atmosphere. It’s family-friendly, dog-friendly, and built to be a place you can actually hang out—not just grab a drink and leave.

We have one owner, and zero investors. That means every decision we make about our beer, our food, our team, and our taprooms is ours—and we take that seriously!

Over 3,000 Beers and Counting

Since our grand opening, we’ve brewed over 3,000 unique recipes—and we’re not slowing down anytime soon.

Our “Core 3.5”—TailGate Orange Wheat Beer, Lager Projekt, Wizards’ Order IPA, and TailGate Cider—are our pride and joys. You’ll find them on draft at bars across Tennessee and in cans at retailers like Walmart, Kroger, and Publix. They’re the foundation of what we do and a big part of how most people first experience TailGate.

Beyond the core lineup, our taproom-only releases are where we really open things up! Our Slow Bier Series is dedicated to brewing world-class lagers with the same patience and precision that defines Lager Projekt. Our LORE Series is our rotating IPA lineup, expanding the world introduced by Wizards’ Order IPA. And our SHNACK Series is where things get a little weird… in the best way possible! It’s our experimental playground, where beers like SHNACK: TailGate Blast and SHNACK: Nana’s Puddin’ push the boundaries of what beer can be.

We’ve built a team and a system that lets us try a lot of ideas—and more often than not, they turn out awesome!

In 2025, TailGate Orange Wheat Beer took home a Gold Medal at the U.S. Open Beer Championship—one of the most competitive craft beer competitions in the country. It’s one of several awards and recognition we’ve earned along the way, and something we’re incredibly proud of as we keep pushing to make better beer every day.

More Than Beer

TailGate is home to more than just craft beer. In addition to our brewing program, we produce and package Nashville Sweet Tea Co., Coolship Coffee Cold Brew, and THC beverages under our TailGate Hemp Co. & Soshal brands. Whether you’re into hazy IPAs, hard cider, cold brew, or Southern style Sweet Tea, there’s something here for everyone.

That variety carries into our taprooms, too. Our Coolship Café program features rotating menus with cold brew creations, dirty sodas, matcha, chai, and energy spritzers. At our Headquarters location, you’ll also find Sweet & Three, our gourmet ice cream shop, while Germantown is home to the TailGate Corner Store pop-up. Across all locations, we run rotating cocktail menus and host large-scale themed pop-up events driven by our creative and maintenance teams!

We also believe nothing from the brewery should go to waste. Our spent grain goes to local Nashville-area farmers for feed and compost, and we even recycle it in-house to make dog treats for our Mutt Club.

A Great Place to Work

We've been named a Tennessean Best Place to Work in both 2023 and 2024, and we work hard every day to live up to that. We audit our wages constantly to make sure we're offering the best in the industry, provide 100% company-paid health benefits to every team member, and offer a 401(k) match.

Every beer you drink and every pizza you order helps us keep doing all of this - so thank you. We are genuinely grateful for your support and so glad you're here.

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