Beers to try from Arkansas, Tennessee, & Mississippi...?

Unfortunately this region is really lacking in craft beer. Nashville will be your best city to go to out of the three states you listed. They have several good breweries and definitely the most when it comes to one city in the region - Yazoo, Fat Bottom,Calfkiller, Jackalope, Turtle Anarchy, MayDay, and several more. Mississippi is very limited. Lazy Magnolia and Lucky Town are about all MS has to offer. Arkansas has a couple in Little Rock and then several in NW Arkansas around Fayettville. In AR I would recommend Saddlebock but unfortunately they don't bottle so you would have to go to their brewery.

As far as a restaurant/bar you could go to I would suggest Flying Saucer. They have locations in Little Rock, Memphis, and Nashville. They have the best selection when it comes to bottles and beers on tap.

 

Except for Lazy Mag, the other MS breweries are draft only. Safe travels to you.

 

Memphis also has Ghost River and Boscos. Ghost River brews some pretty decent stuff. Right now they only bottle one of their beers (Golden Ale) but if you go by their brewery you can get growler fills. They will have 3-4 beers to choose from on that. Boscos is a restaurant and they brew 4-5 different beers depending on seasonal stuff.

 

NWArkansas is the place. Sounds like you won't be in the area though. I think Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Brown Ale would be your best bet. Actually, your situation is not as dire some would have you believe.

 

Lazy Magnolia's brown ale and milk stout are very good.

Straight To Ale, Good People, and Blue Pants from Alabama are in Tennessee, but I'm not sure about their Memphis distribution. STA was also supposed to be in Mississippi this month.

 

Little Rock Downtown: Vino's at 7th and Chester is the best brewpub. A very casual place where the beers are generally very good, the Pizza is good and the Calzones are the best I ever tasted. About five block away from Vino's is Diamond Bear tap room at 323 Cross street, three blocks from the Capitol, is a good stop. They have tours with free samples on the weekends. Their Porter is their highest rated brew and their pale ale is usually solid but mundane. The catch at DB is that they only are open to the public on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But, you CAN buy beer to go from any Arkansas brewery (growlers, bottles, kegs) on Sundays. Ditto for Arkansas wineries. If you find yourself in the river market district, a beer session in Flying Saucer is your best bet for variety. There is a Bosco's location in LR near FS, but you can have that in Memphis or Nashville. A new nanobrewery in Little Rock is set to open in a week or so but they might not be open by the time you arrive. It's called Stone's Throw and is at 9th and Rock street near MacArthur Park and the Arts Center. Across the river in North Little Rock's Argenta district are a few bars that are craft-oriented as well. If you find yourself in West Little Rock (basically the I-430 corridor and parts west), I hear that Khalil's Pub is a good craft beer spot. Never been there but I saw their beer list online and it's not anything near like the Saucer. Not worth the trip unless you are stuck out that way and pressed for time. There is also Rock Town Distillery in Downtown LR if you are into distilled spirits.

 

Note about Ghost River in Memphis... Their Irish Red Ale (Copperhead) is worth seeking out if you like the style. Extremely good stuff. Golden Ale is a good Kolsch.

 

What's your route and how much time do you have? It sounds like you are coming in on I-40. You COULD try a zig zag approach from OKC (there are good number of places there), take the turnpike (I-44) to Tulsa (stop at McNellie's and try a Dead Armadillo Amber and let me know what you think) then due east through NWA (Fayetteville/Springdale -- several spots there) and then down I-540 to get back on I-40 to Little Rock and then on to Memphis.

 

Hit Bier Garten in Jenks, OK if you are near Tulsa ( Mon-Saturday)

 

Core Brewing in Springdale, AR and Fossil Cove in Fayetteville, AR worth a quick stop if you hit the I-540 corridor. Core's Red Ipa, Black IPA and ESB are excellent. Fossil Cove always some god brews. Fossil Cover starting to pump out bottles from time to time.

 

Lazy Magnolia's Timber Beast (rye DIPA) and Crooked Letter brewing's Mystery Romp (chocolate/coffee porter) are the two best beers from MS imo. I haven't had a chance to sample anything from Lucky Town yet. The Mystery Romp is draft only.

Crooked Letter has a listing of availability on their site: http://crookedletterbrewing.com/welcome_2.html

Lazy Magnolia has a beer finder on their site: http://lazymagnolia.com/#brand-finder/

 

In Little Rock I also would recommend professor Bowl West. They have over 300 beers in bottles and almost 30 taps.

Also Big Orange has the best burgers in town, 8 great taps and about 50 bottles.

Mellow Mushroom just opened and they have 40 craft taps and 40 bottles.

 

If you're anywhere neard Kerbs, OK (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356). Otheriswe NWA is your best option.

 

Krebs is off the path considerably. It is several miles south of I-40 near McAlester. A nice place to visit if you have time, but if you had to choose, head to NWA and down to LR after Tulsa. You can get Prairie and Choc products (Krebs Brewing Co.) all over OK and AR in a liquor store.

 

I was wondering why you didn't mention Ghost River the first time around considering your avatar.

We also have a new brewery in Memphis called High Cotton Brewing. I tried a couple of their beers at Memphis Brewfest in April, and they were good. You can check out the "Enjoy Here" section on their web site to see where their beer is currently being served:

http://highcottonbrewing.com/

Now I know the TC's trip has already come and gone, but I just figured I'd spread the word for anyone else interested.

 

Thanks, I will look for it next time I am in the area.

 

Good People and Back40 from Alabama are available in MS to some extent.