Nashville Brewing Company

What Nashville Brewing Company does

Nashville Brewing Company is a craft brewery specializing in traditional European-style lagers, resurrected in December 2016 by founder Scott Mertie in partnership with Blackstone Brewing Company (Nashville's oldest craft brewery, est. 1994) after the original 1859 brand was dormant for 125 years. The company produces a portfolio of three flagship beers (Nashville Lager, Nashville Light, Nashville Amber), a rotating seasonal lineup (1897 Pilsner, Nashville Bock, Nashville Festbier, NashZwickel), and special releases (Holiday Bock, Black Lager, Maibock, Smoked Beer, Dunkel, Weißbier). Production is built on traditional Bavarian methods using imported German ingredients, notably Weyermann Pilsner malt and Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops, with extended lagering times characteristic of the style.

The business operates through two primary channels: direct-to-consumer sales at the Blackstone taproom at 2312 Clifton Avenue, Nashville, and wholesale distribution throughout Middle Tennessee via Ajax-Turner. A third, small revenue line consists of Historical Brewery Tours led by Mertie ($15 per person, monthly, 6–12 attendees) that monetizes the brand's 19th-century brewing heritage. The company's GTM emphasizes cultural authenticity, leveraging annual Oktoberfest events, podcast appearances, historical marker installations, and a brewedindixie.com virtual tour to position the brand as a Nashville cultural institution rather than a transactional beer label. The founder is a healthcare executive and author of "Nashville Brewing" (Arcadia Publishing, 2006), and the brand's labeling and advertising use actual photographs from the 1880s original brewery.

The product has been validated by multiple industry awards, most notably a 2018 World Beer Cup Silver in the Munich Helles category for Nashville Lager, a 2020 GABF Silver for the same beer, and a 2023 GABF Gold for Nashville Light in American Light Lager. No external funding rounds, M&A, or institutional ownership are disclosed, and the company remains founder-owned with headcount reported at 1–10 employees, consistent with a small-scale craft producer concentrated in a single metropolitan region.

Name

Nashville Brewing Company

Legal name

Nashville Brewing Company

Website

https://nashvillebrewing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Nashville Brewing Company is a craft brewery producing traditional European-style lagers using imported German ingredients, resurrected in 2016 from an 1859 brand in partnership with Blackstone Brewing Company, and sold via a Nashville taproom and Middle Tennessee wholesale distribution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Craft Brewery

NAICS

Breweries (31212), Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (44532)

SIC

Malt Beverages (2082)

akta.pro primary industry

Microbreweries & Craft Breweries (THAFALAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brewpubs & Taprooms (On-site Beer Service) (THAFALAA), Beer Brewing & Craft Brewing (AFAFAAAA), Craft Beer Bars & Taprooms (THAFAEAG)

Keywords

• Craft brewery
• Traditional lager beer
• Bavarian style brewing
• Historical brewery tours
• Middle Tennessee distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Taproom Sales: Direct sales of draft and bottled beer to consumers visiting the Blackstone Brewery taproom at 2312 Clifton Avenue, Nashville.
2. Wholesale Distribution: Distribution of bottled and draft beer to restaurants, bars, and stores throughout Middle Tennessee via Ajax-Turner distribution.
3. Historical Tours: Historical brewery tours led by owner Scott Mertie, priced at $15 per person plus tax and processing fees, with two pints of choice included.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Nashville Brewing Company produces and sells traditional European-style lagers—primarily Bavarian Helles, pre-prohibition Amber, Märzen, Bock, Pilsner, Schwarzbier, Maibock, Rauchbier, Dunkel, and Hefeweizen—brewed with imported German ingredients (Weyermann Pilsner malt, Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops, Saaz hops, Munich malt). Beers are sold on draft and in bottles through the Blackstone Brewery taproom in Nashville and via Ajax-Turner wholesale distribution throughout Middle Tennessee. The company also offers Historical Brewery Tours led by founder Scott Mertie.

Product overview

Nashville Brewing Company is a craft brewery specializing in traditional European-style lagers. The company operates as a brand resurrected in 2016 in partnership with Blackstone Brewing Company (Nashville's oldest craft brewery since 1994). The product portfolio includes three flagship beers—Nashville Lager™, Nashville Light™, and Nashville Amber™—along with seasonal offerings (Nashville Festbier, 1897 Pilsner, Nashville Bock) and special release beers (NashZwickel®, Nashville Black Lager, Nashville Maibock, Nashville Smoked Beer, Nashville Dunkel, NBC Weißbier, Nashville Holiday Bock). The company also offers Historical Brewery Tours. The beers are brewed using traditional Bavarian/German methods with imported ingredients including Weyermann Pilsner malt and Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nashville Lager™ Flagship traditional Bavarian Helles-style lager brewed with Weyermann Pilsner malt and Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops; bright golden lager with delicate malty mouthfeel balanced with spicy hop character. Aimed at craft beer drinkers seeking authentic German-style lagers.
• Nashville Light™ Reduced-calorie lager maintaining the character of the award-winning Nashville Lager recipe; brewed with imported German Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops and a portion of imported German Pilsner malt for malty mouthfeel while reducing calories. Aimed at craft beer drinkers seeking a lower-calorie option.
• Nashville Amber™ Historic pre-prohibition style amber lager originating from Vienna in the mid-1800s; brewed with kilned malts creating a rich amber color, lighter and less malty than European counterparts. Aimed at craft beer drinkers interested in revived American brewing history.
• 1897 Pilsner Traditional Czech pilsner brewed in Bohemian fashion using pilsner malt and Saaz hops, referencing the beer of choice at the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Aimed at craft beer enthusiasts interested in historic Czech-style lagers.
• Nashville Bock Traditional German bock beer style; strong, malty beer derived from the brewing tradition of Einbeck, Germany. Aimed at craft beer drinkers seeking traditional strong lagers.
• Nashville Festbier Award-winning Märzen-style amber lager traditionally brewed in March and lagered during summer months; featured beer at the annual Nashville Oktoberfest celebration. Aimed at craft beer enthusiasts and Oktoberfest visitors.
• NashZwickel® Unfiltered version of Nashville Lager drawn directly from the fermentation tank using a traditional zwickelhahn apparatus; cloudy, smooth, and refreshing, with limited availability. Aimed at craft beer enthusiasts seeking traditional unfiltered lagers.
• Nashville Holiday Bock Spiced version of the traditional bock, seasoned with holiday spices reminiscent of outdoor Christmas markets in Bavaria. Aimed at craft beer drinkers during the holiday season.
• Nashville Black Lager Schwarzbier (black beer) style brewed with imported Munich malt and Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops; toasted mouthfeel suited for the winter months. Aimed at craft beer drinkers seeking traditional German dark lagers.
• Nashville Maibock Pale bock traditionally served in springtime, brewed with additional malts creating slightly elevated alcohol content offset by a significant hop presence. Aimed at craft beer enthusiasts seeking spring seasonal offerings.
• Nashville Smoked Beer Rauchbier (smoked beer) style with malt smoked in-house using beachwood in the Bamberg, Northern Bavaria tradition; delivers a strong smoky flavor. Aimed at craft beer enthusiasts seeking traditional German smoked beer.
• Nashville Dunkel Dark lager traditionally brewed in Munich and throughout Bavaria; brewed in time-honored fashion as the founders did over 160 years ago. Aimed at craft beer enthusiasts interested in traditional Bavarian dark lagers.
• NBC Weißbier Hefeweizen wheat beer brewed for the Craft Brewers Conference with sponsor-provided ingredients. Aimed at craft beer enthusiasts and conference attendees.
• Historical Brewery Tour Guided tour of Nashville brewing history from the early 1800s through the 1950s, led by owner Scott Mertie, including a personal brewery tour at Blackstone and two pints of choice; offered one Friday afternoon per month at $15 per person plus tax and processing fees (minimum 6, maximum 12 attendees, approximately 1.5 hours). Aimed at history enthusiasts, cultural tourists, and craft beer visitors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple award wins at World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival, Can Can Awards, and Beer Army Beer Wars competitions

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Blackstone Brewing CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2016Strategic partnership to resurrect and brew Nashville Brewing Company brands. In 2016, Scott Mertie partnered with Kent Taylor, co-founder of Blackstone Brewing Company (est. 1994, Nashville's oldest craft brewery), to contract brew the historic NBC brands. Blackstone provides brewing capacity and expertise in traditional European lagers. First beer, Nashville Lager, released December 2016.
• Ajax-TurnercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistribution partnership for wholesale delivery of Nashville Brewing Company products to restaurants, bars, and stores throughout Middle Tennessee.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Shiner Beer (Spoetzl Brewery): Texas-based regional brewery known for Shiner Bock and other traditional German-style lagers. Competes in the same style categories as Nashville Brewing but at vastly larger scale and distribution.
• Samuel Adams (Boston Beer Company): Largest U.S. craft brewer with deep lager portfolio and award pedigree. Sets the competitive ceiling on craft lager quality benchmarks and on-premise account access.
• Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Major U.S. craft brewery with a broad lager and ale portfolio and national distribution. Relevant comparable for what a scaled craft operation with award-winning lagers could look like as Nashville Brewing grows.

Direct peers

• Christian Moerlein Brewing Company: Historic Cincinnati brewery whose founder acquired the original Nashville Brewery in 1890. Shares Nashville Brewing's 19th-century German-immigrant brewing lineage and traditional lager focus, with parallel heritage-brand positioning.
• Jackalope Brewing Company: Nashville craft brewery operating a taproom and distributing across Tennessee. Similar small-team, founder-led operating model and regional craft positioning.
• Yazoo Brewing Company: Long-standing Nashville craft brewery with a similar local-roots positioning, multi-style portfolio, and Tennessee-based wholesale footprint. Directly comparable in geography, scale, and go-to-market motion.
• Jack's Abby Craft Lagers: Massachusetts craft brewery specializing exclusively in German-style lagers (Helles, IPL, bocks). Closest U.S. comparable on style focus and traditional lager expertise, though at materially larger scale.
• Blackstone Brewing Company: Nashville's oldest craft brewery (est. 1994) and Nashville Brewing's contract-brewing partner. Operates the shared taproom at 2312 Clifton Avenue and produces Nashville Brewing's portfolio on its brewhouse, making it the most direct operational peer.
• Tennessee Brew Works: Nashville-based craft brewery emphasizing Tennessee-sourced ingredients and heritage storytelling. Competes in the same on-premise and off-premise accounts in Middle Tennessee.

Emerging players

• Gordon Biersch Brewing Company: Brewery chain rooted in traditional German Reinheitsgebot brewing with on-premise brewpubs. Overlaps with Nashville Brewing's German-style positioning and taproom experience model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nashvillebrew
• Facebookfacebook.com/nashvillebrew
• Instagraminstagram.com/nashvillebrewing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nashville Brewing Company