Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival

As of recent, Nashville has been removed from the «tour». Probably a good thing because last year was a sh*t show. My parents come from out of town every year to attend. We buy VIP tickets and pre-​plan the event months in advance. In prior years, our experience had been acceptable. Seemed like ticket sales were up, and booze was flowing a plenty and BBQ options were from various states. Nothing quite like Carolina BBQ to make me miss home! We always looked forward to «next year» and assumed it would only get better or plateau worst case…
That was until last year’s festival (2013). We arrived early with our VIP tickets in hand, ready to excite our taste buds. First, most of the kegs hadn’t been tapped yet. The ones that were tapped, are lukewarm at best. There were several kegs that had «mechanical» issues that never got fixed. It keeps going downhill from here. What they did have, quickly ran out. GA patrons ended up using solo cups, as they ran out of tasting glasses early. BBQ was provided by Jim & Nicks… no other options. Complete cluster, and this was all happening within the first two hours. Halfway through the festival, magical random varieties of bottled beers started taking the place of empty kegs. Unfortunately, the pouring staff had zero knowledge about anything, other than they were being paid to stand next to an empty keg.
If I’m not mistaken, the tickets even went to Groupon. Sure am glad I paid VIP price for the same horrible experience somebody else had for $ 20.
Later in the evening I ended up striking up a convo with a couple from Cary N.C. They had driven 8 hours to Nashville for this festival (Cary has the same festival & it’s epic) and they were disgusted as well. Bummer.
Shame this festival went out like this. I’ll never attend, support, recommend or say anything positive about the Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival. Good riddance removing Nashville…

This festival was the reason why my sister and I came to Nashville. My sister has recently grown fond of bourbon and after hearing about this festival, it was a must! It also happened to fall on our birthday weekend so why not make a trip out of it?!
We paid for the VIP tickets which lets you into the festival two hours before the general public. It was definitely worth it because we were able to taste a lot of their high-​end bourbons before they ran out. We mainly had bourbons and rye whiskeys (which I prefer) and only tried a couple beers. I was disappointed with the number of BBQ joints. I believe there was only a handful of them and the lines were super long.
We had a good time meeting a lot of locals who showed us that Southern hospitality. I’d love to come back to the festival in Nashville or another city it is touring.

This past Saturday we headed downtown to the Municipal Auditorium for the Beer, Bourbon & BBQ festival. This festival tours around the nation, making stops in places like Manhattan, Richmond and Tampa besides Nashville. For a bourbon festival I was shocked to not see a stop in Kentucky on the list — those people know their bourbon! Anyway, we spent the day eating, drinking, talking to friends and having an all-​around good time.
I was pretty surprised by the BBQ portion of the festival. First of all, the BBQ was not included in the door price. With BBQ in the title, I was expecting the opportunity to sample different types of pulled pork from multiple vendors. Nope. Food was extra $$ and there were only three BBQ vendors (Low and Slow, Jim ‘N Nicks, and Whitts). In a city that has a growing BBQ culture, they needed more BBQ vendors and more local (non-​chain) shops. I was hoping for Edley’s or Peg Leg Porker.
We tasted a whole bunch of good stuff but my favorites were:
1. Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey
2. High West Rendezvous Rye
3. Leinenkugel Snowdrift Vanilla Porter
4. The spare ribs I purchased from the Jim N Nicks tent.
There was a notable absence of local products. Favorites like Yazoo, Jackalope, Calfkiller, Black Abbey and Corsair were missing completely. Perhaps because this a touring festival and not a local one, they focused more on the national brands. I totally understand that, but I think next year they should have a tasting station dedicated to Tennessee beers and spirits.
I recommend going with a bunch of friends and drinking yourself silly. Don’t forget to bring some cash to spring for the BBQ!

The Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Fest was really fun! I was able to score a VIP ticket and get there before the crowds at noon (rather than 2). There were plenty of bourbons and beers to try (and I even saw Barefoot wine had a table). I am docking a star because the BBQ wasn’t what I expected — no samples! There were a few places sampling their sauces on crackers, but if you wanted enough food to count for a real meal, you had to spend $ 10+ on one of the vendors. Still delicious, but good thing I brought cash!