The Black Abbey Brewing Company

Great micro with some of Nashville’s best brews. Seating is tight, so get there early

Best brewery tour in Nashville, IMNSHO! It is off the beaten path, but worth the, minimal, effort to find. The bar area is unpretentious and inviting. The ladies working the bar were very friendly. There were only a handful of people there. There were eight beers in our flight and we were given a thorough explanation of each, as well as a suggested tasting order. The Belgian styles were amazing, classic Belgian flavor profile. The POTUS Porter was excellent, and the IPA’s were great as well. Hoppy, but not over the top like some tend to be. There were only five people on our tour. Our guide was one of the owners. He was great! He gave an amazing tour, and when I told him I was a brewer, his eyes lit up as to say, «Look, another beer nerd/​lunatic!» We really enjoyed the time we spent there. I would highly recommend it!

Great selection of craft beers! A must stop in Nashville for beer lovers. Staff was excellent and made us feel like we were VIP.

Thus far, this is my favorite brewery in Nashville. They’re making some killer belgian style ales and was very stoked when they started sending some kegs to Knoxville.
The taproom is very laid back with a great view of the brewery. There’s always some top notch vinyl playing and if I’m not mistaken they’ll play your vinyl if you bring one in.
Highly recommend stopping in if you love good beer.

Outstanding tasting room carved out of their production space. Loved the Abbey influence on the décor. I am not a big Belgian Ale fan, but found their offerings to be excellent. They also manage a couple of strong (not in an ABV sense) Pale /​IPAs. Also excellent work at the porter/​stout end of the spectrum. There are a few food offerings on the menu. More than you might see at some tasting rooms. Flights (of 8) and growler fills available. Growlers from off-​site seemingly welcome! Very pleasant spot to spend an afternoon.

Great place to go if you like beer. I am not a huge beer fan so it wasn’t my ideal place but I loved the atmosphere. Most of the beers were on the darker side with a couple IPA’s. We went for a friend’s 21^st and they gave us a boot of beer for her to drink from. One of the members of the brewery was there and gave us advice on where to go while we were visiting Nashville.

Finally made it here. Have loved the Black Abbey beer throughout so many local Nashville spots. Glad I finally got over here. The flight to try all is impressive. Now to pick out what to take home!

Hands down best brewery in Nashville! Also, most scientific brewery tour. Go check it out, and try all their beers — all good. Unfortunately you can’t buy 6 packs in the stores (yet), but luckily you can find at least one of their beers on tap in many local restaurants.

Hands down, the best tasting beers in Nashville. I’d really wanna give a 4.5 though just because the taproom is a bit too small. But the beers are so good that instead of rounding down, I am rounding up.
You can bring in your own vinyl to have them play. So sometimes it ends up being music some people may not like. This isnt meant to be a restaurant to sit and have dinner at really either. Its a brewery, you are here to drink and socialize and maybe be a little loud. Its church for lovers of good beer. Its not your pansy southern baptist fall asleep during the sermon kinda church but your lively, singing, maybe throwing snakes around kinda church.
There are occasional food trucks outside, which is nice, as there arent much in the way of snack choices inside (maybe a cheese/​olive plate thing if I recall). But again, you are here for the BEER. Its amazing. If you are looking for more of a restaurant style brew-​pub, there are several restaurants/​pubs in town that have some of these amazing beers on tap and that might be more your style.

My girl and I went here it being her favorite brew. We had the best tour ever! Very personal with the owner/​brew master. I would recommend this to everyone. We plan on going back for a second tour.

This is place is pretty cool when taken on its own. The church theme in the public room contrasts nicely with the open warehouse where they make and age the beer. There’s not a ton of room and you have to hope a spot opens up if you get their taster, as it is larger than the bar rail around the room.
The beer itself is really good, with their abbey-​style ales being my favorite. They’ve mastered the level of malt needed without too much sugar, which often happens with Belgian beers. Their prices are reasonable; a taster of eight beers runs $ 10.
The only problem I had was with the music. It’s a mix of metal and hard rock. That’s fun for midnight on a Saturday, but it’s not the kind of atmosphere I want at 8pm, while I’m eating dinner. It was pretty loud as well, so it was hard to talk to the people I was with. If I was looking for a way to amp up before partying, this place would be where I would head. But as far as a place to enjoy beer and friends, I would head to a different brewery.

Informative tour — cleverly created beers and brand. Delicious variety on tap. Looking forward to the Smokey Chapter House… coming soon.

Some buddies and I did a little self-​guided brewery tour around Nashville and this was our first stop. Big mistake. This place was so much better than any of the others — we should have just stayed here all day!
The atmosphere is really relaxed. It’s a big, open space with stacks of bourbon barrels, plenty of seating at large tables, and a big bar to get the drinks out quickly. The workers were all very friendly during our visit and were happy to answer questions while pouring beers. Oh, and the beer… SO GOOD. They have a number of different styles, the best of which are awesome and the worst of which are still very good. We had a few pints there and got a growler to go, but still wished we had more.
This place took the gold on our limited tour of Nashville’s craft brewery scene. I would be sure to stop by here again if I’m ever in the area. Or passing through. Or headed vaguely south.
Seriously, check it out.

Black Abbey is my favorite brewery in Nashville, hands down.
Their beers, their people — it just doesn’t get any better. The beers are definitely in the Belgian style; but to quote one of the owners, who in turn, quoted Patrick Swayze a la Dirty Dancing: «nobody puts baby in a corner.» They’ve released a few non-​Belgian styles (their new West Coast IPA, 5 Points is delicious) and have shown a willingness to play around with barrel-​aging, barrel-​fermenting, and more. John, one of the co-​founders and the head brew geek, is an absolute genius when it comes to making delicious beer — barrel-​aged or otherwise. Of all the beers they’ve made (and I’ve had most of them), I only have disliked 2.
As far as the taproom is concerned, it’s nothing pretentious. There are beautiful, hand-​made community tables, like you might find in the common room at a Trappist monastery, a few stained glass features, hanging lights reminiscent of a narthex, but otherwise it’s just a nook in their working brewery, just to the right of the main doors. They offer beers by the pint, flights of all their offerings, and they have a beer engine for cask conditioned ales they crank up a few times a week. They also offer growler fills. The food options are somewhat limited; just some cheese plates, pretzels, sausages, etc., but they do have food trucks come by relatively often on the weekend nights and live music on occasion.
It’s worth noting that while their hours are somewhat limited, they do make their space available for private events on days the taproom isn’t open; my company rented the space for a large meeting and then we toured the facility and had some beers afterwards. It was a great experience. Carl, the other, more sales and operations-​oriented of the two founders, is awesome to work with. He gives a great tour, and has a great sense of humor.
TL; DR Great beer, good space that puts you in the middle of a working brewery, and great people.

The only potential negative about Black Abbey is they’re only open 3 days a week. Great atmosphere, great beer, all around fantastic place to be on a Saturday afternoon in Nashville.

The realization that you’re about to head home at rush hour, but you need to stop for beer (in one of the WORST areas for traffic without going out of your way), is a crappy way to start a Friday evening.
Then the light bulb…
«There’s a taproom just around the corner. Hmm…»
Not just any taproom either; one of the local brews in town that I have discovered I really enjoy.
From what I can recall, I first tried a Black Abbey brew one Halloween, then again at a Unilocal Elite Event — both times rather enjoyable.
On opening day of their taproom, I happened to be driving by, so I stopped in, but there were SO MANY PEOPLE! Literally a huge line out the door!
Then I just… well…forgot.
I checked out their site to confirm their taproom was open (they have limited hours), then hopped in the chariot for the short drive over.
I found parking easily, and noticed a food truck was parked outside.
Inside is a large, open, and rather beautiful space. No frills. Simple, clean, and picnic tables abound.
I walked right up to the bar, and asked for a sample of what I was sure I had loved before. Yep, the Chapter House. Delicious.
The sweet bartender quickly filled my growler, and I was on my way — all in less than five minutes.
I went home as one happy camper with delicious, fresh brew, sans a headache from fighting for a basic sixer!

My experience was terrible. I came for a tour and some tastings for my husbands birthday. Carl is rude to people that come to his brewery. The beer wasn’t even very good. I also couldn’t figure out if Carl was racist or just ignorant. The only good thing was the efficient service from the bar ladies.

Interesting place. Small, local distillery. Nice taproom with tables, benches/​pews, and bar area. Offerings are unique. If this is your style beer, then you’ll love it. Flight options for those who want some samples.
Tour was kind of odd. Funny, but in a har-​har kind of way. Need bigger scale distribution in the Mid-​TN area and we’d be more frequent customers!

Agh! I must begin with the fact that my organization-​seeking-​loving-​needing self is flipping out that I can’t properly designate which neighborhood this is. I want to call it Berry Hill, but it’s technically southeast of the Berry Hill boundary on Thompson. And Berry Hill, itself, is a weird little town/​neighborhood that confuses and intrigues me (it’s part of Nashville… no… it’s its own municipality… no… it’s a city in Davidson County… no…well, yes to all… doesnotcompute). So, before I even stepped foot inside Black Abbey, I’d already had a logical/​procedural meltdown.
It’s a good thing the beer’s so good.
The taproom at Black Abbey is unlike many (all?) of the other taprooms around town. There’s no hipster element. There are no bells and whistles. You come in. You look to the left at the picnic tables. You look ahead of you at the beer vats. You go around the corner (well, inside) to walk into the large brew room… and that’s about it. And, I can appreciate that. When the product is good, there’s no need for much else. Here, you’re going to run in to people who are serious about making interesting and tasty beer. And, I suppose, the somewhat stark nature of the brewery/​taproom fits in to the industrial vibe (you’re close to the interstate and train tracks) of the area (which is called???).
I enjoy that they go whole hog into the Black Abbey schtick. Follow-​through is important. My favorite of their brews is the Rose (actually, I’ve had another one of their blonde ales and it was good, too). However, being a fan of darker brews (and with the whole Middle Ages thing they have going on, darker — and sweeter — beers seem to make the most sense), I have yet to have a Black Abbey beer (admittedly not at the brewery) that I haven’t cared for. If you’re a beer enthusiast, step outside the popular confines of SoBro, The Gulch and East Nashville for a taste of Nashville (figurative and literal) that you might not get during the everyday circuit/​scene. Black Abbey, I have no idea where you are but I’m looking forward to coming back.

Regaled By Christian Heresy & Micro-​Brews!
SITREP
When you think about it, Micro-​Brews have a long and venerable tradition of creating dissent and making waves that rock the foundations of ordered society.
Whether like American Revolutionary Samuel Adams thumbing his nose at King George, or Martin Luther «mooning» the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church («Amen!»), the micro-​brew tradition has funded a lot of revolutionary causes.
THE SETUP
In this venerable tradition, The Black Abbey Brewing Company highlights that 2^nd scenario of Martin Luther, and our tour guide at Black Abbey lost no time in sharing the story of how Martin Luther and a nun named Catherine, got married and proceeding to change the course of Christianity… with their microbrews.
PHYSICAL PLANT
Black Abbey has a great interior set-​up, like an Inn of old with lots of comfortable tables strewn about to sit upon.
And well in view is all the brewing equipment, and the barrels of strong-​scented ales, deeply engorging the atmosphere with the delicious smell of yeasts and hops hard at work.
SWAG!
If you want to buy a shirt, they have LOTS to choose from!
BLACK ABBEY ALES
Black Abbey specializes in some refreshing diversity:
* THE CHAMPION
This is one of the great pale ales that Black Abbey has re-​created from the Lutheran tradition and I found it outstanding in flavor, truly reflective of an American stock ale, with smoked malt.
* THE ROSE
This is a Belgian-​style blonde ale with wheat malt and very refreshing.
* THE SPECIAL
This is a traditional monastic Belgian-​style mild ale with floral notes, and something you would pair with a hearty bread and rich cheeses.
* BROTHER MAYNARD
This is a wondrously delicious & humorous «tip of the hat» to the clerical character in Monty Python’s Holy Grail, and is best described by our tour guide and Black Abbey as:
«From the caves of Caerbannog to the frozen lands of Nador there is much rejoicing! Brother Maynard comes to blow thy enemies to tiny bits, in Thy mercy. Five hops and five (three, sir!) three malts taunt your palate until you run away. Pairs well with lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large… Skip a bit, brother…6.1% ABV.»
*Dies laughing!*
And I couldn’t have asked for a better finish to our tour!
THE LOWDOWN
A delicious romp through the middle ages of microbrewing — both real & fictional — and great stop in Nashville for some fun tasty brews!