I’ll tell you what, the next time I go to Nashville, I’m going to visit Tailgate Beer. They’re a small brewery and gourmet pizza parlor there, and as I love craft beer and good pizza, that’s all I need to know. There’s more to Tailgate Beer than that, of course, as we shall soon see. How do I know all this? Well it all started when I picked up a can of Blacktop Blonde Golden Blonde Ale in Spring Hill.

Tailgate claims to have 30 beers on tap constantly, and they say this about themselves too:

Our brew schedule is constantly changing! We brew 2 new beers every week that are generally seasonally appropriate and experimental. Our Tasting Room regularly pours favorites like Peanut Butter Milk Stout and Grapefruit IPA; as well as our in-house brewed West Coast IPA’s, stouts, belgians and sours!

Now, they mention “experimental” pretty frequently when describing themselves, and to be honest these days there’s not much experimental about a Peanut Butter Milk Stout or a Grapefruit IPA. Still, they do currently list beers like Caramel Sour and Pucker Up Peach as well as an intriguing Hot Chicken IPA. Though I doubt that’s made with hot chicken.

Curiously, I can’t find a reference to the Blacktop Blonde on their website. Here’s what I know from the can:

Crisp, clean, easy drinking & refreshing all in one can. A perfectly balanced anytime beer!

Hops: Cascade, Magnum

Malts: Two-Row, Wheat, Carapils

Alcohol by Volume: 4.6%

IBUs: 19

Oh and the price of $8.99 a six-pack isn’t bad, either. My can is stamped as best by 8/25/2106; I drank it on June 23^rd.

Tailgate Blacktop Blonde Golden Blonde Ale pours to a pale blonde color with a medium sized head of fizzy, short lived foam and a tart wheat and light biscuit malt nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a tart crackery wheat beer like character, but there’s also a crisp biscuity maltiness and a light honey-like note. The beer finishes balanced with a light grassy bitterness lingering after you sip.

Folks, for a blonde ale this beer is tasty and refreshing, and it got my attention as soon as I took the first sip. It’s been hot here in Georgia the past few weeks, low 90s today, and Blacktop Blonde was just the refresher to quench my thirst, with enough flavor to keep the beer geek in me satisfied, too.

I couldn’t help but think, if this is what Tailgate can do with a blonde ale, I can only imagine what they’re capable of with an imperial stout…..

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

Home