FuzzyBrew

Tickets are on sale for the next installment of Zoo Brew, which is coming up May 25 at the Memphis Zoo. The craft beer tasting event, which is a fundraiser for the zoo, will be held that Friday night from 7 to 10 p.m.

General admission tickets are $30 for Zoo members and $35 for non-members. And for the first time, you can buy V.I.P. tickets to the event for $50 for Zoo members and $55 for non-members.

V.I.P. tickets include entry into the Dino Lounge, which features complimentary appetizers and exclusive brews made specifically for Zoo Brew. You’ll also get to meet brewers from Red Brick Brewing, Ghost River Brewing, Yazoo Brewing Company and Mendocino Brewing Company. The lounge opens at 6:30 p.m. and closes at dusk.

To buy tickets, visit the Zoo’s membership office or go online at memphiszoo.org.

Mike Lee, owner of Mid-South Malts, is among the investors in High Cotton Brewing Company.

A team of investors has an option on a building in the Edge District near Downtown and plans to open a microbrewery in the space by year’s end.

High Cotton Brewing Company LLC has a contract to buy an 8,778-square-foot building at 598 Monroe, across from Kudzu’s Bar & Grill, and plans to start a craft brewing operation, according to several media reports. The building is a former auto parts distributorship.

High Cotton would be only the third brewery in Memphis after Midtown brewpub Boscos and Boscos’ sister brewery, Ghost River Brewing, a microbrewery in Downtown.

High Cotton’s partners include longtime brewer Mike Lee, owner of homebrew supply shop Mid-South Malts; Brice Timmons, a lawyer with Black McLaren Jones Ryland & Griffee, P.C.; Ryan Staggs, an engineer with Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division; and Ross Avery, a pilot with United Airlines. There is also a fifth silent partner in the venture.

High Cotton’s primary business would be selling kegs to local bars and restaurants, but it also plans to open a taproom with limited hours. That aspect of the business would require an amendment to the city’s alcoholic beverage ordinance and city and county zoning codes, according to The Commercial Appeal. Current rules don’t allow beer consumption in establishments that don’t serve food.

High Cotton will brew with a seven-barrel system, producing 14 kegs of beer at a time, the Memphis Business Journal reports, and plans to open with two regular beers.

We’re trying to formulate recipes that are very well-crafted and flavorful, and more geared towards the craft drinker – that’s our goal,” Lee told the Memphis Daily News. “We anticipate being very customer-friendly. We want to craft beers that people really want to drink.”

Stay tuned for more on High Cotton from FuzzyBrew. Meanwhile, what would you like to see from Memphis’ newest brewery? Leave a comment below.

The 3rd annual Memphis Brewfest drew a capacity crowd to AutoZone Park on Saturday, selling out all 2,200 tickets and drawing an additional 150 volunteers.

It was a perfect spring day to be in Downtown Memphis. We actually started the day at the Southern Hot Wing Festival, filling up on chicken before walking to AutoZone Park for the 4 p.m. start of the beer festival.

Over 190 beers were poured at the event, ranging from craft beers like Nebraska’s Lucky Bucket IPA and Atlanta’s Sweetwater 15th Anniversary Ale to international beers like Mythos from Greece. In addition, the Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs had tables at both ends of the concourse, serving homebrews that included a summer ale, a watermelon wheat beer and some great IPAs.

I had so much fun Saturday that I didn’t get to take many photos. But here are a few!

The courtyard area of AutoZone park had beer stations, a stage for a band, and was a great spot to warm up in the sun.
There were 26 beer stations in all, with most lining the concourse area of the park.

A necklace made out of pretzels, like the one worn here by Grant, came in handy when sampling lots of beers.

I didn’t drink any Dos Equis, but I did make sure to take my picture with the “The Most Interesting Man In the World.” Also, check out the sweet Sun Studio-inspired shirt made for the festival by Yazoo Brewing Company.

Music was provided by The Brit Stokes Band from Nashville.

What beers did you try for the first time at the festival, and what were your favorites? Leave a comment below.

What’s more fun than a three-legged race? How about a three-legged race with a few Yazoo beers in you?

That’s the general idea behind Yazoo Brewing Company’s “Adult Field Day” on Sunday, which features all your favorite grade school games, from a potato sack race to the ring toss … but with beer.

It’s going down at Sweet Grass Next Door in Cooper-Young, with games set to begin at 11 a.m.

Cost is $50 per team, which includes two T-shirts, two lunches and four beers. To take part, call 901-278-0278.

And if you don’t feel like reliving your childhood, come watch the games and have a Yazoo beer.