FuzzyBrew

Memphis’ own Ghost River Brewing started selling its first bottles today! Only Golden Ale is available, and for now at least are only available at the dock at the brewery on South Main. Bottles are short fills for now, while the machines are still getting dialed in. Distribution should start next week.

We’ve been anticipating this for a while, and I’m glad I picked up a sixer this afternoon so I could have a bottle with lunch. Yum.

Tours haven’t been held for a while while renovations have occurred, but tours should resume at the end of the month.

If you like oysters and beer (and who doesn’t), you should think about going to The Grove Grill‘s Louisiana Gulf Oyster Dinner on Friday. Four courses of Gold Band Oysters will be paired with four different Ghost River brews, including its standby golden and pale ale and seasonal  Oktoberfest  and Black Magic. Sounds tasty. It’s $48.

Only limited seating is available, so call 901-818-9951 for reservations. The Grove Grill is on Poplar near the Oak Court Mall in East Memphis.

Ghost River Brewing in Memphis is sponsoring a “Win a Kayak Drawing,” with a Pungo 100 Kayak for the grand prize winner.

Second-prize winner gets a canoe trip for six people down the Ghost River. Third wins a Ghost River Brewing gift pack cooler. Entries may be submitted until August 14. Winners will be announced by September 5.

For more details or to enter, go to http://www.ghostriverbrewing.com/kayak.

The Ghost River isn’t really a river. It’s a 14-mile, unchannelized section of the Wolf River in Fayette County that meanders through open marshes, cypress trees and undergrowth.

It’s also one of the main entryways for water into the Memphis Sands Aquifer, which provides Memphians with high-quality drinking water, not to mention the water Ghost River Brewing uses to make its beers.

“I think people take a lot of pride in having a Memphis product,” Ghost River founding partner Chuck Skypeck told FuzzyBrew. “I think we’ve done a good thing by promoting the fact that we brew with Memphis water. A lot of people relate to that.”

To give back, a portion of proceeds from every barrel sold by Ghost River Brewing supports the Wolf River Conservancy, a nonprofit whose mission is to preserve, protect and restore the Wolf River. In addition, the brewery supports the conservancy in other ways, such as the upcoming “Wolf River Dinner on the Greenway,” a sunset catered picnic, featuring Ghost River beers, on April 30.

In this cool video, which I found on Ghost River’s website under the “water” tab, Ghost River founding partner Chuck Skypeck talks more about brewing beer, Memphis water and the Ghost River.

I’ve never paddled the Ghost River, but I’d like to take my kayak up there some time this summer and give it a try.

Has anyone been? If so, what’s it like? Leave a comment below.