Fat Bottom Brewing Co. has been a local craft beer success story since Ben Bredesen founded the brewery in 2012. His first location in the former Fluffo Mattress factory at 900 Main St. in East Nashville quickly became a neighborhood hang thanks to a comfortable taproom and outdoor patio, plus they paid attention to offering quality food before most craft breweries were concentrating on that aspect of their operations.
After four years on the East Side, Bredesen made the prescient jump to the Nations just as that neighborhood started to take off. His much larger facility maintained its focus on both food and beverage, as well as providing a private event space that was actually featured in the Netflix series “Marriage or Mortgage.”
As the brewery enters its second decade, Bredesen has announced that he is going to step away from day-to-day operations to spend more time with his family, passing the reins to a pair of Nashville residents who will bring years of management and financial experience to help expand the company.
A young(er) Ben Bredesen at the original Fat Bottom location in 2015
Josh Buckley steps in as CEO after 20 years of working in the financial industry. He is the co-founder of One Iron Holdings along with Andy Heiman, who joins Fat Bottom as CFO and COO.
“I can’t think of two better people to keep telling our story than these longtime local residents who are passionate about craft beer,” Bredesen says in the official announcement. “What makes our brand unique is how we pay tribute to Nashville's history. Josh and Andy are well-versed in Nashville's brewing background, and I’m confident they have the knowledge and skills to lead our team as we build on Fat Bottom’s growth over the first 10 years and enter our next phase.”
The pair have been Fat Bottom fans for a while, and Buckley’s father-in-law ran a beer distributorship, so he’s got some family history in the industry. Nashville native Heiman will focus on the next phases in distribution and on the company’s core brand and hospitality concepts, including an upcoming project downtown, where Teddy’s Tavern is preparing to open in the former Pancho & Lefty’s space across from Bridgestone Arena.
Brewing operations will maintain under the steady hand of Alex Barr, the longest-tenured employee of Fat Bottom after Bredesen. He is excited to make some changes to the core beers and rotating seasonals with the support of the new management team.
Why mess with an already-successful operation? “Fat Bottom continues to evolve as it grows, and this new leadership has further cemented the company as a ‘people first’ place to work,” said Barr. “Working with Andy and Josh to lay the foundation for the next phase in the Fat Bottom story has been a lot of work, but I’m excited for people to see what we’ll be doing in 2023 and onward. This includes some new core brands, fresh LTO releases, the second half of our new seasonal lineup and maybe a surprise or two.”
It will be interesting to see (and taste) Fat Bottom’s next chapter.
