TailGate Chattanooga renovations rendering
TailGate Brewery has been on a roll lately. Not only was founder Wesley Keegan recently named one of the CEOs of the year by our sister publication the Nashville Post, but they’re also about to open their fourth taproom/brewery location in Germantown, joining locations in Bellevue, East Nashville and Music Row. Now they’ve set their sights on Chattanooga, with plans to open a new taproom, restaurant and brewery in the former home of Terminal Brewhouse in the busy area around the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
While opening two new operations in the same season wasn’t necessarily part of Keegan’s plans, Chattanooga has been on his radar for a while. In an announcement on social media, Keegan shared: “It’s been our loudest pull out of Nashville, ‘Come to Chattanooga!’ And boy we’ve tried! When we heard this building was available we were hopefully, optimistically, pessimistic that we could finally make it happen!”
Terminal Brewhouse had a good long run just down the block from the Choo Choo and drew plenty of traffic in the early, heady days of the craft beer boom. Keegan hopes to revitalize it as a beer destination while still respecting the historic nature of the building, especially since he has purchased the real estate.
TailGate Chattanooga renovations rendering
In his post, Keegan shared his commitment this way: “This building is an icon. It’s been a brewery. It should be a brewery. I’m proud to share that it will continue to be a brewery! As the new owners of the property, we are committed to respect the heritage, the neighborhood, and work to make our new neighbors proud of our residency.”
TailGate distributes its four core beers plus rotating seasonal specials at each of the taprooms, but each one is also a working brewery with a specialty, from sours to ciders to hard seltzer. In Chattanooga, the focus will be on using the former Terminal production space to exclusively brew farmhouse and Belgian-style ales.
Keegan plans to employ 15 to 20 locals to staff the brewery and tasting room, and has already tapped one of his Nashville managers, Reggie Small, to move east to lead the operations. TailGate’s in-house construction team is already working with a Chattanooga building firm to begin renovations that will preserve the original character of the building.
TailGate Brewery's Wesley Keegan and Reggie Small
“We may be based in Nashville, but with fans across the state, we consider ourselves a Tennessee brewery, and we’re excited to expand in a city that’s driving so much growth in the state,” says marketing manager Liz Tarry. “We do a lot of work to keep the focus on people, and make TailGate a great place to work. Really excited to extend that ethos to Chattanooga.”
Keegan made one last promise to residents of Chattanooga in his post. “We’ll be exclusively brewing farmhouse and Trappist-style Belgian beers on site, immediately. Look for loads of world-class saisons, quads, patersbiers … the whole shebang. Whether a Chattanooga local, or visiting, we can’t wait to serve you!” Keep that roll going, TailGate!
