Fat Bottom Brewing Moving From East Nashville to The Nations

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, has outgrown those digs and plans to move to The Nations neighborhood of West Nashville.

The company announced today that it has purchased property at 800 44th Ave. N., and the brewery will move to a 16,000-square foot-facility there.

“Since the brewery opened in 2012, we have grown steadily at a pace beyond my expectation, and we are now at maximum capacity in our current location,” Ben Bredesen, company president and founder (and son of former Gov. Phil Bredesen), says in the release. “This move will allow the business to continue growing.”

Fat Bottom is working with Powell Architecture and Building Studio, the same firm that helped plan the original brewery. There will also be land available for future growth, a crucial element for Bredesen's plans to expand into a regionally distributed brewery.

The retail operations at Fat Bottom will also expand, with a full restaurant accompanying the taproom. Plans include doubling the number of seats available along with an expansion of the kitchen and the menu. A full bar will also be offered, and a separate private rental space for special events like weddings and corporate events is also on the books.

Fat Bottom also plans to start up a sour beer and barrel-aged beer program at the new location, something that would be problematic at the smaller facility due to concerns about cross-contamination of yeast strains during the fermentation and aging process. (Unless you want to make only sour beers, it's vital to take great care when introducing new natural strains into a production facility.)

Bredesen called the move “bittersweet,” adding: “I am sad to move the brewery from the neighborhood that I live in and that has helped us grow so quickly. Our new location is based in a neighborhood though, which is important to the business and to me personally. I hope folks in The Nations will embrace the brewery and taproom in the same way that East Nashville did.”

The company aims to open the new facility in January.