Read about our visit to Chattanooga here!

CHATTANOOGA BREWING COMPANY

The original Chattanooga Brewing Company opened in 1890. The current post-prohibition version opened in 2010 and has been successful enough to expand into a 7,500 square foot brew pub across from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s football stadium on a long block with several other bars. They told us that they are just on the verge of canning their first beers for wider distribution.

Their staples are a Maibock and a Brown Ale, although they always have an IPA on tap. I didn’t love the IPA they had when we were there, but was a big fan of the Pale Ale and generally thought the other beers were solid. We didn’t try any of the food. The place seemed pretty well done, but we didn’t love the two story taproom’s feel.

HUTTON & SMITH

Of the two breweries in Chattanooga (Chattanooga Brewing being the other), Hutton & Smith has the cooler, more intimate neighborhood bar vibe that we tend to favor. It’s located in a historically black neighborhood in Chattanooga that has a great feel to it, despite there being some vacant buildings in the area. While we tasted the beer, I enjoyed a chili and slaw dog from Chatt Smoke House, a soul food joint across the street. If we ever make it back there, I’m going to try their bar-b-que.

Hutton & Smith has only been open for nine months. One of the owners is a geologist so the beer names all reference geology (wife had to point this out as I only see words like Pale Ale, etc). It turns out that the bar itself is named after two famous geology nerds.

Hutton & Smith doesn’t do any distribution at this point. We liked the beers, with the vanilla stout really standing out.