Yazoo Brewing Company - Little Tables

Little Tables is a brand new addition to Yazoo’s Embrace the Funk series, which began in 2012 and features a variety of sour, wild, and spontaneously fermented ales. We’re excited to have the opportunity to bring this to our members so shortly after its release. Pouring a very hazy straw color with a cap of white foam, Little Tables almost resembles a witbier as it rests in our glass. On the nose, big yeasty, phenolic, herbal notes jump out right away, and there is definitely a musty wild ale character here – although it’s quite approachable compared to many more hardcore wild ales out there. Additionally, we picked up a grapefruit-leaning citrus rind impression merged with hints of tropical fruit, along with some underripe stone fruit and melon impressions. The story continues in the flavor where we get that broad fruitiness across the palate, shot through with that musty “funk”, herbal phenolics, and some spicy hop notes. The use of candi syrup is a Belgian technique to increase alcohol levels without adding heft to the malty side of the flavor profile, and its use in Little Tables keeps the beer light on its feet while adding just a bit more of a balancing bite. For pairing options, washed rind and blue cheeses should match well, as will sweet fruits and meats like prosciutto or jamón ibérico. Asparagus risotto, Thai spring rolls, and breaded and fried foods can work well too. Cheers!

Yazoo Brewing Co.’s founder and brewer, Linus Hall, got his brewing start in a familiar fashion, purchasing a homebrewing kit from an ad in the back pages of Rolling Stone back in 1993. Linus was, as he phrased it, “a cash-poor college student living in an old farmhouse in Virginia, and brewing my own beer seemed a little less illegal than the pot-growing operation my other housemates were involved in.” His homebrewing habit continued after moving with his wife Lila back to Mississippi following college, and when the couple relocated to Nashville in 1996.

Fast-forward a bit, and Yazoo Brewing Co. opened up in Nashville in October of 2003, with a keg-only lineup of staple beers like Yazoo Pale Ale, Spring Wheat, Dos Perros, and Onward Stout. They quickly established strong local support for their draft beer, and their Hefeweizen entered regular rotation after picking up a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2004, just a year after Yazoo opened.

In only six years Yazoo outgrew its initial home base, and 2010 brought the purchase of a new brewing facility (including a 40-barrel brewhouse) in The Gulch, a historic neighborhood in Nashville between Music Row and downtown. If you’re in the Nashville area, be sure to swing by Yazoo’s latest taproom location—which they just moved into a few years ago. Having outgrown their spot in The Gulch, in 2019 they moved into a newly built facility in Madison, Tennessee, about 15 minutes away, on a 7-acre plot nestled along on the Cumberland River. The new place has got way more parking and great views from the patio. Learn more at yazoobrew.com.