Mayday Brewery, photo by J. Overby
It’s the dream of many a home brewer to own their own brewery. People who love the craft of beer-making are continuously looking to impress family and friends with their knowledge of a tradition that is thousands of years old and their ability to create new and distinct flavors. In the city of Murfreesboro, you’ll find no shortage of beer enthusiasts and aficionados who have long craved the pleasures of local beer without having to travel. Rutherford County local Lee “Ozzy” Nelson turned his longtime dream into a future business plan by starting Mayday Brewery to keep locals in ample supply of good beer.
The idea for Mayday came about in 2009, when Ozzy’s passion for homemade beer fermented into something more robust.
“The name comes from my old man,” Nelson tells the Murfreesboro Pulse, “When he helps me with home improvement projects and something bad happens, he calls it a ‘Mayday.’ So, when brewing challenges come up all the time, those are Maydays.”
And many challenges has Mayday had to face, including a search for investors, figuring out how to finance a start-up-capital-intensive business without a bank, and being the first major brewery in the city to have to deal with city and utility codes (a similar problem that our friends at Turtle Anarchy Brewing Company in Franklin had to deal with, we hear).
A jug of fun
Still, Mayday rose to the challenge, and opened the doors to the 12,000-square-foot space on Nov. 30, 2012. Opening to a warm welcome, Mayday has already started receiving regular patrons in the short time that it’s been open. These people, according to Nelson, are buying beer almost every time that they’re open, even purchasing growlers that Mayday jokingly renames “jugs of fun” (Nelson claims that he renamed the growlers because he didn’t like the unsavory connotations associated with definitions in the popular website Urban Dictionary.)
Current beers on tap include the “Boro Blonde”, “Angry Redhead”, “Velvet Hustle” and “Evil Octopus,” as well as a fifth brew contracted from Nashville’s Jubilee Craft Beer Company (which donates half of its profits from the brew to the Oasis Center in Nashville to help troubled youth grow and thrive). Mayday Brewery is currently working its way around Murfreesboro, being proudly served at such restaurants as 3 Brothers Deli, Old Chicago, Fairways Golf and Grill and Liquid Smoke to mention a few carriers. Future plans include the addition of seasonal beer starting in the spring and the doubling of fermentation space in the next six months, as the current brewing capacity is 2,600 barrels (which equate to 31 gallons) per year, with a projected goal of 6,400 barrels per year. There is also talk of selling the beer in cans later in 2013, as Nelson feels that the local market for craft beer has barely had its surface scratched.
But for Mayday Brewery, the business is really just about being different and having a good time. Mayday Brewery encourages ‘Boro beer drinkers to bring their own food or to offer their patronage to one of the local food trucks regularly parked outside. The brewery is staffed mostly by investors or relatives of Ozzy Nelson, and they share the responsibilities of keeping the Mayday up and running.
“It’s awesome, because whenever something goes wrong and we have a Mayday, I know I can call a couple of investors and they will be there to help resolve the problem, no matter what it is. All of the pressure to make things go smoothly and comply with all of the government regulations is shared, and that is a great feeling.”
Ozzy also shares that when people are at the brewery, they are welcome to introduce themselves and ask the staff any questions they might have.
“Ask any question you like. We don’t have secrets; if we know the answers, we’ll share.”
This, he feels, leads to the patrons of Mayday having a better time by having a staff that is both knowledgeable about beer and benefiting directly from its success. Though all of the staffers may have outside jobs, they all come to Mayday both to work and to have a good time with friends and fellow beer drinkers.
Another facet of Mayday that many may find unique is its method of brewing. Nelson has proudly partnered with equipment manufacturer Diversified Metal Engineering, headquartered in Prince Edward Island, Canada, an organization that he feels is “second to none.” The brewhouse itself—the engine that runs the brewery—is a 30-barrel system. In contrast, most start-up breweries employ only a 15-barrel brewhouse. And because Mayday wants its beers to taste different, it makes great efforts to use different ingredients from other area breweries to produce a kind of beer that defies comparison.
To keep up with Ozzy and his extended family, visit maydaybrewery.com or follow them on Facebook, on which they are constantly posting. You can follow the company on YouTube, as Mayday Brewery is producing its own comedic reality show. Or stop by the brewery sometime, located at 521 Old Salem Highway (intersection of Old Salem Hwy. and Kings Hwy.). Their tasting-room hours are 4-8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and 1-8 p.m. on Saturdays
