You shoulda been there. It was a square block teeming with merrymakers and beer brewers eager to pour, for patrons’ pleasure, beer after beer beneath a blazing sun.

The sold-out fifth-annual Music City Brewers Festival on Saturday, July 29, on the lawn of the Hilton in downtown Nashville, celebrated both the craft of beer making and the art of enjoying beer. Buzzing from one tent to the next, beer aficionados and thirsty thrill seekers consecrated American Beer Month by sampling beers from over 35 different breweries.

Nashville locals Boscos, Blackstone and Yazoo were well represented. Yazoo’s ESB impressed me as one of the better hoppy pale ales, full of citrus flavor and pleasing hop bitterness.

North Carolina’s Highland Brewing Company’s Kashmir IPA was a delicious pale full of hops and nice flavors of grains and citrus with a refreshing pine finish. The taste together with a well built creamy body makes this IPA worth trying alongside chicken tikka masala or Thai.

Also available were many full-flavored Hefe-weizens?unfiltered, German-styled wheat beers. Munich’s Paulaner Hefe-weizen satisfied as usual with ester flavors of banana and clove and sweet wheat taste. Yazoo, before running dry, served many-a cloudy orange Hefe that seduced the palate with orange and citrus hops, sweet banana and spice.

A curious beer, King Coconut Porter produced seasonally (spring), by Catawba Valley Brewing Company, was a dark, heavy beer for the adventurous. This strange brew was actually pretty impressive with creamy malt mouthfeel and rich flavors of chocolate, coffee with a hint of sunscreen from the inclusion of roasted coconut in the beer brewing process.

My favorite brew was the marriage between beer and bourbon presented by Alltech’s Lexington Brewing Co. Time in used bourbon barrels imparts the taste and smell of bourbon unto their Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. Only incredible can describe the sweet taste of this amber, creamy brew. The harmony of oak and sweet vanilla from the bourbon barrels makes this one a classic. With a high ABV (7%), this brew is best enjoyed in moderation with immoderate portions of barbecue ribs.

All of these fine brews (with the exceptions of King Coconut and Bourbon Barrel Ale) are available around town at Mellow Mushroom, Liquid Smoke and other locations,

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