Linus Hall of Yazoo Brewing

Bring up the topic of Tennessee’s top craft beers, and most local beer devotees will talk about Nashville’s Yazoo Brewing and founder/owner Linus Hall. A friendly, knowledgeable, soft-spoken guy who earns immense loyalty and respect from his employees and fellow brewers, Hall also serves as president of the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild.

Linus Hall and wife Lila form the sole Yazoo owners and investors, and they wouldn’t have it any other way. Maintaining overall control of the brewery allows the Halls the freedom to brand Yazoo with their own down-home charm and values and exercise personal creativity in crafting much-loved local brews.

BC: How did you take the plunge into the craft beer world and open Yazoo?

Linus: Growing up in Mississippi listening to people argue about whether Bud or Miller is better, I really didn’t have a good beer until I went to college in Virginia and lived in an old farmhouse near University of Virginia. Two of my roommates got into the pot-growing business, but I was more adverse to risk, so I started homebrewing instead. When I got out of college and ended up in Nashville working for a tire company, I homebrewed on the weekends and gave most of the beer away. I brewed so much, there was no way I could drink it all. People said my homebrew was good enough for me to start my own brewery, so in 2003 I invested in a 10-barrel brewhouse and installed it in Nashville’s old Marathon automobile plant. Nashville didn’t have a packaging brewery at the time, so we were the only local option outside of the great brewpubs in town. Because Nashville loves homegrown products, we quickly built a loyal following and moved to our larger, current facility in 2010.