Saturdays: 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30
You get samples from all four of their beers on tap: Thunder Ann Pale Ale, Rompo Red Rye Ale, Leghorn Rye IPA, and finally Bearwalker Maple Brown Ale.
After picking up your souvenir glasses, you move into a nice-sized waiting room that got a bit snug when the last of the 25 or so guests arrived. This room is complete with some board games, plenty of seating, and some interesting art on the walls. Once your tour time has arrived, your tour guide (ours was one of the assistant brewers) will offer up your first sample and give you a little introduction talk before taking you through a door into the brewery area.
The space isn't climate controlled (although there is a large door and a large fan) and in the Nashville summer it was quite hot and humid. We got a little bit of history about Jackalope, but since our guide was a brewer, we heard more about the brewing process at Jackalope. We received very generous samples of three beers throughout the tour (approximately a third of a pint each), and were able to look at and sniff some different hops and grains that are used to brew the various beer styles at Jackalope. Since we took the tour, Jackalope is now offering 4 beers to sample during the tour.
The entire brewing facility is visible from where the tour started, but we did take a walk through their large cooler (where our samples came from!), and through the ranks of brewing and fermenting tanks. As we walked around the brewing room, our guide described the brewing process and the differences between the different beers (type and amount of malt and hops used, special additions, brewing and fermentation time) while periodically heading into the large cooler to bring out full growlers of different beers to sample.
The tour itself took about 30-40 minutes (which we were told was a bit short due to the August heat), and the tour guide was very receptive to questions from the tour participants both during and after the tour. There is a moderately sized tap room, with more Jackalope beers on tap, and a small gift shop area, where you can buy a Jackalope shirt, hat, glasses, or growlers. Jackalope is a short walk from the Yazoo Brewing Company, so if you have the time you can park once and hit two breweries in an afternoon!
