Knoxville Ale Trail

Expiration: Must start using within 365 days of purchase

Your Passport to Knoxville Beer

Knoxville boasts an exciting and ever-expanding craft beer scene. The city offers an opportunity to relax with some of the country’s finest beers and finest people. This Ale Trail Passport, produced in partnership with Knox Area Brewers Association (KABA), is an exciting way to explore Knoxville’s breweries. Visit them all for the first time or again for the 100th!

The process for using the passport is easy:
1: Visit any KABA brewery on the Ale Trail.
2: Enjoy a pint brewed by the brewery.
3: Ask your bartender for their code to “stamp” your passport and document your visit.
4. Win Prizes!

Once you have a stamp for all the breweries on the Ale Trail, take your map to Knox Brew Hub at 421 Union Avenue, and ask the staff for your prizes!

The Knoxville Area Brewers Association (KABA) is the largest association of professional brewers and craft beer industry professionals in East Tennessee and exists to promote and develop the greater Knoxville craft beer culture. To learn more, visit knoxvillebrewers.org


Included Venues

See locations on an interactive map.

Abridged Beer Company
Settle in with a pint…or two, and grab a bite to eat from the kitchen. Enjoy views into the brewing area, while our 1950’s era auto garage building provides a timeless industrial backdrop. We strive to create a friendly neighborhood hang-out, welcoming of all. So bring the kids, bring the dogs, and by all means, bring friends!
Brewing all of our beer on site, we pride ourselves on curating a menu that encompasses as much beer culture as possible. From traditional to cutting edge, our staff is sure to help you find your new favorite!
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Albright Grove Brewing Company
Our brews are similar in nature to the landscape around us: diverse, well-crafted, and imaginative. We cheers to IPAs, bourbon and wine infusions, and innovative creations inspired by travels abroad.
Alliance Brewing Co
Active Beer Culture is the motto at Alliance Brewing Company, where you’ll find hikers, bikers and runners enjoying an ale on the sunny patio out front. There are yoga classes there every week, and the brewery is a short distance from put-ins for Fort Loudoun Lake. But those who would rather relax than sweat can find plenty of places to chill. In the cooler weather they even light up a few logs in fire pits outside. Locals frequent Alliance, bringing with them all the charms of South Knoxville.
Head brewer Adam Ingle and his staff are known for creating clean, fun brews and hosting a lively environment once the brewing day is done. Their lineup includes tons of IPAs and ales – and they make an especially popular kölsch. Look for their collaboration beers with other brewers in the city the taprom, a Neo-Scandinavian industrial room with lots of warm wood, 90° angles, steel and concrete.
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Balter Beerworks
Balter transformed an old gas station into this brewhouse and restaurant where they feature four flagship beers: Good Neighbor Kölsch, Firebelly IPA, Maypop APA, and Bear Blend Coffee Oatmeal Porter. Their location is on the edge of Knoxville’s downtown, a short walk from the Old City and Market Square. And every Monday they have a special release of a cask beer available for a short time only.
College students love the weekend brunch, where they mix and mingle with young professionals over mimosas. The location attracts downtowners and suburbanites alike, and hosts a weekly sponsored run on Mondays with the Knoxville Track Club. The restaurant menu rotates often and features plenty of locally-sourced ingredients. In addition to the bar and dining area, there’s an expansive patio with picnic tables, shade and televisions available.
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Blackhorse Pub & Brewery Knoxville
The Blackhorse originally opened in 1992 as the Franklin Street Pub in downtown Clarksville. Our founders, Jeff and Sherri Robinson, decided to settle down after Jeff’s deployment in Desert Storm as a pilot in the 101st Airborne. Clarksville was, and remains, a military town with many of our beers, like the Batch 160 and Batch 101, reflecting the special connection that the Blackhorse has with our military.The Blackhorse has been a mainstay of downtown Clarksville ever since, and we have been honored to be part of countless graduations, weddings, Hail and Farewells, reunions, and more.

Jeff and Sherri expanded the Pub into the Blackhorse Brewery and Pizza Kitchen in the building next door in 1995. We began brewing handcrafted ales in 1995 as one of the first craft breweries in the state.Our wealth of experience in the craft beer business is one of our defining characteristics as a brewpub. Our second Blackhorse opened in Western Plaza, Knoxville in the late 1990s. We closed it in 2000 following a tornado that decimated downtown Clarksville so that we could focus on rebuilding the original Blackhorse Pub & Brewery.Blackhorse reentered Knoxville in 2013 at the same location that we had in the ’90s. With our history as one of the first Tennessee craft breweries, we were well-positioned to tap into the craft beer wave that has been sweeping the country. We began distributing our beer to the outside world in 2014 and have since become one of the premier craft brewers in the state.The brewery operations outgrew our location in Western Plaza, so the Knoxville branch of the Blackhorse Pub moved downtown to Gay Street, and the brewery moved to a new 15,000 sq. ft. facility in Alcoa. We recently opened a small restaurant and beer garden for enjoying the outdoors there. Soon, we will open the brewery for guided tours.Being part of downtown Knoxville and downtown Clarksville is integral to our identity. These resurgent downtown areas are the heart of each community. We are proud that our buildings are on the National Historic Register and that the building in Alcoa is in the process of being added to the Register. We want to contribute to the core of each community where we are located. Preserving and utilizing historic structures is an important aspect of that goal.
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Clinch River Brewing
Clinch River Brewing, under brewer Jordan Skeen, makes fresh, challenging and delicious beer that pushes the definitions of beer styles. They also offer authentic Lowcountry and Southern Creole food in a setting close to Knoxville and next to the Norris Dam State Park. The building inhabits a former government-owned fish hatchery, and in 2018 their Baltic porter won a gold medal and their French saison took home bronze in the Tennessee Championship of Beers.
Visitors to the brewery include adventure seekers, outdoor enthusiasts, fishermen and fisherwomen, craft beer lovers, hikers, bikers (both on bicycle and motorcycle), horseback riders, local folks and far-flung out-of-towners, families and friends. The fish pond is great place to enjoy a beer and some food after a little time outdoors, on a ride, or after fishing or paddling in the nearby Clinch River.
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Crafty Bastard Brewery
We are an artisanal, small-batch brewery with deep roots in our community. Our beers run from very traditional styles to highly experimental, all with a focus on enjoyability. We have two Knoxville area locations and occasionally you can find our beers on tap in select craft-beercentric bars.
Our original location and production brewery is located in that magical area between Downtown Knoxville and the Fourth & Gill neighborhood.
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Downtown Grill & Brewery
Located on historic Gay Street, about one block north of the Tennessee Theatre in the heart of Knoxville, Tennessee. The Brewery has a rich history, told not only by its well-worn hardwood floors, but through its pictures of Knoxville gone by that dress the walls. With its copper and mahogany bar,
tempting menu, and fine craft-brewed beers,
it’s a relaxing setting to explore Knoxville’s flavorful past.
Our focus is on uniting our excellent beers with the exquisite flavors of open-flame mesquite grilled steak, seafood, and chicken. With a menu ranging from pastas to Mexican cuisine to seafood to the finest steaks.
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Elst Brewing Company
We are a microbrewery based 2 miles from Downtown Knoxville dedicated to creating fine beers and food that speak to people with an obsession for great craft beer.
Fanatic Brewing Company
Marty Velas is the owner and award winning head brewer at Fanatic Brewing Company in Knoxville TN.
Marty began brewing in 1978 after a trip to Czechoslovakia exposed him to world-class beer. In 1986, working as an aerospace engineer in his native California, he traded for a career in professional brewing when he signed on with the first microbrewery in Southern California, Alpine Brewing Co. In 1989, he was sent by Alpine to Southern Bavaria to complete a journeyman-ship at the Hofbräuhaus Traunstein.
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Gatlinburg Brewing Company
A locally owned brewery in the heart of Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the breathtaking Smoky Mountains. Specializing in craft beer and artisan pizza.
Gypsy Circus Cider Company
Barrelhouse by Gypsy Circus is proud to be one of only 5 exclusive wild cider barrelhouses in the US focusing on Lambics and other wild strains of cider. As Knoxville’s first meadery and cidery, Barrelhouse brings 20+ craft cider and artisan meads along with a barrel aging program to bring a different level of complexity. In addition to meads & ciders by Gypsy Circus, Barrelhouse offers setlzers by Graffiti Garden, wine by Unicorn Tears and craft beer & kombucha by local breweries. With 40 drafts available along with bottle service, Barrelhouse offers over 60 world class craft beverages made in East Tennessee.
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Hexagon Brewing Company
Hexagon is committed making a consistent, enjoyable craft beer experience by producing exciting beers in an economically and environmentally conscious brewery. They focus on quality – from the ingredients all the way to the final pour – across a wide variety of beers. The balanced line-up of malt-forward beers leads with the Sexy Cat American Pale Ale, Hexagon’s most popular beer. Alter Ego Alt Bier, Carl’s Dunkelweizen and Skinny D Kolsch have also stood out as notably smooth, easy-drinking ales. Hexagon also experiments with local ingredients with beers such as the Benton’s Smoked Bacon Porter, Aunt Mina’s Spiced Sweet Potato beer, and Smokin’ Goat Smoked Pepper Red Ale.
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Honeybee Coffee & Brewery
Locally roasted and brewed coffee in Knoxville & Sevierville, TN.
Last Days Of Autumn Brewing
Last Days of Autumn is a local brewery with a taproom serving unique beers and BBQ to Knoxville.
Next Level Brewing Company
Our taps will be constantly changing and we offer daily food specials. Come join us for a flight and some grub!
Orange Hat Brewing Company
Local Brewery & Taproom specializing in craft beer located in the Hardin Valley community in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Peaceful Side Brewery | Maryville
Mountain. Community. Craft. Peaceful Side Brewery produces quality beer with intentionality. Visit the Taproom for core and seasonal beers on draft served alongside well crafted burgers, tenders, snacks and salads.
Pretentious Beer Co
The people at Pretentious Beer Co believe in craft, making things well and enjoying a thoughtful experience. They’re the only place in the world to drink beer made in-house, out of glasses made in-house and watch everything being produced. “Pretentious is all about craft …in its various guises,” owner Matthew Cummings said. “We built our own bar stools, bar top, tables, benches, rails, glasses, pretty much everything you see.”

Beers at Pretentious reflect flavor and balance. Unusual ingredients can be common at Pretentious but the beers remain approachable. A beer garden with picnic tables and ping pong greets visitors in the back of the brewery, which is adjacent to a glass-blowing studio where all the brewery’s glassware is made. It’s one of the places where other brewers in town are known to come hang out after brew days. Live music from regional and national touring acts frequently is featured on the outdoor stage.
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Printshop Beer Co.
Knoxville brewery located on the South Knoxville Waterfront! Printshop Beer Co. brews a range of American-style craft beers, from our hop-forward flagships to seasonal and small-batch releases. In addition, we offer cider and flavorful infusions.
Schulz Bräu Brewing Company
Schulz Bräu Brewing Company is home to Knoxville's first German Biergarten – voted one of the best in the South! Craft beer made from German-imported grain provides a delicious malty drinking experience. Enjoy specialty crafted loggers and Germain food in the Bierhall or Biergarten and don't forget to end your night with a loud “Prost” in celebration! Family-friendly, dog-friendly, good-times friendly!
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Smoky Mountain Brewery in Turkey Creek
We are a natural gathering place for any televised sporting event or just for a great meal with friends. Inside you’ll find one of the largest working micro breweries in the state of TN. And don’t forget the live entertainment!
The Oak Room by Abridged
Join us for a unique new tasting experience from Abridged! Challenge your taste buds, and explore our exciting selection of oak-aged beers.

The rotating beer menu includes eight barrel-aged sour beers, a selection of IPA’s and lagers from our brewpub, and some barrel-aged stouts and quads you will find only at The Oak Room! Our food menu features toasted sandwiches & flatbreads, a fresh house salad, weekly specials, and an amazing charcuterie board that really highlights the tasting experience.
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Tri-Hop Brewery
Small craft brewery nestled at the foothills of the smokies in downtown Maryville, TN. Locally brewed beers, guest taps and loose beers for on site or to-go. We are pet and family friendly. Please follow us on social media for updates. Cheers!
Xül Beer Co
First, you need to pronounce it right… it’s pronounced with a Z. Zul.
It might make you think of something you heard from a classic 80’s movie or a 90’s computer game. Urban Dictionary defines it as “bad in a cool kind of way” or “cool in a baaaad kinda way.” To us, it’s all of this, and more:

Xul gives us a chance to push the limits and do our thing…

Xul is a creative outlet for our dark and mysterious side (sometimes we like to have fun too)…

Xul allows us to be nostalgic…

Xul is an opportunity to craft a meaningful conversation…

Xul is the mysterious aura that lets it be what you want it to be…
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