This is a part of a continuing series of Q&As with members of the brewing community from across the US. Brewer Magazine will share business and personal insights from Brewmasters, Head Brewers, Brewing Managers, Sales Directors, QCQA Managers and others each weekend to help you get to know each other better in the industry and learn more to better develop your own brand.
Wesley Keegan, founder, TailGate Brewery & Pizza Kitchen — Nashville
BREWER: How have recent challenges in your position helped make you better? What were those “pain points” and how did you solve or adjust to the issue?
KEEGAN: The fun thing about this industry is every day is different. There’s always a new challenge to tackle. I’m a big believer in over-managing our processes so when those new challenges crop up, we’re well prepared to meet them. I think our biggest challenge is just growth. Sales are up. Production is up. Our team totals around 240 people or more. These are all realities I cannot — and should not — try to tackle myself. But I am the only owner. We have no partners, no board, no investors. So, we grow our leadership team too. It’s the same game, but there’s more of it. These aren’t new challenges, but they’re definitely the most important!
BREWER: What has been your brewery’s most recent accomplishment and how is it going to improve your business going forward?
KEEGAN: We were recently named one of Tennessee’s Top Workplaces for the second year in a row! We have high standards for the folks that join our team, so creating a great work environment with great wages and 100% paid health benefits is so important. People who love to work here, our job is to help them translate that passion into a great environment for each other and our guests.
BREWER: How did you start in the industry and why do you still want to be a part of it?
KEEGAN: I started at 21! Young and dumb enough to think I knew everything. Too stubborn to admit anyone who told me otherwise might have been right! But willing to work hard enough to make up for it too. That part hasn’t gone away. I had some buddies that were into homebrewing so I sort of followed suit. I’m not naturally good at anything so it was a slow burn, and one that I knew needed to be deliberate to be a business. Not just a hobby. As the idea of the business of TailGate Brewery materialized, I buried myself in the industry. I did all the brewing, all the sales, all the deliveries…everything for years! Getting lost in the brewery is one thing, but shaking it up in the community is really what’s special about craft beer. I loved it. I still love it! I really like that you can always be better. The funny thing about making the best beer you ever made? It’s going to be gone one way or another, and soon. And you have every opportunity to do it better the next time. I try not to take each beer too seriously, but I do seriously try to make each beer better.
BREWER: What are you sippin’ on right now from your brewery that you really enjoy?
KEEGAN: I think by volume, I drink the most of our Cerveza con Lime each year. We’ve made it every summer as our Lime Lager, and recently rebranded to Cerveza con Lime. It’s in the spirit of a Vienna style lager meets Mexican-style cerveza, with lime zest, and flavor added! It’s my call any time I’m traveling — a beer with a lime. And now I think we make one of the best ones, without messing with the fruit! The rest of the year? I drink very seasonally. I can’t wait for Fall beers. I love them all, always have. The noise back in the day about the sacrilege of pumpkin spice, but adding 500 pounds of cookies to a beer was a weird line in the sand to draw. I just love it all. Fall beers. Winter beers. Hook me up, fam.
READ MORE: Where TailGate’s Owner Would Rather Put His Advertising Budget
BREWER: Be it in styles, ingredients, business strategies or sales & marketing techniques, what are some recent industry trends that you’ve tried or are excited about trying this year?
KEEGAN: Like most industry folk, I think the surge in Lagers is a welcome one. It’s definitely what I gravitate toward any time I’m ordering. I think it’s interesting too, because it’s really pushing brewers capabilities and quality control. You can hide a lot in a big ABV, adjunct, monster, Stout. But Lagers are where you find the best brewers. With that in mind, when I’m out drinking other breweries beers, I try to really let myself enjoy the Lager as it’s intended. A Pilsner is not an American Light Lager, neither is it a Kolsch. So I try to give every bit of credibility to what the beer says it’s trying to be. And I’m just happy the trend is happening.
BREWER: What are some adaptations to business practices in the industry that you’ve observed over these past few years, and how has your brewery adjusted to stay competitive?
KEEGAN: Food. Before 2020 and COVID, brewers did anything they could to not serve food. Rightly so! It’s hard! But 2020 forced a lot of breweries to either serve food, or close. Thing about food is, it’s a lot like beer. It’s easy to make bad beer, and it’s easy to make bad food. Good beer, good food, is hard! We’ve pretty much always run a full pizza kitchen in our taprooms. And we continue to today with all nine of our taprooms! It’s a big challenge. But we keep adding to our kitchens, we keep improving, and I’m proud to say I think our food lives up to the beer. Anyone will tell you getting one right is hard. But doing both? I’m very proud of our ability to do both!
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