HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — This week the World Beer Cup was held here in Nashville. Out of more than 10,000 entries, only two beers in Tennessee took home a medal. One of those beers is brewed locally at Half Batch Brewing.
Follow your heart is advice that Nathan Newton lives by.
"I had a really good IT career, and it was very nerve-wracking to kind of lose that safety net and really go for it. But risk is part of life," Newton said.
Six years ago, he and his wife opened up Half Batch Brewing risking all the savings they had.
"We started with the money that we had and a little money that we could raise. It was just enough to get a brewery open, so we did it," he said.
The decision to bet on themselves reaped nationwide praise at the 2023 World Beer Cup awards.
The Fulkin has been a best-seller since the start and even before then.
"I home-brewed it for years and years and years. It's a recipe from way back in the home-brewing days. But we brewed it here at Half Batch Brewing since the moment we opened," Newton said.
The flavor profile is one-of-a-kind.
"It's Scottish-style Ale session strength at 5.2% alcohol. It's kind of a brownish ale — a dark, smooth, malty easy drinker," Newton said.
But for Newton, the beer's history produces a unique taste: a feeling of success.
"We put in a lot of hard work here at Half Batch Brewing, and we try to put beer quality at the center and the core of everything we do. That's just our philosophy and to be validated like this is beyond exciting," he said.
The win also comes at a perfect time.
"We're growing, we're moving to a new place hopefully by the end of the summer, it's going to have an expanded taproom and expanded production," he said.
Newton isn't done following his heart and urges others to do the same.
