BeerKnox Knews of the Week - July 7, 2016

Hey all, we are fresh off of a 4th of July 3 day weekend and back with news of beer and beer related events around Knoxville.  Here's some of what you may have missed in the last week.

• A new craft beer focused bar has opened/is opening in the Bearden area.  Brickyard Beer & Wine is the name and they look to have quite a few taps ready to serve some local beer to the Bearden area.  Right across from Nama is not a bad location in an area where foot traffic is starting to catch up with the already busy car traffic.  I believe they may still be in a soft-opening mode right now, have just started serving some food and will have wine on hand soon as well.  Early reviews sound promising, I can't wait to give it a try.
• Speaking of new openings, Chivo Taqueria as of today is now open on Gay Street downtown.  It sounds like a cool place, and after having had several burgers at Stock and Barrel, which is run by the same folks that opened this spot, I would guess the food to be pretty damn good.  They have 10 taps ready to serve craft beers to wash down those tacos.  Just another place to add to your places to visit soon.
• A website called Brewery Guides put out a list recently on "The Top 6 Breweries in the South to Visit".  The write-up covered 6 different southern states and highlighted a brewery in each.  For Tennessee their brewery was Crafty Bastard Brewery right here in Knoxville.  So not only did the Crafty Bastard guys get some prestige, Knoxville got the nod over Nashville, Memphis and every other Tennessee town.  #knoxbeer is coming into it's own.
• Last of all, the big news of the last week was wine sales in grocery stores starting.  That is not beer related, but in a way it is.  The hope is that the new wine section in your local supermarket didn't infringe too much into the beer section that I know in my closest Kroger has become very friendly to local beers as of late.  Let's all hope the new wine laws for grocery stores don't cut into that craft beer progress.  I like wine too, but don't take away my beer because it's the hot item on grocery shelves.  Not saying this is going to happen, but just something to keep an eye out for.  

Until next time, that is your Knews for the week.  As always, contact me via email or any social media outlet to let me know if I missed something.