Yalobusha Brewery Brings Sleepy Town To Life On Fridays With 'Tours And Tastings'

A Friday night in the small town of Water Valley, Mississippi, is mostly uneventful. The storefronts are closed, the playground areas are dark, but about halfway down Main Street, there is something a bit different.
Food vendors are set up in a parking lot next to an old building, where people of all ages fill the doorway of the building as music spills out into the street. This is the Yalobusha Brewery Co., and the event: Tours and Tastings. 
For over a year now, Yalobusha Brewery Co. has been hosting Tours and Tastings every Friday afternoon and night. Beginning at 2 p.m. and ending at 10 p.m. on Fridays, visitors are invited to purchase a tour of the brewery and tasting card for only $10. 
After paying for the tour and tasting card, guests are invited into the brewing room, which is the first and only stop on the tour. This space combines a bit of old and new. One side of the room is filled with wooden barrels full of brewed beer, and the other side of the room shines with stainless steel vats of beers that are still in the fermentation stage. The tour guides explain the process of making the different types of beers and why each one requires a different amount of yeast and time. The guides also suggest brews that are available for tasting that night that appeal to each person’s interests. 
Once the tour is over, guests are free to visit the bar and choose to sample any six of the brews that are available. The ‘menu’ is a board of the beer logos that Yalobusha has on tap for the night. The beers on the top row of the board are available each week, but the beers on the bottom row change with each event. 
At 7 p.m., the real show starts with live music and local food vendors parked nearby. Parents bring children, college students from nearby Oxford arrive, local Water Valley residents pour in the doors, and even University staff and faculty make their way to the brewery. Outside food from any local restaurant is allowed inside the building, the band or musician starts playing, and the brewery tours and tastings kick into high gear. 
The smiles, sounds and smells of the large room blend together to make for a unique and special evening. While sitting at the long tables chatting with old friends or new ones, surrounded by children playing games and dancing, listening to talented musicians, and sipping a locally brewed beer, it’s easy to imagine that you are anywhere besides the sleepy little town of Water Valley. 
For more information on the Yalobusha Brewery Co. or the Tours and Tasting event, visit their website.

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Amy Goodin is a writer for HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at argoodin12@gmail.com.
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