BREWERIES ALONG THE GREAT RIVER ROAD, PART 5: KENTUCKY

Queen of the Mississippi steam boat is docked along the Paducah, Kentucky Waterfront [Ohio River].

KENTUCKY BREWERIES

This portion of the epic Great River Road craft beer tour is penned by PillartoPost.org, a daily online magazine.  P2P staffers point out there are two interesting craft breweries near the Great River Road.  Both are in Paducah. Kentucky.

Paducah isn’t on the Mississippi River but it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missouri, to the northwest and Memphis, Tennessee, to the southeast.

Dry Ground Brewing Co. in Paducah, Kentucky has an interesting history. In 1937 the Ohio River flooded Paducah and Luther Carson’s Coca-Cola bottling plant on South 6th street was submerged. Loco lore has it Mr. Carson used an empty syrup keg to float out of the second-floor window to reach a rescue boat.

On the return trip up Broadway, Mr. Carson reportedly said, “If I ever reach dry ground I will build my new bottling plant on that spot.” Plans for construction began immediately following the flood, and in June of 1939 Mr. Carson celebrated the grand opening of his new state-of-the-art facility located 31 blocks from the river and true to his word upon the dry ground across the street from the Red Cross evacuation site where he had been off-loaded following his rescue.

Fast forward a few decades.  Today, the ex-cola bottling factory [3121 Broadway]  is where Dry Ground became Paducah’s first craft brewery. Dry Ground offers 28 craft beers on tap, including ten or more 10 brewed in house.

Old Greyhound Bus Depot is the site of the new Peducah Beer Werks brewery.

Paducah Beer Werks is close to the Ohio River in downtown Paducah.

Located downtown in the historic Greyhound Bus Station [301 N. 4^th], Paducah Beer Werks produces world-class, award-winning brews and crowd-pleasing small batches. Opened in March 2015, owner Todd Blume had a desire to bring craft beer to Western Kentucky and the drive to make it happen. 

Inside Paducah Beer Werks

Boasting four regular brews—including the 2015 Alltech Commonwealth Cup Silver Medal-winning Irish Red, a rotating selection of small-batch beers and several guest taps, the pub side also features a dynamic menu with something to please everyone’s tastes. 

So you don't get the idea there are few breweries in Kentucky that simply isn't true.  What we're reporting here is there are only two close to the Great River Road.  For a list of 40 more Kentucky based breweries from a recent barrel-aged beer tournament: click here: 

SOURCE:

CraftBeer.com is fully dedicated to small and independent U.S. breweries. We are published by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade group dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s small and independent craft brewers. Stories and opinions shared on CraftBeer.com do not imply endorsement by or positions taken by the Brewers Association or its members.

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