What It Takes to Run a Brewery: Wesley Keegan on 10 Years of TailGate

For the past ten years, Wesley Keegan has built TailGate Brewery into one of Nashville’s most recognizable independent breweries. Self-described as a “beer guy,” Keegan has grown into a restaurateur, overseeing not just some of the best craft beer coming out of Nashville, but also some of the best pizza in the city. TailGate has become a community staple, known for its creative brews, welcoming taprooms, family-friendly spaces, and quality food.

But what does it really take to build and sustain a brewery for a decade? We asked Keegan about the challenges and rewards of independent growth, leadership, and what’s next for TailGate.

Sustainable Success as a Growing Brewery

Looking back on the past 10 years, what are you most proud of about TailGate’s journey?

Wesley Keegan: The team. Great wages. 100% paid healthcare. Businesses say thank you by paying people well. I'm really proud that we walk that walk.

TailGate has expanded significantly while remaining independent. What have been the biggest challenges and rewards of self-funded growth?

Wesley Keegan: This industry has razor-thin margins, and if we don't operate exceptionally, it all goes away. That's real, full stop.

When there's no war chest, no benefactors, no parachute, you make decisions smarter and faster. We've been very fortunate that our foundational efforts have paid off - we built an organization to sustain growth. Now that we're growing, we have to keep those same scrappy values that we started with.

The biggest challenge is helping new team members onboard to that reality. From the outside looking in, they might think we don't have challenges anymore. But it's the same as it ever was, just more of it.

Could you share a few specific examples of those foundational efforts? 

Wesley Keegan: When we first opened, we opened 7 days a week. I think most taprooms were maybe open 2 or 3 days a week? Maybe? We're talking [at the time] like 5 breweries in Middle Tennessee. No one could believe that we would be open on a slow weekday, or that it was legal to allow kids in the taproom. 

We knew then that to be successful, we had to be consistent and reliable. So when we decided to be open 7 days a week, we also decided we would only close for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Otherwise, you know we're open, and we're grateful to see you!

We have an ethos that if we can do something ourselves, we do. We created an entire Maintenance Department, not just a maintenance person. We have a Creative Division that includes a full-time artist and social media manager. We even brought in things like laundry - for things like towels and aprons in the taproom. Those are big investments that only make sense if you have scale.

When we did those things, they were not good financial decisions. But as we've evolved, they've become great decisions.

On Leadership and Company Culture

It looks like building a healthy company culture is a major priority for you. What’s one piece of advice you’d give other CEOs on creating a strong workplace?

Wesley Keegan:  Talk to your team. Never stop talking. And more importantly, listen.

You have to create an environment where team members feel safe to share their feedback. Most won't tell you (the boss) the truth right away. They're scared to! There are a lot of bad employers out there, in any industry. 

If you can show your team that you listen, and you act on their input, you'll learn what really matters to your team. You don't have to guess. And you don't have to implement every suggestion either. But you do have to act. And if you make decisions, share why.

Advice for Aspiring Brewers

For anyone considering starting their own brewery, what’s one piece of advice you’d give them?

Wesley Keegan:  There's no secret. It's just hard work.

Every business is hard these days. Breweries are funny. It's a very insular industry. Everyone thinks beer is special, and there are no lessons to learn from other industries. So you see a lot of markets copy the same stuff. 

When we started, I read every book and every article about successful businesses in every industry except brewing. What makes Costco successful? Toyota? Intuit? Apple? Nike? ...some of these are different businesses today, with different values, but they became who they are by growing the right way. (I won't editorialize on some of their current state.) Inspiration like that has been super helpful for us.

Balancing Creativity with Customer Demand

In other interviews, you’ve mentioned that craft beer is full of opinions. When it comes to brewing at TailGate, how do you balance sticking with what customers love versus following the creative vision of your brewers?

Wesley Keegan:  Ha, yeah. Beer is one of those industries that everyone sort of understands. Same with pizza. You get a lot of 'I'm from Denver, so I know my beer! Here's what I think!' Or 'I'm from Chicago, we know pizza! Here's my opinion....'

But not all opinions are bad opinions! TailGate Orange happened because the number one request from our fans, team, and taproom visitors was for a wheat beer. So we started making them, and eventually TailGate Orange just kept outpacing everything else. Then it became our best selling product!

Our Pub System—what we call the smaller brewhouse that feeds our taprooms—is 15bbls. Compared to our 50bbl production system, the Pub System is small enough that we can take risks. We've made plenty of mistakes and learned not to trust any one person's feedback.

I remember when we first started making what were formerly known as kettle sour beers—I hated our results. Almost no one was making sour beer commercially on a national level at the time. We had a pioneer in town, Brandon from Yazoo/Embrace the Funk, who is still producing some of the best sour, wild, and funk beers in the U.S., in my opinion. But the truth is, there wasn’t much intel on the evolving style of kettle sours yet.

We had a brewer at the time who loved our first batches. I believe in empowering people, so I said, "You're allowed to make mistakes. Let's find out." Later, we learned those beers weren’t good, and that feedback followed us for years.

Similarly, every brewer wants to make a Grätzer (smoked lager). Literally no one drinks those! I’m convinced beer nerds (I’m a beer nerd) just claim to love them to troll brewers into making them. Ha!

But the misses—and guest feedback—are how we learn. That’s one of the reasons we have taprooms! We get instant feedback and have complete control to make changes. These days, I’m a little more resolute. If something’s bad, I try to be more assertive before it goes public. And I beg our team to be even more assertive. "If this isn’t outstanding, don’t send it.

You have to be brave to start a business in any industry. Taking risks is what it’s all about. I think taking risks with the beer we brew is how we find balance. Take risks, learn from feedback, and apply some data too. After doing this for 10 years, we now have a reasonable level of confidence in what kind of product mix works for our taprooms and the products we send to market.

Expansion and the Future of TailGate

I’d love to hear more about what the Cold Brew expansion means for TailGate.

Wesley Keegan: It's an expansion of our growing non-alc line, joining our Nashville Sweet Tea products! This is part of a big, long, long-term dream of mine. I've been trying to start roasting beans for about 7-8 years now. What you're seeing is step 1 of a multi-faceted rollout. Look for cold brew distribution, espressos in the taprooms, and roasting in our future. Not to mention more coffee beers, of course!

These things look sudden, but like most things - it's deliberate, and our approach will be comprehensive. It takes forever to go live, but when we do, we go fast. I'm really excited about some coffee!

Looking ahead, what’s next for TailGate in 2025? 

Wesley Keegan: Do better. We have 250+ team members. Sometimes a new team member might think that the pint they're pouring doesn't matter. That the keg they're washing doesn't need to be perfect. Or that the pizza didn't have to be the best one yet.... But it all matters! It matters more than ever, actually.

We're always looking to grow, so we're keeping open to opportunities. But we recently doubled our production/fermentation capacity, so we have a lot of settling in to do. You often don't see expansion in the brewery front because our building is like a bomb shelter with 12" thick concrete walls and no windows, but we've really invested in our brewery. That's a big focus for us right now, and always to be honest.

Thank you so much to Wesley for giving us an inside look into TailGate and don't miss their 10th Anniversary Celebration, Saturday, February 22nd from 11 AM to 10PM at TailGate Headquarters. 

TailGate Brewery’s 10th Anniversary Celebration

To celebrate a decade of great beer and community, TailGate Brewery is hosting an all-day 10th-anniversary event. Expect special beer releases, live music, and great food! 

📅 Saturday, February 22, 2025
⏰ 11 AM - 10 PM
📍 TailGate Headquarters, 7300 Charlotte Pike, 
🔗 Learn More