Return to
Tennessee brewpubs


Add your
own comments

Black Horse Pub & Brewery, Clarksville, TN

Black Horse is the result of the marriage between Black Horse Brewery and Pizza and the Franklin Street Pub. This is a fortunate happening for us customers! The Black Horse features all ales. The standards are the Black Horse Ale, Barnstormer Red, Austin Pale Ale, Cole Miner Stout. In addition the brewmaster offers at least one seasonal ale. Currently it is, appropriately, a Nut Brown Ale. As a bonus the staff has been keeping plenty of Raspberry Ale and Vanilla Cream Ale on hand. It looks as if these "specialties" are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

All of these beers are good, but hop heads may be a little disappointed. The Nut Brown Ale is particularly sweet with very little hoppiness. The Coal Miner Stout is not quite a cream stout but less than a dry, Guinness type. Austin's Pale is my favorite and a fair rendition of a British Bitter, not a classic American Pale like Sierra Nevada. The most popular beer of the bunch is the Barnstormer Red. The Black Horse Ale is brewed with the average American Beer palette in mind, and in so is a great beer to introduce friends who have never tasted anything more than American mass produced "rice" beers.

I have to admit that I do not like fruit beers so my review of the Raspberry would not be fair; but my wife and friend all attest that it is a superior brew. The Vanilla Creme is a good adaptation as well, more palatable to me than the more traditional Creme Ales.

The next seasonal beer to arrive is a Scottish Ale. I had this beer last year and I urge all to be there when it arrives. It is a super beer, and unless you brew your own, a hard variety to find in these parts. It has the special malitness that Scottish Ales are known for, without overpowering the uninitiated

The BH is also the best place in the Tuckessee area to pander to one's weakness in fine single-malt Scotches or the newly fashionable martini.

The best thing about the Black Horse though is the way all the parts come together. The food, the atmosphere, the staff, and the beer make for a wonderful evening out.

The gourmet pizzas are as good as anything you will get in the Northeast, no matter how hard you look. The rest of the menu is equally good. One of the best thinks about the BH is it is a great place to take the kids on a early Friday or Saturday evening dinner. There are a few huge booths on the brewery side that accommodate a good crowd. The BH is also open for lunch.