Over the past few months, Soul & Spirits Brewing has been everywhere—from the rooftop of the Peabody Hotel to the heart of Mid-South Pride.
The Downtown Memphis brewery has surged with a wave of creative collaborations, crafting beers that connect with music legends, local institutions, events and community causes.
“We’ve had some awesome opportunities to share our brand, but also share some beer with icons and allow them to have something special,” Ryan Allen, Soul & Spirits’ Master Brewer and co-founder, told Memphis Beer Blog.
Allen calls it a way to keep beer fun—and stay relevant.
“If we just get stuck in our rut of serving the same people over and over, that crowd will go away,” Allen said. “New audiences are the goal—seeing new faces walk through the door, and new people picking up your beer on store shelves. That’s the most important thing for the health of this industry.”
Collaborations are nothing new for Soul & Spirits.
Soul & Spirits teamed up with the STAX Museum to brew several iterations of Green Onions, an IPA with rotating hops. The Auld Bog Irish stout, the signature house beer at Bog & Barley, is a Soul & Spirits creation, as is the beer you’ll find at Arkansas State football games.
But a recent run of fresh collaborations over the last three months has been particularly notable.
A signature beer for a landmark hotel
The Duck Master Pale Ale is a Peabody Hotel custom brew from Soul & Spirits that debuted in April on draft at the hotel’s bars and rooftop. It’s a 5.5%-ABV, juicy pale ale with citrus aromas and flavors of pineapple and tangerine.
The beer is named, of course, for the hotel’s duck master, the caretaker and trainer of the famous Peabody ducks that march to the lobby fountain each day, entertaining tourists, hotel guests and locals alike.
A toast to B.B. King with Lucille Lager
Just a few streets over on Beale, another Soul & Spirits collaboration beer is available right now.
Soul & Spirits brewed Lucille Lager, 5% ABV, to help B.B. King’s Blues Club celebrate the 100th birthday of the late blues great.
“Obviously our brand is aligned with music, and so it’s a natural progression,” Allen said.
“Whenever there’s a music icon that asks us to do anything with them, I don’t even know what we’re doing yet, but I’m in. I’m all in. And I want to create something special.”
The beer’s release is part of a greater “100 Days of Blues” celebration, which started June 8, honoring King’s legacy and music. Soul & Spirits produced cans of the beer that feature a guitar — Lucille was the name King gave to his guitars — and the 100 Days of Blues logo.
Love is Lovejoy: A Pride-inspired release
For Mid-South Pride, Soul & Spirits brewed Love is Lovejoy, a refreshing watermelon-infused version of its lemon gose.
The beer was expected to sell quickly at the Pride Parade, but the event was rained out and rescheduled. As a result, the beer is being sold at Soul & Spirits and can be found at select stores around town.
A West Coast Pilsner for Memphis Brewfest
Even this weekend’s Memphis Brewfest, on Saturday, June 21, has a custom brew on local store shelves: Stay Fly, a fantastic 5.4%-ABV West Coast Pilsner.
This year’s Memphis Brewfest will be under the direction of Rhizome Productions for the first time. The Nashville-based company has put on festivals that Allen has taken part in, and they reached out to partner up for the beer as a way to elevate the event’s profile within the beer community.
“It’s been a fun one to explore again, because I was making West Coast Pilsners in 2016 in California,” Allen said. “No one was calling it West Coast Pilsner yet.”
Less Hate, More Lager—and Let It Cook
Allen also used the same base for a separate collaboration with Wichita Brewing Co.’s Cody Sherwood, who hosts the “Less Hate More Lager” podcast and advocates for mental health awareness within the craft beer industry.
The result was Let it Cook, a West Coast Pilsner that varied from Stay Fly in yeast, fermentation temperature and dry-hopping. The beer is available now at Soul & Spirits.
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