Soul & Spirits Brewery has a new place to enjoy a beer outdoors.
The Downtown Memphis craft brewery officially opened its new 7,000-square-foot beer garden in July, completing a major overhaul of the outdoor space along the south side of its building at 845 N. Main St.
With shaded seating, a dog park, a play area for kids, and space for food trucks, the beer garden gives Soul & Spirits a more inviting outdoor gathering place — one that should become even more appealing as cooler weather arrives in Memphis this fall.
“We wanted a space that looked as pretty outside as it does inside our taproom,” Soul & Spirits co-founder and CEO Blair Perry told Memphis Beer Blog.
From gravel lot to beer garden
The outdoor space at Soul & Spirits has been open to customers since the brewery opened in 2021, with tables set up on a leveled gravel surface.
But the brewery always envisioned something more permanent.
The new setup replaces the gravel with a paved patio and adds large sun sails for shade, as well as string lighting that illuminates the space at night.
Two enclosed areas feature a small dog park and a place for kids to play, which currently includes soccer goals.
The brewery also created a dedicated area for food trucks.
The brewery’s colorful exterior murals serve as a backdrop. A woman lying on her side, a lion, and more add color and character to the outdoor space.
A gathering place for Downtown Memphis
The project comes as the neighborhood surrounding Soul & Spirits continues to grow, with new housing and other development bringing more residents to the northern end of Downtown.
Perry said she hopes the beer garden will provide a gathering place for those residents while also making the brewery more inviting to people passing by.
The project was supported by a $40,000 Exterior Improvement Grant from the Center City Development Corporation, an affiliate board of the Downtown Memphis Commission.
Perry said the outdoor improvements had always been part of the brewery’s plans, but Soul & Spirits had to wait for the right time to complete them.
“It’s been a long time coming,” she said.
