In a city shaped by Kings, it was an obvious choice.
“Kings Brewery” was our favorite among the 54 entries into FuzzyBrew’s contest to win tickets to the 3rd annual River City Brewers Festival, coming up March 31 in historic Handy Park in Downtown Memphis.
We asked entrants: if you were to open your own brewery or brewpub in the Mid-South, what would you name it?
The name Kings Brewery had everything we were looking for.
Memphis has been influenced by many Kings, from Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, to Bluesman B.B King, to civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., and even wrestling legend Jerry “The King” Lawler.
“Kings” also evokes images of a smokey, old-school British pub where you’d grab a pint after a long day. (The hypothetical logo, above right, was imagined by the lovely and talented Sara from Metal and Mud, who also happened to design the FuzzyBrew banner at the top of the blog.)
So congrats to Joseph for the winning entry. He gets a pair of tickets to Session B of the festival. Jim and Brittany were picked at random and each also wins tickets, courtesy of the festival organizers.
Here are some of our other favorite suggested brewery names, in no particular order:
From Ashley Harrison: Blue Suede Brews
I would name my brewery “Blue Suede Brews” obviously in honor of Memphis’ own Elvis Presley.
From Diana: The Push and Pull
In honor of Rufus Thomas – the Push and Pull (the barkeep will be pulling pints). Other things on the menu could be the Funky Chicken Wings, the Walking the [Hot] Dog, etc.
From Matthew Magbee: Time Machine
I would have Solution names for each of my brews…. i.e Time Machine Solution #22 Then a brief description of the product followed by local artists making the label art.
From Tate: Crossroads Brewery
The different brews would be named after different Robert Johnson tunes.
From David Twombly: Neon Pig
I once read an article in the Hot Springs (AR) newspaper claiming the surest sign of a good restaurant is the presence of a plastic cow on the roof or a neon pig in the window. Since my wife and I decided that, if we ever form a band, we’d call ourselves the Plastic Cows, I’ll go with “Neon Pig” for the brewery–especially since we live here (1) in the BBQ capital of the world, which (2) also contains Beale St.
From Toby: The Bell Tavern
I’ve always thought it would be cool to resurrect the classic name (and spirit) of The Bell Tavern, one of the first bars in Memphis. Old Paddy drank himself to death and surely wouldn’t mind if I borrowed his idea.
Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and to the festival organizers for the tickets. We received some great entries over the past couple of weeks. (Read all the entries here.)
Didn’t win tickets? You can still buy tickets online for $30.
There will be two sessions: Session A is from noon-4 p.m., and Session B is from 6-10 p.m.
More than 100 different beers will be available to sample, including a great selection of craft beer and homebrewed beer.
