Last weekend Nashville, Tennessee was soaked by a record breaking 13 inches of rain. That’s as much water falling from the skies in two days as my city of Denver gets in a year, including all the two foot snow falls and crazy summer thunderstorms.
Tragically, there were 29 deaths in the region, with 10 in Nashville alone, and over 1.5 billion dollars in damage. The Cumberland River crested at 12 feet above flood levels and inundated downtown along with our Big River Grille and Brewery. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones, as well as to the over 2,000 people whose homes were destroyed.
While the restaurant area itself did not sustain major damage, the basement flooded completely, which is where we grind the malt for brewing and then age and serve the finished delicious elixir out of the tanks that you see laying disheveled in the destroyed cooler.
We are still waiting for power to be restored which we will need to pump out the drains and all the beer that will sadly go into them. Then we will begin the arduous process of cleaning up the mess, replacing damaged equipment and refilling those tanks.
Perhaps we should rebuild in an Ark, because this will be the second time this has happened to Big River Nashville this year. Back in January a water main break flooded the basement, but luckily then it was only a few feet and the water was so cold that we did not have to destroy the liquid that we all love inside the tanks.
This is a major disaster for the brewery, but I am incredibly relieved and grateful that Brad Mortensen is our brewer in Music City. His immense skill in concocting the creations of our craft come from his keen intellect and even keeled demeanor, which is what you want in a crisis situation. Suffice to say, I would be freaking out, but he stayed calm as a cucumber while the Cumberland destroyed his cellar.
I am also thankful for the outpouring of offers from others brewers, and even suppliers, to help in whatever way they can to get Big River pouring great beer again, “…come hell and high water!”
