Jackalope Brewing Company was founded by Bailey Spaulding (who is also our Chief Executive Officer) and Robyn Virball. Bailey and Robyn became friends in the tiny Scottish village of St. Andrews, where Bailey was doing a semester abroad and Robyn was completing her undergraduate degree. After college, Bailey went off to Vanderbilt Law School, and Robyn entered the working world, but both thought they were looking for much bigger and more intoxicating things. Bailey’s passion for homebrewing led to the Jackalope dream, and in 2009 the ladies dove into planning the brewery.
In 2010, Jackalope was joined by Steve Wright. He started out as Jackalope’s biggest fan, parlayed that into being the first Jackalope intern, and is now a partner and Chief Operating Officer of Jackalope. Everyone agreed that the focus was to build a craft brewery that put out delicious, creative beers while being an active force in the community. Jackalope’s taproom doors opened on May 21st, 2011, and the Jackalope team has been working nonstop to embody those goals ever since.
In 2013, Jackalope became the first Nashville craft brewery to can its beer. Robyn left the brewery in 2014 to pursue other interests, while Bailey, Steve, and the entire Jackalope team continue to grow our dream into what it is today. After outgrowing our original brewery, in 2018 the team opened a second location (affectionately nicknamed The Ranch) with larger production and taproom space, just over a mile from the original brewery. Jackalope beer is distributed throughout Tennessee, and has recently launched distribution in New York, with direct-to-consumer shipping to folks in Vermont. We continue to maintain our commitment to quality beer, community involvement, and sustainability – all while having a little bit of fun!