Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Bellamy.
Hi Jeff, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I graduated from MTSU in 2007 with a bachelors in microbiology and chemistry. I worked for about 3 years as a chemist and then decided to make a huge change and tried real estate. After about 5 years that I decided it was time for another change. I had begun homebrewing with some friends, and like most home brewers we decided we needed to start a brewery. One of my brewing partners began working as an assistant brewer at a local brewery, and I went to work at a beer distributor. Over the next few years our lives changed a lot, I got married, had a kid, the pandemic happened, but finally the perfect building became available. We were able to purchase the building and are in the middle of building out Smackdab Brewing, a couple blocks off the square in Murfreesboro.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road was anything but smooth. Finding the right location and securing financing has been very difficult. We did not put life on the back burner, so in the meantime I got married and had a kid. One of my business partners also got married and had a kid, and went through a very tough medical issue. My business partners Brent and Nowell and I would say we have been working in this for an “embarrassingly” long time.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Early on Kurt Strickmaker, the owner of Bounty Bev, hired me on as a beer sales rep in Murfreesboro. That experience was an incredible teacher to show me from the inside, what works and does not work for other local breweries.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Being from Murfreesboro, I take it for granted that people will know that the geographical center of TN is just off campus of MTSU. Our name is a reference to that, and the lightning bolt pointing to Murfreesboro is a reference to MTSU’s Pegasus mascot named Lightning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://SmackdabBrewing.com
- Instagram: @smackdab_brew
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/smackdabbrewing
