We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zack Roskop a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Zack, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

In the summer of 2014 I was lost. I had taken a risk or joining our touring band and after a few years of some success it all came to a halt. Did I forget to mention that I left college one year early to join this band too? Not only, was I directionless but I did have a bachelor’s degree either. So I asked myself that classic question, “what do I want to do with my life?”

One passion that had begun to develop many years prior was my love for local beer. As my understanding of the process of brewing and my palate grew so did participation in that industry. I also knew I had a deep love for the city of Knoxville. I grew up in East Tennessee and it’s been an amazing experience watching this town grow. I love its diverse landscape and it’s authenticity and kindness. I’ve always felt like I could create something meaningful here. Thirdly, I’ve always loved people. From talking too much in elementary school home room to never meeting a stranger, I love exploring and learning about the lives of others. So I asked myself, what would allow be two pursue these 3 passions simultaneously?

Knox Brew Tours was born. I learned how to build a website, I bought and outfitted a mini-bus from Craigslist and I convinced 3 of the 4 breweries at the time to let me bring people into their space and entertain, educate and connect them. Giving guided brewery tours in every way checked all of the boxes and laid the foundation for our mission. If you look at our logo for Knox Brew Tours and Knox Brew Hub (our craft beer bar downtown that came many years later), you will see that both logos have 3 dots. Those 3 dates represent our mission: 1. Our love for Knoxville, 2. Our love for beer and 3. Our love of people.

Those three loves are intertwined in everything we do and in everyone that is a part of our team and our family.

Zack, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Knox Brew Tours: Your backstage pass to local beer.

We give fully guided, all inclusive guided brewery tours. Our bus and walking tours are typically 3 hours long and can included between 3-4 breweries. Tours include access to brewhouse, several beer tastings, history of each location, breakdown of the brewing process from grain-to-glass, snacks, water, transportation and more.

Knox Brew Hub: Local beer’s best friend.

The Hub is a local focused craft beer bar located in the heart of downtown Knoxville. We have a 22 tap ALL LOCAL beer wall, a wall map our breweries in the community, several singles coolers included NA options and a beer market for 4 and 6 packs to go. We also pretty proud of our all beef made to order hot dogs too.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When Covid hit our tour business was completely shuttered. We pivoted to providing food and beer delivery service. We had buses and drivers and our breweries didn’t have the infrastructure to start a delivery service but were in need to sell as much of their products as possible. This created an excellent partnership that lasted for a few months and definitely helped us survive that time period.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

There is no doubt in mind that our greatest assets and one of the main reasons we have been successful is that we are rich in relationships. Especially in the craft beer industry, relationships are everything. From day one I set our focus on helping and growing our beer drinking community. Because of this our bar gets limited releases, special events and more. The trick in my mind to repeating this is selflessness. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. Notice their struggles and pitch in.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.knoxbrewhub.com
• Instagram: @knoxbrewhub
• Facebook: facebook.com/knoxbrewhub
• Other: www.knoxbrewtours.com www.knoxbrewstories.com