If you’ve been wondering what’s going on behind those doors at Flyway Memphis, check out The Flyway Summer Market, to be held Saturday, June 20th from 2-6 p.m., at 598 Monroe Avenue.
“We usually have 20 vendors” selling local arts and crafts, says Scott Tashie, who owns Flyway Memphis along with his wife, Rebekah Tashie, and Schuyler O’Brien. They also do smaller markets throughout the year.
The Flyway Summer Market will coincide with the Downtown Memphis Brew Hop, which runs from June 15th to the 21st. “They visit all the breweries in the Memphis area,” Scott says.
Flyway Memphis is a combination of Flyway and High Cotton beers. The bar and restaurant is also a music, comedy, and special events venue. And it’s in one of the coolest parts of Memphis: The Edge District.
The Tashies, owners of City Silo restaurants and Juice Bar Memphis, fell in love with Flyway’s Bluewing beer after they opened a City Silo location in Little Rock, Arkansas. They also got to know Flyway’s owner, Matt Foster. So, when they saw High Cotton Brewery in Memphis was for sale in 2023, they bought it.
“That’s when we did not know a ton about brewing beer,” Scott says. “We knew we loved this area. We knew we loved the brand.” And, he adds, “We loved this space. We thought it was really cool.”
They approached Flyway in Little Rock, suggesting they start brewing Flyway beer in Memphis alongside High Cotton. “We said, ‘Let’s call this whole place Flyway Memphis, and produce two brands of beer: Flyway and High Cotton,’” Scott says. They then developed a team, which includes head brewer Kaleb Tanner, director of sales Ali Stokes, and general manager Brian Bazar. “We’re really good at building teams,” Rebekah says.
Step one was to introduce Bluewing, a light, easy-drinking berry wheat ale, into the market. “We use real blueberries in the batch,” O’Brien says. But the beer is “not super fruit-forward. Even on a hot day, I don’t think there’s many things better.” Using Memphis water makes it “great,” he says. “This one is perfectly done,” Scott adds.
The next step was to “clean up and fine-tune current High Cotton recipes. Once we got everything really dialed in and we got established as Flyway Memphis, we were able to stabilize the High Cotton brand,” Scott says. “High Cotton is very much around. We continue to fine-tune it as a beer brand. One of the first things we did was change River King beer, which was kind of in a no man’s land. It didn’t have a full identity.” Now, he says, “It is a beautiful, crisp, juicy, hazy IPA.”
They also added new beers, including Mekong Sticky Rice Lager, Lucky 44, their current High Cotton seasonal, and Power Band, a classic West Coast IPA. Then there’s a beer they call “Sloosh:” sour beers finished with an ice cream base. “They almost taste like a dessert,” O’Brien says. Tangerine Dream is the current Sloosh flavor. They’ve also featured black currant and hazelnut Slooshes.
In transforming the building’s interior, they “opened everything up,” Scott says. They joined the High Cotton tap room with what used to be Edge Alley restaurant. The tap room now flows into a spacious dining room.
Working closely with Flyway Little Rock, they created a menu that includes original Flyway items as well as items “unique to Memphis,” Scott says.
Among the new items are “buttermilk fried duck tenders served with honey mustard;” the “Memphis Dog,” a “bacon-wrapped Nathan’s hot dog, crispy cheddar, jalapeño slaw, Bluewing BBQ sauce, and green onion;” and “Smashburger Nachos” featuring a “smashed grass-fed burger patty, tortilla chips, queso, diced house pickles, pico de gallo, fry sauce, and green onions.”
“I can come in here with my kids, get a margarita and a salad,” Rebekah says. “And he can come in here and get a beer, watch football, and get a hot dog with bacon wrapped on it, and everyone’s happy.”
