So you’re on your way to Bonnaroo, and you’ve been tasked with the ever-important beer run. Do you just go with the cheapest options available that will likely make you hate life itself by the end of the weekend, or do you get creative? Obviously, PorchDrinking prefers the creative option.

Included below are 6 canned beers that you can purchase in Tennessee. If you’re traveling by car from another state, the options become more plentiful, but we’ll keep it restricted to Bonnaroo’s home state.

NOTE: I know the temptation is there to try and sneak in bottles, but it’s not worth the risk. You don’t want to be that guy that caused your buddy’s car to be CSI’d by volunteers because you just had to have that rare craft bottle at camp. Thankfully, there are plenty of great canned options available.

New Belgium Fat Tire

One of the first craft brewers to truly embrace canning their beers for wide-distribution, New Belgium obviously has to be included. We went with their flagship, but you can just as easily go with Shift or Snapshot. It’s pretty easy to overlook Fat Tire, especially living in Colorado. It’s the most widely available of the Colorado beers, and it doesn’t feel as “unique.” Which is unfortunate, because it’s honestly a pretty great summer beer.

Oskar Blue’s Dale’s Pale Ale

Dales has become my go-to canned beer – it packs enough of a punch without going overboard, which means you can comfortably drink this beer in the heat. If you want to mix it up a bit and get something heavier, I’d suggest either Deviant (DPA’s stronger older-brother) or Old Chub.

Yuengling Traditional Lager

Ah, Yuengling. This is a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, I’m sure. It’s a good cheap beer, and I think it’s a bit more creative than just bringing in High Life or PBR. 30 packs are available, so this would serve as your main beer of choice.

Schlafly Summer Lager

There’s gotta be a beer with “summer” in the name, right? It’s going to be 80 plus degrees all weekend (which is pretty damn cold by Bonnaroo standards), and you’re going to be drinking on a makeshift porch when you’re not actually in the fest. Perfect for a summer beer. Schlafly’s Summer Lager is a Helles-Style beer that serves as your refreshing option. 

Sweetwater IPA

This is just a pretty damn delicious IPA. With a focus on citrus hops and an excellent balance between hops and malts, it wins out as my choice for the IPA representation for a summer fest 6-pack.

My sixth pick is an honorable mention. There are very few Tennessee breweries that distribute cans, but I still wanted to have a local option represented. Enter Wiseacre…

Wiseacre Brewing Tiny Bomb

By my count, only 3 breweries in the state currently have options available in cans. Yazoo, my favorite TN based brewery, currently doesn’t can. I went with Memphis based Wiseacre. Tiny Bomb, their Pilsen style beer, would be a perfect beer for starting out the day.

There you have it. A pretty solid selection of styles that should keep you and your friends from “beer burnout” over the course of a 4 day festival. No one really can handle drinking Natty Light or Beast for an entire weekend, so hopefully this will make you the envy of all the surrounding camps.

Let us know what beers you’ll be bringing to the farm!