"Drink Indiana"? I believe I did, thank you.

Indiana Beer Week made the Indy Star today, and the article was reprinted in the Louisville Courier-Journal:

Last call for Hoosier beer week

Mark Zelner and his wife, Kit, crowded with 150 others around the bar at the Rock Bottom Brewery. They were awaiting a taste of a rare Indiana brew: brewmaster Liz Laughlin's Kölsch beer, which won top prize at last year's State Fair Brewers Cup.

Last night's first-ever, pre-fest beer dinner at Opti Park was a kick, with a dozen rare Indiana microbrews on tap and a feast of dishes prepared with Indiana meats and vegetables. So was the following "reception" of sorts at Chumley's, where wholesalers World Class and Cavalier unveiled one treat after another (Bell's Batch 6000 and a bourbon-barrel aged Porter from Founders among them).

Today's annual Microbrewers festival will take place on a much hotter day than last year's. I might just have to drink some water, since I forgot to hydrate on Friday night.

And kept forgetting ...

Evansville interlude.

I'm reporting live from the beautiful Hotel Volga in downtown Bucharest, Romania, where the mystery meat in gray sauce was featured at the recent Plenum of the Workers' Party 18th Conference ... no, wait; my mistake. Actually I'm at the Executive Inn in Evansville, Indiana, for my family (mom's side) reunion.

It's got me rapping:

One NABC growler down
With Lite beer all around
They say my grandaddy drank Miller
But this Publican ain't no swiller

BUT SERIOUSLY ... I've nothing whatsoever against the city of Evansville, and my regrets are two-fold. First, I'm only here for one night, which means that the only chance to see my relatives precludes visiting Turoni's for excellent pizza and craft beer. Second, in order to make it to Indianapolis tomorrow in time for the beer dinner at Opti Park, I may have to miss the opportunity to savor barbecued mutton at the family's picnic near Henderson Friday afternoon.

Not to mention the brain sandwiches that are an Evansville staple.

There'll be time in the future. For now, my Friday plan is to hit the road after breakfast, head north to Terre Haute, then pick up I-70 into the state capital. I'll have four growlers in the trunk, a bag of homemade (by the Mrs.) trail mix in the front seat, some hoary Elvin Bishop cassette tapes to play while driving my mom's 12-year-old Crown Vic, and a wonderful goal: Great Indiana food, great Indiana-brewed beer, great company and a weekend that proves how damned lucky I am to be in such a great business.

I get paid to drink beer. Who'd have thunk it?

Indiana Beer Week: A half dozen Indiana-brewed guest beers and 10 house beers on tap at the Public House now.

After a grievously slow business period in late June, suddenly we caught fire last week, and on Monday afternoon (yesterday) there were something like eight empty taps staring back at me.

On most weeks, Monday's the main beer ordering day, so the depletions dovetailed quite nicely with efforts to have a half-dozen Indiana beers on tap during Indiana Beer Week. Here is what the foraging yielded:

Alpha King and Pride & Joy (Three Floyds; Munster)
Brugge Brasserie Tripel de Ripple (Brugge; Indianapolis/Terre Haute)
Upland Maibock and Wheat (Upland; Bloomington)
Shoreline Brewery SumCen Double IPA (Shoreline; Michigan City)

And, of course, there are ten New Albanian Brewing Company currently on tap: Bob's Old 15-B, Community Dark, Croupier, Elector, Farmhouse Saison, Flat Tyre, Hoptimus, Mt. Lee, Phoenix, and St. Radegund.

The Indiana Microbrewers Festival is this Saturday, July 19, and don't forget that there'll be a Rick and Jeff Tours motorcoach to it.

Draft Hoosier brews for Indiana Beer Week -- just not the ones I was expecting.

Don't forget: Rick and Jeff Tours motorcoach to the Indiana Brewers Festival this coming Saturday.

NABC/Rich O’s themed guest beer weeks are continuing throughout July. Today we were supposed to have unveiled four rare drafts from our brethren to the north, but it would appear that some things just aren't meant to be, so forget all about what I told you earlier.

However, don't forget the occasion. A new event, Indiana Beer Week, had been organized by the Brewers of Indiana Guild to celebrate the period (July 10-19) between the Indiana State Fair homebrew and professional Brewers Cup Competition (July 11 & 12) judging and the annual Indiana Microbrewers Festival (July 19). Accordingly, a brewery "swap" schedule was arranged and The New Albanian Brewing Company planned to put our assigned beers on tap today.

Unfortunately, the unexpected began occurring. First, owing to a miscommunication (my fault), I learned that there wasn't going to be a guest beer from Lafayette Brewing Company. Second, announced beers from Three Floyds and Brugge Brasserie fell through. Nothing could be done about it, so we've improvised, and the fallback plan is this:

We managed to get Shoreline Brewery SumCen Double IPA from Michigan City, so there's one.

We always have Alpha King and Upland Wheat on tap; that makes three.

Brugge sent Tripel instead of Black -- four.

On Monday I'll forage and buy a couple of Indiana microbrews to flesh out the lineup -- Wabash Valley (Terre Haute) and Barley Island (Noblesville) sound like reasonable candidates, and one from each takes us up to a half dozen.

You'll have to come back tomorrow to see what I decided to buy, and then give me until Tuesday to get all of it in order.

Damn. This turned out to be harder than I thought.

InBev to absorb A-B -- and it doesn't matter a single bit.

News from Reuters: InBev agrees to buy Anheuser for $50 billion.

Go ahead. Read this and other stories about the creation of the world’s largest beer maker, and if you find any bits of text that have the remotest thing to do with beer (as opposed to shares of stock), please let me know.

As the hypocrites clamor about the “American icon” Budweiser falling into the hostile hands of a Belgo-Brazilian consortium, I’ll do my best to suppress a yawn as big as distance between Budweiser and anything truly worth drinking, and remind readers that precious few people gave a damn during A-B’s march to the top, when its carnivorous tactics chewed up and spit out countless small, local competitors.

Swill-loving, America-first advocates please take note: Very soon none of the “big three” – Coors, Miller or A-B – will be independent.

The perfect time to switch to locally-brewed beer, don’t you think?

Reformulated Beak's Best to return to NABC draft lineup.

Yesterday I made reference to Beak's Best in a posting about the forthcoming Best Of Louisville bash.

Accordingly, it’s as fine an opportunity as any to revisit Beak’s and see what the future will hold for it.

Many of you already know that Beak's Best – named for my cousin, renowned scholar and traveler Don “Beak” Barry -- was the second ale brewed in 2002 by founding NABC brewer Michael Borchers. Originally Beak’s was intended to be a staple of the everyday draft offerings. For a variety of reasons, it didn’t work out that way, and Jesse Williams eventually refashioned it into what we now call St. Radegund, which in terms of style falls into the Extra Special Bitter (ESB, English style) category.

In recent weeks, with the Bank Street Brewhouse expansion underway, we began discussing the desirability of our having a “poundable” house ale for the taproom in downtown New Albany. At the same time, it was recognized that even if our desired niche in the Louisville metro marketplace would be bigger and bolder beers, we’d need something of a more introductory nature – rather like an English-style Best Bitter, lower in gravity (circa 4.5% abv), with an enticing hop nose, and without the heavier body of many other NABC selections. Community Dark fits the bill in some ways, although it may not be sufficiently well hopped to travel far.

The answer is Beak’s Best, recalibrated as a Best Bitter. It will be sold off-premise in kegs, and at the downtown taproom, we’ll it will be served exclusively in the cask-conditioned, hand-pumped version.

The formulation is being plotted, and artist-in-residence Tony Beard will be working on a fresh graphic design. Stay tuned.

BBC's APA "Best of Louisville", and NABC to be at the awards bash on July 24.

If I’m not mistaken, the last time Louisville Magazine included a best beer of Louisville category in its annual critics’ choice “best of” issue (which includes reader selections) was 2003, when NABC’s Beak’s Best was chosen by editor Bruce Allar.

I know … we don’t brew Beak’s Best any longer, but I’ll come back to that tomorrow. Instead, know that the best beer category returned this year, and Bruce picked the classic BBC American Pale Ale (original brewmaster David Pierce’s Main & Clay version) as Louisville’s best. You’ll get no argument from me, because Dave’s APA remains my preferred session ale.

See: To have and to use five great beers.

Each year, Louisville Magazine partners with the Kentucky-Southeast Indiana Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to hold a Best of Louisville Bash. This year’s is at the Mellwood Arts complex on Thursday, July 24, and I’m happy to note that NABC will be there with samples.

While Mellwood is fresh in your mind, don’t forget the movie, food and beer project that’s on the drawing board for the center:

Coming soon: Louisville Vanguard Cinema ... and good beer there, too.

"Pub Snacks, Revisited" -- another NABC beer and food pairing, coming Monday, July 28.

Can it have been eight months since Josh Lehman and Andrew McCabe wowed us with the Creative Costume beer dinner?

"Creative Costume" beer dinner review: Multiple thumbs up.

They're back, and another innovative food and beer pairing will take place in Prost on Monday, July 28. It's called Pub Snacks, Revisited, and is intended to definitively answer the question of what beer best accompanies smores, anyway?

As an added bonus, the 28th also kicks off Dogfish Head Off-Kilter Sixers week.

Here are the facts:

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Pub Snacks, Revisited

A New Albanian Brewing Company (NABC) beer & food pairing, featuring Sous Chef Joshua Lehman and Pastry Chef Andrew McCabe, both of Le Relais Restaurant.

Rich O’s Public House
3312 Plaza Drive
New Albany, Indiana 47150

At Prost, the special events wing
Monday, July 28th ~ 6:45 p.m.

$50 per person ~ all inclusive, Reservations taken in advance at Rich O’s Public House or by phone:
(502) 939-6734– ask for Andrew
(812) 989-2321 – ask for Josh

Menu

Soup & Sandwich
Heirloom tomato bisque, cucumber, brioche grilled cheese
~NABC Saison

Mussels
Ginger, tamarind, coconut milk
~NABC Phoenix Kentucky Komon

Peach Pizza
Whole wheat crust, italian sausage, tellagio cheese
~NABC Elector (Imperial Red Ale)

Soft Pretzel
Gruyere, Jalepeno
~NABC Elsa Von Horizon Imperial Pilsner

Corn Dog
Duck sausage, Sweet Corn Mustard
~NABC Old Lightning Rod (Colonial Strong Ale)

Smore
Smoked Marshmallows, Graham Cracker, Spicy Chocolate
~NABC Jasmine the Mastiff (Sweet Stout)