This Friday is Billow's grand opening, with NABC and Irish Exit lending a hand.

Billow, a new downtown New Albany shop specializing in fine cigars, smoking accessories, clothing, gifts and merchandise, is having a Grand Opening Celebration this Friday, January 27th.

Don't miss our GRAND OPENING this Friday, from 7:00 p.m. We’ll be giving away merchandise and cigars, and there’ll be door prizes, raffles and gifts. We will have appetizers, free tastings, and plenty of seating for smoking. NABC will have beer, and Irish Exit will offer a cash bar. Crossfire Cigars and Black Patch cigars will be here, so come out and help support our local New Albany Police Department, which will receive a portion of our ongoing proceeds.

In case you hadn’t heard, Billow is located at 137 E. Market Street in New Albany, right next to Quills, and across the street from Habana Blues and The Grand. It's a block and a half south of Bank Street Brewhouse. There’s a walk-in humidor and selection of fine cigars, and a fully ventilated indoor smoking lounge with cable tv, wi-fi, iPads and comfy leather seating.

Advance notice: Beer dinner and Alsatian choucroute garnie at the Frenchman's.

This information is subject to change, but the probable date for the first-ever beer dinner at Louis Le Français (133 East Market Street in downtown New Albany) is Thursday, March 1 at 7:00 p.m.

I joined Tim Eads of Starlight Distribution LLC this morning for a chat with the Frenchman himself. Tim will be featuring a few Bieres de Garde ales from the Shelton portfolio, to which I'll add a couple of appropriate NABC beers. Apart from three or four other courses, the Frenchman revealed the beer dinner's projected pièce de résistance: Alsatian choucroute garnie.

The last time I had this dish was in Strasbourg, with Trois Monts ale handy to accompany. It is an understatement to say that I'm excited about this beer dinner, and we're not even close to the pairings yet. Put this on your calendars, and I'll be back soon with pricing and further information.

Meat of the Matter, by Beth Kracklauer at Saveur (photo credit to Saveur)

The first time I visited Alsace, the half-timbered houses and the window boxes filled with geraniums looked to me like something out of a Grimm fairy tale. In one of the cozy winstubs, or taverns, unique to this northeastern corner of France, I was introduced to authentic Alsatian choucroute garnie, a heaping platter of wine-braised sauerkraut (choucroute in French), "garnished" with Hansel and Gretel–worthy portions of cured pork and sausages.

Daily lunch specials at NABC's Pizzeria & Public House.

11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday ... just in case you didn't already know.

Smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em … NABC ConeSmoker is coming soon.

(If Tony's reading and he has a better graphic than this one from a few years back, send it to me and I'll make a dramatic substitution in the dead of night. I always loved the smoking jacket, though)

Once again, the annual batch of ConeSmoker has been brewed by Ben Minton at NABC's original R & D Brewery, and in a few weeks, it should be ready for release.

The inspiration for ConeSmoker dates to the late 1990’s. One night I poured BBC American Pale Ale into a glass used previously for Bavarian-style Schlenkerla Rauchbier, or maybe the other way around, and an idea for Smoked APA was born.

There have been more than a few variations over the years, but lately, we’ve been sticking to the template below.

Malts: Weyermann Rauch, Vienna, and CaraHell malts; Rahr Pale and Simpson Dark Crystal

Hops: Summit and Nugget for bittering, Cascade and Nugget for flavor and aroma

Yeast: House Ale

IBU: 65

OG: 16 Plato

ABV: 6.8%

Color: 13 SRM

"Local Brew Review: New Albanian’s ‘Solidarity’ will Occupy Your Taste-Buds."

Thanks to Chris Ritter for his thoughtful review of NABC Solidarity. Bottles should still be out there, but we're running low on draft ...

Local Brew Review: New Albanian’s ‘Solidarity’ will Occupy Your Taste-Buds

January 21, 2012

New Albanian Brewing Company is just across the river, but the toasted, malty, soul-warming flavors of its ‘Solidarity’ Baltic Porter originate from much farther still. A not-so-distinticly American interpretation of a Baltic Sea tradition, ‘Solidarity’ exists in tribute to the popular revolution that saw the overthrow of communist Poland in the 1980′s.

NABC Bonfire of the Valkyries is out and about.

NABC’s signature Black Lager is on tap at both Bank Street Brewhouse and the Pizzeria & Public House for consumption in-house, or carry-out sales in growlers and bottles. The first 22-oz bomber shipments have gone out to wholesalers in Indiana and Kentucky. A very limited amount of draft will be made available to outside accounts.

Bonfire of the Valkyries is NABC's full-bodied and clean Black Lager with medium smokiness. It is the ideal accompaniment to all smoked meats, oysters on the half shell, cabbage soup, kielbasa and freshwater trout. Or, just have a few glasses while you’re burning away the hours until Ragnarok. It won't last long, so get some.

Ron Downer to brew at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee.

It delights me to share this news with readers, because our friend Ron Downer, one of the great guys in the brewing business, is back in the show after a few years on the sidelines. Ron was a prolific homebrewer before turning pro, and so starting small at Blackberry Farm prior to growing the brewery should be right up his alley. Congratulations, Ron! Now it's my job to make it down to the Smokies for a visit.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my loyal readers of the Burgundian Bulletin and to inform you that the last issue you received several months ago is the last in the series. As much as I have enjoyed writing the Burgundian Bulletin I must quit due to my recent acquisition of the new position of Brewmaster at the Brewery at Blackberry Farm.

I am excited about being Brewmaster at Blackberry Farm, which was honored in 2011 by Travel & Leisure magazine as the top resort in North America. Our small pilot brewery will be used to fine-tune recipes and introduce our guests at Blackberry Farm to our special beers; it is just the first step before opening a larger brewing facility in the future.

I invite you to visit www.blackberryfarm.com to learn more about the Farm and its activities. As the Brewery progresses I expect there will be information on the website about our beers and the brewery. Thanks again.

Ron Downer

Indiana's lingering legislative blue law fetish dooms Sunday off-premise alcohol sales in Indiana ...

... except for small breweries and wineries.

It amazes me that our Indy-centric legislators prattle endlessly about economic development, and at the same time, never seem to understand that drinkers living on state borders travel to where they can spend their money on Sunday, namely surrounding states.

Also, Indiana's legislative contingent continues to endorse the doltish notion that it's better to go to a bar on Sunday to drink, and then drive home, as opposed to taking the alcohol home to drink.

And then there is Rep. Davis's comment to the effect that six days in a week is enough to buy alcoholic beverages. The same might be said for groceries and restaurants; if you plan ahead and buy supplies earlier in the week, do you really need to go anywhere at all on Sunday? Why permit any shop or store to open on Sunday, according to this reasoning? Is it 2012, or 1812?

Of course, Rep. Davis's blue-law-friendly internal rationalization is not how it works in real life -- and increasingly, real life is a place that few of these political dullards seem to inhabit, although Ideologyland is fairly bursting at the seams.

Sunday alcohol sales dead in Legislature, by Maureen Hayden (CNHI Statehouse Bureau)

INDIANAPOLIS — Depending on what happens in the Sunday-dry state of Connecticut, Indiana could soon become the last state in the nation with a Sunday ban on alcohol sales.

Legislative leaders in the Indiana General Assembly have decided against scheduling committee hearings on a bill that would have lifted the decades-old prohibition on the Sunday sale of alcohol for off-premise consumption.

Their decision effectively kills the bill.

“Surely we can buy enough alcohol in this state six days a week that we don’t need a seventh day to do it,” said state Rep. Bill Davis, the Republican chair of House Committee on Public Policy where the bill had been assigned.