Thursday, May 31, 2007

NABC's lineup for Fest of Ales at the Keg this Saturday.

By now you should know that on Saturday, June 2, the 2nd Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale will take place at The Keg Liquors in Clarksville. Please visit the store's web site for directions and ephemera: Fest of Ale 2007. Before proceeding to the fest's overview, here are descriptions of the three beers that NABC will be taking to the show. It will be a rare summertime appearance for the customarily allocated Thunderfoot, and your first chance to taste the most recent Kommon brew. I'm interested in reader views on the slightly tweaked Mt. Lee, which currently is on tap at the pub.

Thunderfoot
OG: 1.094
ABV: Circa 11%
MALTS: English 2-row, dark crystal, roasted barley, flaked oats
HOPS: Northern Brewer, Willamette, Cascade
YEAST: House London
MISC: Dried tart cherries are added to the hopback, and the beer is aged with dried Bing cherries and medium toast oak chips. The result is ultimate palate renewal.

Phoenix Kentucky Kommon
No specs available; the following description by local beer archivist Conrad Selle describes the style:

Dark Cream Common Beer - This beer, using 1-2% black sometimes also 1-2% crystal malt, and or 3-8 grams of brewers caramel per barrel was popular in the Louisville/New Albany area and referred to as Kentucky Common Beer in the Wahl-Henius Handy Book of Brewing, though it was locally known as cream beer or common beer. There is some evidence that partial sour mashes were used to lighten the body. It was usually made with about 75% malt and 25% corn grits or sugar, 11 or 12 degrees B (1.044-1.048). Like cream ale, it was consumed fresh, usually as draft beer. In 1913 it was estimated that 80% of the beer consumed in Louisville was of this type. Many local breweries made this type of beer only. It is a distinct beer style that originated in Louisville.

Mt. Lee
ABV: Circa 5.5%
MALTS: English 2-row, pale, caramalt
HOPS: Simcoe, Cascades
YEAST: San Francisco/California Common (as ale)
MISC: California Common ("Steam"), named for the Hollywood mountainside with the famous sign. First brewed in 2006. It has been lightened in gravity and a.b.v. by roughly 10% for the current first batch of summer, 2007.

Here's the rest of the festival promo, courtesy of the Keg's owner, regular reader and pal Todd Antz:

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11 Breweries, 2 Importers, 3 Craft Beer Distributors, over 100 craft and import beers, food and more!

Our Annual Fest of Ale celebrating the goodness that is craft beer on June 2nd from 2 - 6 pm.

We will have 10+ microbrewers on site to sample their wares, as well as food, music, and a charity silent auction to support the rebuilding efforts of Bridgepointe Goodwill services. Brewers and Importers signed up so far are: Upland Brewing Company, New Albanian Brewing, Barley Island Brewing, Bluegrass Brewing Company, Warbird Brewing, Bells Brewing, Browning's, Thirsty Dog Brewing, New Holland Brewing, Spanish Peaks Brewing, Cumberland Brews, Belakus Beer Brokerage, and Eurobrew Importers (Xingu, St. Peters).

Also in attendance will be World Class Beverages, North Vernon Beverage, and Cavalier Distributing. Food will be available from Mark's Feed Store, Bistro New Albany, and Buckhead Mountain Grill.

Price is $25 in advance, and $30 day of the event (available at Rich O's Public House & Sportstime Pizza -- just ask your server).

3 comments:

antzman said...

Roger,

I am damned pleased to see the summer appearance of Thunderfoot. It is one of my favorite beers that Jesse and Jared do. I got to try a sneak sample of the Kentucky Kommon earlier this week, and it is an interesting beer!

Is the Mt. Lee on tap at Bistro the revamped version? I did not have a chance to try it at Rich O's the first time around. What I had at Bistro was top notch. Nice and hoppy with some excellent citrus notes.

The New Albanian said...

Todd

The bNA version is the previous one. The current version is a bit milder in every respect, but still has the same flavor that you reference.

Maybe you'll have time to steal a nip on Saturday.

RAB

antzman said...

I'm sure I will make the rounds as much as possible on Saturday. I always like to help people set up, until the see me doing some "quality control" and sampling the wares!