2008 draft beer fests at the Public House: Status update.

Before turning tomorrow to the topic of our forthcoming 2008 renewal of the “Sandkerwa in New Albany” ideal, permit me a brief digression.

It has been a very difficult year in terms of purchasing guest beers, whether draft or bottled. I’m not pointing fingers, only saying that I’ve not always been able to get on the same (shall we say) chronological page with wholesalers, especially when it comes to imported beers. Rising fuel prices have wreaked havoc with economies of scale in shipping, and in the beer biz, “just when you need it” has always been a nebulous and largely unobtainable ideal.

In terms of draft fests at the Public House, the good news is that Sandkerwa NA 2, while probably curtailed in numbers of kegs owing to the quirks of availability, will proceed as scheduled on Friday, August 29. Come back Monday for details.

Also, our Lupulin Land Harvest Hop celebration is unaffected and will begin on Friday, October 17.

The annual Saturnalia Winter Solstice kicks off on Friday, December 12 – nine valuable preparatory drinking days in advance of the actual solstice on the 21st. I believe that we’ll have full rosters of goodies for these two celebrations.

And, here’s the starting date for Gravity Head 2009’s Liver Olympics: Friday, February 27.

There’ll be a new twist to Gravity Head next year if all goes as planned, because we’re hoping to stage a pre-Gravity Head outdoor preview party at the soon-to-come Bank Street Brewhouse’s parking lot in mid-January. There’ll be more on that later, once we’ve actually opened the establishment.

The bad news, straight up: I’ve decided to abolish, at least for now, the YourNameHere draft fest (DaveFest in 2006, and SteveFest in 2007). The primary reason for this has less to do with purchasing issues than my steadily worsening lack of time as we plan the new brewing venture. A personalized draft fest is something that utterly depends on my direct participation, and I’m currently learning to set a few boundaries. In the future, if personnel can be assembled and time found, we may revive the idea.

Also, on the bottled front, I’ve had little choice except to postpone Lambic By the Glass until later in the year (that is, if I can obtain what I want) or next year (if I cannot). Purchasing issues are directly related to this postponement. Take heart: I’m still trying to whip something up, perhaps in November.

Tomorrow, there’ll be the scoop on Sandkerwa NA 2.