The objective of Eileen Martin's internship is to make whiskey.

Louisville metro readers know Eileen Martin from her brewing/sales/beer advocacy career in Louisville. Eileen informs us that she's scored a cool internship just up the road, described below and in this .pdf file from the American Distilling Institute.

We are delighted for Eileen, and offer warmest congratulations!

--

Dear Eileen:

Congratulations. The Board of Directors of The Michael Jackson Foundation has awarded you the first-ever AIWF-ADI Michael Jackson Craft-Distilling Internship.

The distillery chosen is Ted Huber’s Starlight Distillery. We hope you will find collaborating with Ted and Associate Distiller Jason Heilegenberg to be a rewarding introduction to craft distilling.

The objective of the internship is to make whiskey. An important part of the internship will be the completion of a workplace journal that charts the critical events and decisions in that process. The journal will be excerpted and published by ADI, and a presentation made by you in person on May 4th at the 2010 ADI Conference in Louisville.

Financial arrangements for material, labor, travel and lodging expenses will be made with Starlight Distillery once the mash bill and the distilling-and-casking schedule has been established.

Again, best wishes on your spirited adventure.

Most Sincerely,
Penn Jensen,
For the AIWF-ADI Michael Jackson Craft-Distilling Internship

Next two weekend "Anstich" lineups for Sandkerwa are finalized.

Here are the second and third weekend's Anstich lagers, scheduled to be poured for Sandkerwa NA 3, which continues at NABC's Public House & Pizzeria (3312 Plaza Drive).

To learn more about what we're trying to achieve with Sandkerwa, go here.

In celebrating Sandkerwa, we're celebrating small Franconian breweries whenever possible, and this year, this task was made easier by the Shelton Brother importing company's decision to import a special container filled with rare Franconian lagers in 20-liter, "Anstich" kegs.

These are gravity-feed kegs with no CO2 used to push the beer. We'll set them on the counter behind the bar, punch a hole in the top, and use the rubber mallet to insert a tap.

Once tapped, the 40 half-liter glasses of beer therein must be consumed forthwith, or the remainder will go flat. Because of this, we'll be selling these special beers at a special price: $5.00 per half liter. Not a drop was wasted during the first weekend, and the quality so far has been excellent!

Weekend Anstich schedule, Oct. 1 - 3:

One to be tapped on Thursday, October 1:
Kraus Pils ... Brauerei Kraus, Hirschaid

Two to be tapped on Friday, October 2:
Löwenbräu (Buttenheim) Ungespundetes Lagerbier (Kellerbier) ... Löwenbräu Buttenheim, Buttenheim
AND
Spezial Rauchbier ... Brauerei Spezial, Bamberg

One to be tapped on Saturday, October 3:
Schederndorfer Landbier ... Brauerei Will, Schederndorf

Weekend Anstich schedule, Oct. 8 - 10:

The following weekend (October 8, 9 & 10), there'll be the final four drawn from our original stock of 12.

One to be tapped on Thursday, October 8:
Fischer Lager ... Brauerei Fischer, Greuth

Two to be tapped on Friday, October 9:
Weissenohe Altfränkisches Klosterbier ... Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe, Weissenohe
AND
Rossdorfer Urbrau (unfiltered lager) ... Brauerei Sauer, Roßdorf

One to be tapped on Saturday, October 10:
Zehendner Mönchsambacher Unfiltered Lager ... Brauerei Zehendner, Mönchsambach

Standard kegs poured conventionally with CO2 (on tap now):
Göller Pils ... Brauerei Goller, Zeil am Main
Kulmbacher Reichelbrau Eisbock ... Kulmbacher Brauerei, Kulmbach
Kulmbacher Kapuziner Weisse ... Kulmbacher Brauerei, Kulmbach
Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen ... Brauerei Heller-Trum, Bamberg

CO2 kegs yet to be tapped:
Kulmbacher Monchshof Festbier ... Kulmbacher Brauerei, Kulmbach
Mahr's Brau Ungespundet Lager (CO2 version) ... Mahrs Bräu, Bamberg
Spezial Rauchbier (CO2 version) ... Brauerei Spezial, Bamberg
Weissenohe Monk's Fest ... Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe, Weissenohe

Blown keg roster:
Fischer Rauchbier
Kulmbacher Monchshof Kellerbrau
Kulmbacher Monchshof Schwarzbier
Lindenbräu Vollbier
Mahr's Brau Ungespundet Lager
Zum Grunen Baum Landbier

Lineup preview: The Eighth Journey to Lupulin Land, coming October 16.

Here’s the initial draft list for the eighth Lupulin Land Harvest Hop Festival, which kicks off on Friday, October 16. As always, we'll tap as many as possible, and replace the fallen with fresh kegs as long as possible. When they're gone, they're gone.

A few weeks back, Mike and I took a look at the foraging options, factored in the diminishing storage capacity in Cellar # 3, and concluded that with the exception of the local Louisville brewery options, we’d play the hand we'd already dealt ourselves. Because of this, I’m decreeing this year’s Lupulin Land to be the All-American Lupulin Land.

Bookmark this page, because I’ll be updating it. Meanwhile, Grant Line brewer Jared Williamson offers this look at NABC's special Lupulin Land entry.

I will have an early preview firkin of VII Anniversary for Lupulin kickoff, with the rest to go on soon if not right after opening weekend. We should run through the VII, as it is an IPA and not meant to age.

As with the 5th Anniversary (there was no 6th), the 7th will feature the number 7 as much as possible. Imperial Dark IPA is the style.

7 malts
7 hops
7 hop additions, each at 7oz, the last addition features 7oz of each of the 7 hops
77 IBU
77 minute boil
7.7 ABV

Here are the guests. Expect the ranks to be supplemented by both BBCs, Browning's and Cumberland Brews.

Boulder Flashback Anniversary (India Brown Ale, 6.8% abv)

Boulder Looking Glass Cold Hop (“British-style Ale” 6.5% abv)

Clipper City Big DIPA (Double IPA; Mutiny Fleet Series; 10.6% abv)

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (unclassifiable gravity craziness; 20% abv)

Great Divide Belgica (Belgian-style IPA; 7.2% abv)

He’Brew Shmaltz Lenny’s RIPA (Rye Double IPA; 10% abv)

Left Hand 400 lb Monkey IPA (IPA; circa 7% abv)

Rogue Charlie 1981 (American Strong Ale; 8.5% abv

Shoreline Sum-Nug IPA (IPA; 7% abv)

Sierra Nevada Chico Estate Harvest Ale (IPA; 6.7% abv)

Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial IPA (Double IPA; 11% abv)

Stone 13th Anniversary Ale (Imperial Red; 9.5% abv)

Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (Belgian-style IPA; 6.9% abv)

Stone Double Bastard 07/08 (American Strong; 10.5% abv)

Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow (Double IPA with lactose; 10% abv)

Three Floyds Dreadnaught (Double IPA; 9.5% abv)

Two Brothers Heavy Handed (India Pale Ale; 6.7% abv)

Two Brothers Hop Juice (Double IPA; 9.9% abv)

Who knows? A few others may fall into our laps the next two weeks, so stay tuned.

Lunch hours at the Public House, beginning now.

Beginning this week, opening hours at NABC’s Public House (Rich O’s) are being expanded backwards to include lunchtime.

I say "backwards" because we opened the Public House at 11:00 a.m. until 1999, when it was concluded that one dining room was enough for lunch. The variable that has changed since then, and the one now being recognized, is smoking vs. non-smoking. In practical terms, this change has the effect of opening the non-smoking area at the Public House to lunchtime business.

Feedback is kindly requested. Among other things, Gravity Head now becomes more interesting, earlier.

From now on, both the Public House and Pizzeria (Sportstime) will be open at 11:00 a.m., Monday through Saturday. Closing hours remain 12 a.m. (midnight) at both. NABC’s original Public House and Pizzeria are closed on Sunday. NABC's Bank Street Brewhouse downtown is open on Sunday, but closed on Monday.

Got it?

A new arrival.

NABC's brewer Jesse Williams and wife Angie welcomed a new Williams and NABC family member on Thursday, 24 September as Clara Lynn Park (6 lbs, 6 oz, 19 in) was born.

Barflies note: Jesse does like cigars.

A Saturday filled with beer, beer and more beer after that.

First, the bad news.

Apologies go out to readers who ventured down to New Albany's waterfront last evening and learned that Bubbles and Bluegrass had been cancelled. I wouldn't have known myself had I not left an RSVP at the event's Facebook page, and been informed in cursory fashion just before 5:00 p.m. the gig was off. I was busy, and the belated notice didn't leave me with enough time to try getting the word out. We'd sold a keg of Elector to Studio's Grille & Pub, which was catering the show. Let's hope that they elect to pour Elector at the bar instead.

But the remainder of Saturday's update is favorable, unless one or all of the following is cancelled by reason that some day, somewhere, it might snow. Don't rule it out.

At the Public House, another of Sandkerwa's gravity-dispense "Anstich" kegs is being tapped right about now: Lindenbräu Vollbier, from Brauerei Lindenbräu in Gräfenberg. The first three were simply wonderful country lagers served cool and fresh by gravity pour. I'll biking that way shortly to do quality control on today's specimen. Next Thursday (October 1), the cycle begins anew with one Anstich keg on Thursday, two on Friday and one on Saturday.

Today is Ales for Tails at Bridge Liquors, and NABC will be there. It is my understanding that Elsa von Horizon will be among our sampling choices.

At roughly the same time is BBC's Hop & Harvest Festival at the original brewpub location in St. Matthews. H & H is an homage to local agriculture, and Jerry Gnagy brewed a wet hop harvest ale in the same fashion as NABC, using hops grown in the Knobs at the farm of the owners. If my sources are to be trusted, NABC will have Hoptimus on hand.

If the preceding isn't enough weekend for you, there's always Sunday Bloody Sunday" at Bank Street Brewhouse from noon to 3:00 p.m. tomorrow. John's "build your own" bloody mary bar is unique, and offers a fine and novel way to decompress. Cigars are permitted on the patio, and the three members of NABC's "session series" are on tap: Abzug, Community Dark and Tafel.

Making advance plans? Fringe Fest will be starting before you know it, and the evolving schedule merits a glance.

NABC's Fringe Fest set for Oct. 3rd, 4th, and the 6th through the 10th -- all at the Bank Street Brewhouse.

(Updated Friday, Oct. 2)

(Co-writing credits go to Michael Burp. Bookmark this page, because we'll be updating the information as Fringe Fest draw nearer)

NABC remains hard at work preparing for the second iteration of its own - admittedly somewhat skewed - take on New Albany's Harvest Homecoming civic festival: Fringe Fest 2009!

The goal of last year's inaugural Fringe Fest was "to create a cultural counterpoint to Harvest Homecoming and provide unique music, interesting exhibits, captivating films, and – most importantly – good beer. Fringe Fest embraces everything creative and original, and welcomes anything outside of the social ‘norm’”.

So it remains this year, with the added incentive of trying to maintain the creative atmosphere for a full week instead of just doing “booth days” downtown. Here's the schedule. Expect there to be changes, and remember that all events will take place at the NABC's Bank Street Brewhouse, 415 Bank Street in downtown New Albany.

Saturday, October 3:

12:00 Noon - The annual Harvest Homecoming Parade begins at noon on Vincennes Street and ends around 4:00 p.m. on Bank Street in front of the New Albanian Bank Street Brewhouse. You can watch the parade from our bar or patio and warm your seat for the Fringe Fest kick-off with "Jazz on the Patio" immediately following the Harvest Homecoming parade, with The Outfit and friends.

Sunday, October 4:

All day long - $3.00 NABC pours (except Hoptimus and Elsa)

12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. - Build-Your-Own Bloody Mary Bar. Enjoy an extra large, 20 ounce Bloody Mary made your way with a variety of ingredients and a full olive bar with stuffed olives, pickled vegetables, peppered salami, and more.

4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. - Metro Louisville Restaurant Employee/Owner Appreciation Night, with music by Ben Traughber, Rebecca Williams. There'll be frequent brewery tours starting at 4:00 p.m., and the general public is welcome!

Monday, October 5:

Fringe Fest takes a day off because the Bank Street Brewhouse is closed on Monday, but NABC's Public House and Pizzeria at 3312 Plaza Drive is open at 11:00 a.m. As a bonus, the Public House, formerly known as Rich O's, is now permanently open for lunchtime hours (including non-smoking seating), Monday through Saturday.

Tuesday, October 6:

KLEZMERFEST

6:00 p.m. - Misha Feigin

8:00 p.m. - Louisville Klezmer Orchestra

Wednesday, October 7:

It's booth set-up time for Harvest Homecomers. From 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., we're having an Open Mic Night -- calling all poets, musicians, and madmen. Time slots are limited. Mic and amp provided. RSVP John Campbell at 502-939-0294.

Thursday through Saturday, October 8-10:

For the main event, we'll be erecting the 'Big Top' in the Bank Street Brewhouse's parking lot - well, as big a top as the parking lot will hold.

Chef Joshua Lehman's and Sous Chef Andrew Gunn's Fringe Fest food menu will commence circa lunchtime during the afternoon on the 8th, 9th and 10th, and during these three days, we'll not be doing the usual Bank Street Brewhouse menu.

Pommes Frites deep-fried in duck fat, choice of aoeli or curry sauces

Confit Leg of Duck with Flageolet Beans

Green Chili using fresh Pumpkin from the Farmers' Market

Rosa L. Stumblebus will be serving beer; there'll be live music - and perhaps other unusual entertainments - on the patio each evening; and an exhibit of local artists inside (TBA).

Thursday, October 8

6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. - A Straw Bale Sculpture Workshop takes place across Bank Street on the lawn of the Carnegie Center. You can stop by any time on Thursday to watch (and help) artist Brad McCombs build the sculpture, and his workshop on the process begins at 6:00 p.m. This p(art) of Fringe Fest is hosted by the Carnegie Center.

7:00 p.m. - "Mystery band" (friends of Old Man)

Circa 7:30 p.m. - Old Man

8:30 p.m. - Fire Show with The Phoenix Collective: Fire Spinners, Fire Breathers, and all-around Pyro-Enthusiasts. They stole the show at last year's Fringe Fest.

After dark, circa 9:00 p.m. - The Louisville Film Society presents a potpourri of shorts and snippets on the silver (white?) screen

Friday, October 9

3:00 p.m. - Clint Ackerman

6:00 p.m. - Avalanche

7:00 p.m. - Midnite Sons

8:00 p.m. - National Hotel

9:00 p.m. - Involuntary’s (from Indianapolis ... voted Indy's best new punk band by NUVO readers)

10:00 p.m. - Blood Turns Brown

and... DJs Adam Higdon and Caleb Wilson spinning intelligent, house music throughout the night.

Saturday, October 10

12 Noon - Gates open ... afternoon musical acts TBA

2:00 p.m. - Capriole Farmstead/NABC goat cheese and craft beer tasting (indoor dining area) with Sam Schad and Roger A. Baylor

5:00 p.m. - Kime Sisters

6:00 p.m. - Blind Shade

7:00 p.m. - The Outfit

8:00 p.m. - NABC’s own Jared Williamson

9:00 p.m. - J. Glenn

10:00 p.m. - Lotus Blake

Please note that while the NABC Fringe Fest is running concurrently with New Albany’s annual Harvest Homecoming event, our festival is neither a “sponsored” nor a “hosted” Harvest Homecoming function, which are detailed at the Harvest Homecoming web site.

See Sandkerwa's gravity-dispense "Anstich" keg. Two more are coming today.

Thursday afternoon's Mahr's Brau Ungespundet Lager was tapped and gone in three business hours. It's hard to imagine an imported beer being any fresher, and the unprecedented $5.00/half liter price point was a crowd pleaser. All of this bodes well as we plot the tapping of the remaining 11 "Anstich" kegs, beginning today.

Fischer Rauchbier ... Brauerei Fischer, Greuth
AND
Zum Grunen Baum Landbier ... Brauerei-Gasthof Zum Grunen Baum (Bayer), Rauhenebrach-Theinheim

All we need is Schweinehaxe to make the setting complete, but first things first. I've tasted neither of these, and look forward to the experience. The Rauchbier is a smoked lager, and the Landbier should be similar to yesterday's Mahr's. I expect these will last into the evening tonight, although it never hurts to arrive early and reduce the risk.

Metro event watch: Buckhead Mountain Grill and Rocky’s Sub Pub Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 3.

(Submitted. October 3 is also Harvest Homecoming parade day in New Albany, with parade watching at the Curmudgeon's place and an evening patio party with live music at the Bank Street Brewhouse.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelly Leonardo
502-794-4781


Buckhead Mountain Grill and Rocky’s Sub Pub to hold Oktoberfest event


Portion of proceeds to benefit Clark County Red Cross


JEFFERSONVILLE, IN – (September 22, 2009) –Rocky’s Sub Pub and Buckhead Mountain Grill are teaming up to host Oktoberfest On The River, Saturday October 3rd from 2 pm – Midnight. The tented event, which is the first ever Oktoberfest celebration for Buckhead’s and Rocky’s, will be held between the two Jeffersonville locations. The entry fee is $5 and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Clark County Red Cross.

"Buckhead’s and Rocky's have been long-time generous supporters of the Clark County Red Cross, and we're honored to be chosen as a beneficiary of this event," said Kate Merchant, Chapter Health & Safety Director. "We know it will be a great event and encourage everyone to come out and enjoy Oktoberfest on the River!"

Live music and an impressive beer lineup will be featured, with 20 craft, import, and Oktoberfest style beers on hand, including selections from the Bluegrass Brewing Company and the New Albanian Brewing Company. The Sharpenstein Polka Band will perform from 2:30-5:30 pm, while Josh Glauber and Holly Jackson will provide the evening entertainment beginning at 8pm. Food will also be available for purchase.

"At Buckhead’s and Rocky’s, we are very dedicated to craft and import beer. It has become a large part of who we are and what we offer our customers,” Kelly Leonardo, Director of Marketing, said. “We are excited to host this first-time event and proud to be partnering with the Clark County Red Cross to help give back to the community that has supported us for so many years.”

Beer list:

Bells Oktoberfest

Spaten Oktoberfest

New Belgium Hoptoberfest

Spaten Lager

Franziskaner Hefe

Paulaner Oktoberfest

BBC Oktoberfest

Sam Adams Oktoberfest

New Albanian Farmhouse Saison

Clipper City MarzHon

Weinstephaner Dunkel

3 Floyds Gorch Foch

3 Floyds Munsterfest

Bells Oberon

Upland Oktoberfest

Ayinger Oktoberfest

Rogue Maierfest

Victory Hop Devil

Breckinridge Vanilla Porter

Schafly Pumpkin

More preparations for Sandkerwa.

Following is the memo I sent to the pub & pizzeria servers about Sandkerwa's opening day on Thursday. In other news, Schlenkerla Marzen kegs made it down in time for Sandkerwa (thanks Mat & Jen) and my favorite is back on tap. As a reminder, the Anstich schedule for the weekend is ...

One to be tapped on Thursday, September 24:
Mahr's Brau Ungespundet Lager ... Mahrs Bräu, Bamberg

Two to be tapped on Friday, September 25:
Fischer Rauchbier ... Brauerei Fischer, Greuth
AND
Zum Grunen Baum Landbier ... Brauerei-Gasthof Zum Grunen Baum (Bayer), Rauhenebrach-Theinheim

One to be tapped on Saturday, September 26:
Lindenbräu Vollbier ... Lindenbräu, Gräfenberg

---

Memo

Sandkerwa begins today at the Pub and Pizzeria, and it is the usual routine, with points of emphasis in this e-mail. I'm including the Bank Street servers on this message so that they can get a glimpse of some of the things happening at Grant Line.

All pours except for Kulmbacher Eisbock are priced on 1/2 liter (16.9 oz), and we got in extra glassware for the purpose. Eisbock is a stronger beer and is a 10 ounce pour.

The main feature of this Sandkerwa is the use of "Anstich" kegs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. These are kegs propped up on the cask cabinet and poured like the little wooden pins we do from time to time. This is the way many of the small pubs do it in northern Bavaria (Franconia), the region around Bamberg.

Once the seal is breached, we have to sell them all very fast, preferably in one night. We have twelve different ones of these, with the plan being to pour 1 on Thursday, 2 on Friday and 1 on Saturday, on three consececutive weekends. That comes to 12.

The beer from these containers is being priced very reasonably at $5 (basically, 30% off), so it is very important for the servers to inform the customers about this option. It's the first time this large a shipment of beers from the contryside in northern Bavaria has ever come to the USA, and we're one of the few places to get them. There will be 40 pours in each, based on a half-liter.

There is a Sandkerwa brochure at the printer. It will be delivered later this afternoon. Please take time to read the list of German beer definitions. You don't have to pronounce them right, just know what the styles imply, i.e., Ungespundet refers to a method of cellaring that yields a very minimal carbonation level. Pils should be hoppy, and Scharzbier black. And so on.

Thanks

Roger

Sandkerwa opening weekend lineup is here.

Here are the first weekend's starters for Sandkerwa NA 3, which begins on Thursday, September 24, at NABC's Public House & Pizzeria (3312 Plaza Drive).

To learn more about what we're trying to achieve with Sandkerwa, go here.

In celebrating Sandkerwa, we're celebrating small Franconian breweries whenever possible, and this year, this task was made easier by the Shelton Brother importing company's decision to import a special container filled with rare Franconian lagers in 20-liter, "Anstich" kegs. These are gravity-feed kegs with no CO2 used to push the beer. We'll set them on the counter behind the bar, punch a hole in the top, and use the rubber mallet to insert a tap.

Once tapped, the 40 half-liter glasses of beer therein must be consumed forthwith, or the remainder will go flat. Because of this, we'll be selling these special beers at a special price: $5.00 per half liter.

Weekend Anstich schedule:

One to be tapped on Thursday, September 24:
Mahr's Brau Ungespundet Lager ... Mahrs Bräu, Bamberg

Two to be tapped on Friday, September 25:
Fischer Rauchbier ... Brauerei Fischer, Greuth
AND
Zum Grunen Baum Landbier ... Brauerei-Gasthof Zum Grunen Baum (Bayer), Rauhenebrach-Theinheim

One to be tapped on Saturday, September 26:
Lindenbräu Vollbier ... Lindenbräu, Gräfenberg

The following weekend (October 1, 2 & 3), there'll be four more drawn from the remaining stock.

Five (or six) standard kegs poured conventionally with CO2

Göller Pils
Brauerei Goller, Zeil am Main

Kulmbacher Reichelbrau Eisbock
Kulmbacher Kapuziner Weisse
Kulmbacher Monchshof Kellerbrau
Kulmbacher Monchshof Schwarzbier
All from Kulmbacher Brauerei, Kulmbach

Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen (if a keg arrives in time)
Brauerei Heller-Trum, Bamberg

As the CO2 kegs go, there'll be replaced with the remaining Sandkerwa beers.

NA Event Watch: Ales for Tails at Bridge Liquors on Saturday, September 26.

"Ales for Tails" is a benefit organized by Bridge Liquors on behalf of the New Albany-Floyd County Animal Shelter, which will be on site with its "Wag & Whiskers Wagon," a mobile adoption vehicle. Admission to the fest is a $5 donation to the shelter.

NABC will be on hand. It would be the perfect opportunity to pour one of the Brewers' Best Friend Series (Elsa, Jasmine and Malcolm), so if any of them are ready for action ...

Also, there'll be wholesaler reps pouring other craft and imported beers, along with wine tastings and live music from Jay and Rachel.

The gig will take place under a tent in the Bridge Liquors parking lot from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 26.

For more information, visit the Bridge Liquors web site.

Just for the fun of it: The real Sandkerwa poster for 2009.

Courtesy of the official fest site.

Updated Sandkerwa NA 3 preview.

As promised (threatened?), I've updated the Sandkerwa preview post to reflect a few changes. There's nothing drastically altered, and everything that Shelton Brother said was coming, arrived. I'd guessed at a couple of beer identities that proved to be in error. All of it is now clear.

Lineup preview: Sandkerwa NA 3 at the Public House begins on September 24.

The conceptual introduction to Sandkerwa is here.

A dozen of these offerings are the rare "Anstich" 20-liter, gravity pour kegs. Once tapped, we have 40 half-liter pours in each, and probably should not count on the beer remaining fresh the next day. My original idea was to throw caution to the wind and tap six of them to open the fest, but I've thought better of it. We'll start with one of them on Thursday, the 24th. If it goes, we'll do two on the 25th, and another on the 26th.

I will announce the schedule tomorrow, both for the gravity-pour Anstich kegs and the regular CO2 pours.

BBC's Hop & Harvest Festival coming on Saturday, September 26.

Saturday, September 26 is the second annual Hop & Harvest Festival at Bluegrass Brewing Company at 3929 Shelbyville Road, Louisville. Starting time is 5:00 p.m., and the Courier's Steve Coomes previews the event here.

The festival is designed to showcase locally grown hops (BBC's owners, the Hagans, grow hops at their Indiana farm), and to support local farmers. Accordingly, there'll be a farmer's market in the BBC parking lot featuring local beef, chicken, produce, flowers, jams, jellies, houseplants, live on-site blanket weaving, and more.

There'll be Louisville metro beer from both BBC breweries, Browning's, Cumberland and New Albanian, and wine from unidentified area wineries. Music begin at 7:00 p.m. with Stonewheel, and admission is free, although BBC is asking for a donation of three cans of food to help Kentucky Harvest.

Questions? Ask Melissa.

NA Event Watch: Bubbles and Bluegrass on Friday, September 25

"Bubbles and Bluegrass" is a free concert event at the New Albany Riverfront Amphitheater on Friday, September 25. Gates open at 6:00 p.m., with bluegrass jam sessions for everyone (bring your instruments) and a free bluegrass guitar workshop conducted by Chris Brandstatt at 6:30 p.m.

The headline act is Cast Iron Airplane, which includes some of Louisville’s premier bluegrass players. Uppa Creek is rumored to be playing prior to Cast Iron Airplane.

Sonny Fenwick's legendary Bubble Truck will be on site, promising bubbles, root beer, hula hoops, balloons and more bubbles. There will be other bubbly things like beer in the Studios riverfront beer garden, boasting a special appearance by NABC Elector for this occasion. The River City Winery also will be there, and there’ll be food.

The organizers urge visitors and attendees to “eat at the event or stop by one of New Albany's many independent restaurants on the way and make a New Albany night of it.”

“Bubbles and Bluegrass” is sponsored by:

Duke Energy
The Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County
The City of New Albany
Sarah Ring of Real Living Realty Services.

NA Event Watch: Block Party on Market, Wednesday, September 30.

This one is evolving, but here’s the outline at present.

Dave Himmel of Connor’s Place on East Market Street, New Albany, is getting the requisite approvals to hold an outdoor block party on Wednesday, September 30, starting at around 5:00 p.m.

Market Street will be blocked off between Pearl and Bank, and the block party will take place there. There’ll be a band performing and an NABC beer garden, with food from Connor’s, NABC Bank Street Brewhouse, Windsor Restaurant & Garden, and perhaps others yet to surface.

I’ll update this posting as more information comes to me.

Glad you enjoyed the Wet Knob, Lew.

Lew Bryson flew into Louisville for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, and visited NABC first thing.

Kentucky Bourbon Festival Day 1

Sorry I missed you, Lew. I haven't known whether I'm coming or going for quite some time.

It's simple: Steve and Jared brew a collaborative batch, and then I drink beer with them.

The Livery's Steve Berthel and NABC's Jared Williamson are shown brewng a collaborative batch of Belgian IPA at the Grant Line garage brewhouse on Tuesday, September 15. Different portions of it will be aged and served in different ways, and you'll hear more about that later. For now, look to November for a release date.

After the brewing and clean-up was finished, Steve and Jared adjourned to the Bank Street Brewhouse for an evening of merriment on the patio. Kelsey joined Jared, Diana met me there, and Chef Josh Lehman actually permitted the kitchen crew to serve him. We feasted on frites, bouillabaisse, pork chops and a Capriole goat cheese plate (among other delectables) and washed them down with Wet Knob ... and Hoptimus with the Mont St. Francis cheese.

It was an absolute pleasure to meet Steve and chat with him about his experiences in Benton Harbor, and a return engagement in this home-and-home collaborative series was discussed.

In short: More proof that craft beer is the best business going, and I love meeting the people who are part of it -- and drinking beer with them.

Belgian IPA
Malts: Castle Pale, Castle Biscuit, Simpson Medium Crystal
Hops: wet Fuggles in the mash that Steve brought, Nugget (Bittering); Nugget, Fuggle, Cascade (Flavor); Fuggle, Cascade (Aroma)
Yeast: Saison
O.G. 1077
IBU 72
ABV circa 8% (waiting on final gravity to know for sure)

Notes: 120 minute boil (first to my knowledge for NABC). Hop additions started
at 90 minutes).

Collaboration brew with NABC and The Livery is Tuesday, Sept. 15. Then we all drink Wet Knobs.

"Mug Shots" today in LEO: "Man behind the Bastard."

After I submitted this piece, there were more updates to the beer list, especially additions from "No Coast" BBC (Main & Clay). Go to the Louisville Restaurants Forum and check the thread for updated material from Ashley at Flanagan's.

Mug Shots: Man behind the Bastard

If you’re a fan of Arrogant Bastard and the many other uncompromising craft beers emanating from Stone Brewing Company, then you’ll want to reserve time Saturday afternoon (Sept. 19) to sample Stone’s locally oriented promotional savvy.

That’s when the brewery’s founder, Greg Koch, is coming to Louisville to hawk his wares, state his case and meet you. He’ll be the special guest at a gala outdoor charity event called “East Coast, West Coast, No Coast,” benefiting Henry’s Ark, all of which is being conceived, staged and hosted by Flanagan’s Ale House (934 Baxter Ave.). There’s a $5 cover.

A renewed commitment to Southern Indiana wineries promised at the Bank Street Brewhouse.

I expend very little energy thinking about wine. This isn’t because I don’t like wine. It’s because I prefer beer, and having become renowned for preferring beer – in essence, being paid to drink beer – it’s what I drink and think most of the time.

Not all of the time, though, and drinking wine is an enjoyable busman’s holiday for me. Much of the reason why wine is enjoyable for me in limited doses is because I know comparatively little about it. It may be true that I know a bit more than I let on, and yet, overall, my knowledge base is rudimentary. I aim to keep it that way, not out of malice, but rather out of triage. I’ve neither the time nor the liver to become “expert” at a second drinking discipline.

These considerations matter because of a decision we made about the newest of our two businesses, Bank Street Brewhouse. Our goal with Bank Street Brewhouse is to accompany Chef Josh Lehman’s formidable cuisine with the beers we brew at BSB and the original garage brewhouse three miles away. It is a measure of how admirably Josh has succeeded in the kitchen that customers ask for a wine list, presumably having been trained to think that such high quality of food could not possibly be consumed without wine, as opposed to beer.

This is an errant assumption, and one that we’ll change with time. In the interim, we have not neglected the output of the vineyard. Rather, we have taken the position that if our locally produced beer stands the test of pairing with Josh’s culinary creations, so do local wines being handcrafted throughout Southern Indiana and wineries like Huber, Turtle Run, Thomas Family, Winzerwald, Butler, Best, Oliver and several others.

I can tally these wineries here without cribbing off the Internet, primarily because in the past year and a half, I’ve visited all of them save for Best and a couple others not listed here. At each there were greater and lesser wines, but the point is that at their best, these wineries make excellent products worthy of featuring as part of our effort to emphasize local beers and foodstuffs that come from small, independent or family-run operations.

We’re trying to stay consistent with these principles as it is possible to do so. Why should Southern Indiana wines be treated any differently? My own taste buds tell me that while there surely are classic wines from time-honored wine making areas of the world that are “better” than these, and I use that term rationally yet guardedly, locally made wines are good and getting better. They fit the bill conceptually, and I believe some of them are better than just “good.” Besides, a grape like Chambourcin is one grown right here. That’s local. That’s the point, isn’t it?

As with the tendency at one time for beer drinkers to prefer imports over American-made craft beers, I suspect there is an element of snobbery in this prejudice, which provides even more reason for me to reject the notion that for the BSB wine list to be suitable, there must be selections from somewhere else. This is bunk. I’m advising staff that we’re making a renewed effort to build a wine list that features Southern Indiana wines, and I believe we shall make it slightly larger than I first envisioned. Yes, BSB is all about NABC beer, but not to the exclusion of other local products worth enjoying and savoring. Come to think of it, shifting this knowledge back to the original location is a very good idea, too.

If I have to visit these Southern Indiana wineries again, and go through all those samplings a second time, I’m willing to make the sacrifice in the name of science, and local commerce. It's exhausting. Someone must do it.

Cheers.

Indiana Uplands Wine Trail

Wineries of Indiana

Collaboration brew with NABC and The Livery is Tuesday, Sept. 15. Then we all drink Wet Knobs.

While wandering the grounds during the prelude to the 2009 Great Taste of the Midwest, I happened upon one of my casual acquaintances. Lamenting the presence of so many choices and so little time, I asked for a recommendation. My contact, knowing my preference for sourness and barrel-aging, told me to visit The Livery’s booth. I did, and was impressed with the Benton Harbor, Michigan brewery's “Hand-Forged Microbrews.”

Ironically, at just about the same time, NABC’s Grant Line brewer of record, Jared Williamson, was reaching the same conclusion. I’ll let Jared take it from here (e-mail from roughly two weeks ago).

At GTMW I met Steve Berthel, The Livery's brewmaster, and after trying his brews I was quite impressed. He's into lots of sour barrel aging and blending. Through our conversation, he realized he would be traveling right past us in a return trip from a wedding in the Southeast in mid-September. I told him we should collaborate and brew something, and we exchanged cards and went on our merry ways.

Then he e-mailed me and said he is still up to it, if we are still willing. I asked what he might want to do, and his response was a Belgian IPA, and sour barrel-aging some of it. That’s funny, because I was planning on doing a BIPA in mid-September, and thinking of aging some of it as well. So, is it cool to move forward?

Of course, the answer was an immediate “yes,” and the day for the collaboration arrives on Tuesday, September 15. Jared and Steve will be concocting during the day at Grant Line, and then decamping for dinner at Bank Street Brewhouse afterwards. I can’t put an exact time on it, but if readers are out and about circa 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, feel free to drop in and dine in proximity. In any event, visit The Livery's web site and survey the range of brews crafted there. A field trip to Benton Harbor seems highly likely, doesn't it?

Also, remember that Tuesday is Wet Knobs release day: NABC Wet Knob Hop Harvest Ale: Early release date is Tuesday, September 15.

Conceptual preview: Sandkerwa NA 3 at the Public House begins on September 24.

This is part one of the Sandkerwa preview (the concept). Part two, the actual lineup, is here.

Bamberg, a beautiful city of 75,000 people located in the countryside of the northern German region known as Franconia, has long been recognized as the epicenter of traditional German brewing and beer culture. Ten breweries operate within the city limits, and as many as 125 others are to be found within the outward radius of a good day’s bicycle ride. The majority of Franconia’s 300 breweries are family owned and operated.

For a half-century, SANDKERWA (SAND-kehr-wa) has been Bamberg’s end-of-summer street festival, one that originated as a church-related commemoration in the historic city’s oldest central district. For six days each year in late August, the Altstadt’s narrow lanes are filled with food, beer and people in a hearty celebration that brings Munich’s better known Oktoberfest to mind, but exists on a less crowded, decentralized and more enjoyably human scale.

Sandkerwa is an idea worth emulating, and Bamberg a state of mind worth honoring, hence Sandkerwa NA.

In 2009, NABC’s original German-themed draft beer fest kicks off on September 24, a few weeks later than usual to allow for a special delivery of gravity-dispense (Anstich) kegs from breweries in Bamberg and its Franconian hinterlands.

Each one of these Anstich kegs has 40 half-liter (16.9 oz) pours inside, and so the plan is to begin the festivities on Thursday night the 24th by tapping a couple of them, then trying to deplete one per day (perhaps excluding slower days of the week like Monday and Tuesday) until they’re gone. Once tapped, they will not keep for long, so a measure of finesse is going to be required. Those Sandkerwa kegs dispensed by CO2 will go on tap as usual, until depleted.

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In personal terms, my experience with Bamberg dates to 1991, when I visited the Franconian city for the first time. Even before that, there was unmistakable infatuation. I’d read accounts of the city’s beer culture written by the late, great British beer writer Michael Jackson and salivated over his written descriptions of Schlenkerla’s trademark smoked lager.

Long before I tasted it, I knew that Schlenkerla would be an unquestioned, enduring favorite, and my first sip amply confirmed it.

Subsequent encounters with Schlenkerla have not failed to entice and impress, and these half-dozen trips since the first one have confirmed not only that Bamberg is the place to go for smoked lager, an elegant retro-rarity in the world of beer, but furthermore, that the city simply has no serious competition as the finest setting for beer drinking in all of Germany.

The beer is sublime, and available in as many styles and variations as there are taste buds, but the truly priceless aspect of any visit to Bamberg emanates from the opportunity, one unfortunately threatened by the pace of modern life, to comprehensively experience a culture seemingly crafted from only the very best of beer’s numerous virtues.

From the savory and always reasonably priced German cuisine accompanying and complementing my beverage of choice to the city’s many traditional indoor and outdoor drinking and dining venues, Bamberg affords the enhancement of gustatory and olfactory pleasures in a way that larger cities cannot match.

Bamberg’s 75,000 residents enjoy the products of the city’s ten remaining breweries (down from as many as two dozen a century ago), and also have the opportunity to sample the selected wares of more than a few of the 125-plus breweries in a fifty-mile radius. Many of these breweries are located in charming small towns tucked away in wooded hills and pastoral valleys radiating outward from Bamberg.

Bamberg and its outlying Franconian environs are to German beer what the Amazon Basin is to species of flora and fauna: A diverse and unfathomable “zymurgo-system,” and a treasure trove of species, many of which are doomed to extinction owing to the relentless march of consumerism and mass-marketing.

In truth, few of these beers equal the mighty Schlenkerla Marzen, the Trum family’s everyday (that’s right, everyday) beer. It is a full-bodied amber lager, and it would be delicious even if it did not burst upon the palate with an assertively smoky flavor deriving from beechwood kilning in the brewery’s micro-malting – a traditional method itself now largely extinct.

But there’s something to be said – and tasted – for each.

A few links follow:

Franconia Beer Guide
Bierkeller site (in German)
Another Bierkeller site (in German)
Bierstadt Bamberg (in German)
Kaspar Schulz (brewing equipment fabricator)

Lineup preview: Sandkerwa NA 3 at the Public House begins on September 24.

This is part two of the Sandkerwa preview (the lineup). Part one, the conceptual introduction, is here.

Sandkerwa NA 3 is scheduled to kick off on Thursday, September 24. Like Lambic by the Glass before it, Sandkerwa is running late. As you might have imagined, there's a good reason for this.

The Shelton Brothers importing firm has brought a special container to America, one filled with very rare Franconian lagers in 20-liter, "Anstich" kegs. These are gravity-feed kegs with no CO2 used to push the beer. They're to be tapped and placed on the bar top, a mode of presentation and serving often seen in and around Bamberg. While similar to English real ale, my guess is that these Anstich beers are different because they're not cask-conditioned in the manner of real ale. However, some of the Franconian Kellerbiers are naturally carbonated in the brewery lagering cellar, so who really knows?

The practical consequences are the same, either way: Once tapped, the 40 half-liter glasses of beer therein must be consumed forthwith, or the remainder will go flat.

That's one day, optimum, for each one. If all the Anstich kegs I ordered arrive, there'll be roughly a dozen. The trick will be to pour them without waste, a task further complicated by knowing little about the contents owing to the untested obscurity of it all.

In short, it's something that sounds like fun to me.

In all my years of previewing draft selections for our various fests, I’ve never had as much trouble in getting the information straight as with the lineup (below) for Sandkerwa NA.

It isn’t anyone’s fault, really. It’s just that there is precious little uniformity in the way that these (mostly) small Franconian breweries categorize themselves. That’s probably good, as this cantankerousness extends to brewing methods, too, ensuring that there’ll be a range of goodness once the beers are on tap at the Public House.

Meanwhile, I’ve been sifting through the formal name of the establishment, the town where it’s located, the name of the beer itself, find a comprehensible web link (most have one or more Internet sources), and then, in the end – with an ever so gentle tweaking of Shelton Brothers, the importer – compare scant stylistic information (“amber lager,” for instance) with web testimony in an effort to learn exactly which brand we’re getting.

Here are the results, so far. The following beers have been ordered and are in route, although as always, it cannot be stated with certainty which of them will arrive until the truck begins unloading.

The first grouping is comprised of Anstich feed kegs.

Fischer Lager
Brauerei Fischer, Greuth

Fischer Rauchbier
Brauerei Fischer, Greuth

Kraus Pils
Brauerei Kraus, Hirschaid

Lindenbräu Vollbier
Lindenbräu, Gräfenberg

Löwenbräu (Buttenheim) Ungespundetes Lagerbier (Kellerbier)
Löwenbräu Buttenheim, Buttenheim

Mahr's Brau Ungespundet Lager (gravity pour version)
Mahrs Bräu, Bamberg

Rossdorfer Urbrau (unfiltered lager)
Brauerei Sauer, Roßdorf

Schederndorfer Landbier
Brauerei Will, Schederndorf

Spezial Rauchbier
Brauerei Spezial, Bamberg

Weissenohe Altfränkisches Klosterbier
Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe, Weissenohe

Zehendner Mönchsambacher Unfiltered Lager
Brauerei Zehendner, Mönchsambach

Zum Grunen Baum Landbier
Brauerei-Gasthof Zum Grunen Baum (Bayer), Rauhenebrach-Theinheim

---

The second group is comprised of standard kegs poured conventionally with CO2.

Göller Pils
Brauerei Goller, Zeil am Main

Kulmbacher Reichelbrau Eisbock
Kulmbacher Kapuziner Weisse
Kulmbacher Monchshof Festbier
Kulmbacher Monchshof Kellerbrau
Kulmbacher Monchshof Schwarzbier
All from Kulmbacher Brauerei, Kulmbach

Mahr's Brau Ungespundet Lager (CO2 version)
Mahrs Bräu, Bamberg

Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen
Brauerei Heller-Trum, Bamberg
Note: Kegs of Urbock are coming, but too late for Sandkerwa. Also, I’ve recently learned that a new oak-smoked Rauchbier has been made, with kegs of it eventually destined for America. More information will come as I learn more.

Weissenohe Monk's Fest
Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe, Weissenohe

Bank Street brewed: Hoptimus is back.

As NABC’s core portfolio is brewed at our new Bank Street Brewhouse facility and tapped for public consumption, I’ve been reintroducing each one and providing background as to its development.

Hoptimus reappeared last week and is on tap at both NABC locations. It should be appearing around Louisville as I write.

Back in 2006, I made the following comment:

Meanwhile, if drinker comments are any gauge, Jesse’s struck gold with his session Double IPA (if there can be such a thing), Hoptimus … the alcohol by volume is 9%, and although it’s a cliché, be aware that Hoptimus is deceptively drinkable.

Almost four years have passed, and Hoptimus has retained its panache. Along with the elusive (and less often brewed) Thunderfoot, Hoptimus remains the “most asked for” sample during the summertime festival season. For various reasons, the ABV has crept up a bit since birth, and that’s okay by most of us.

Here’s another passage from 2006. It’s true that on occasion, we’ve aged Hoptimus with oak chips to make Oaktimus, but in terms of the everyday drinking experience, I stand by these words today.

There’s much to like for the card-carrying hophead, but to me the most endearing quality of Hoptimus is its youth. Without a concerted effort on our parts to stash a keg somewhere, it’s never going to be around long enough to “mature,” and in this sense, I believe Hoptimus bears comparison to certain young wines, and especially Ruby Port – a bit rough around the edges, but honest and in the end, better for it.

I drank three last night, and felt a bit rough around the edges this morning -- but I was refreshed, and seemingly better for it.

Malts:
Special Pale

Adjunct:
Pure, free-range sucrose

Hops:
4 additions of high alpha Nugget, 1 late addition of Cascade, finished through hop-back with whole cone Cascades

Yeast:
House London

OG:
1.097 or 24.25 degree Plato

ABV:
10.7%

IBU: 100

Color:
6.9 degree Lovibond SRM

NABC Wet Knob Hop Harvest Ale: Early release date is Tuesday, September 15.

NABC’s Wet Knob Hop Harvest Ale will return to the taps at both Grant Line (Public House & Pizzeria) and the downtown Bank Street Brewhouse on Tuesday, September 15.

This triumphant unveiling comes at least three weeks earlier than we anticipated, and therein lies a story.

Wet Knob has evolved. In 2006, NABC’s brew team of Jesse Williams and Jared Williamson formulated a recipe to be fermented with the California Common yeast normally used for Mt. Lee and Kaiser. The occasion was New Albany’s Harvest Homecoming, and specifically, the late and lamented Bistro New Albany’s parking lot gala planned for the annual local festival’s “booth days” in early October.

The beer was called Homecoming Common, and was greeted with enthusiasm.

In 2007, the NABC downtown Harvest Homecoming gig moved to Connor’s Place, and the Homecoming Common beer was brewed a second time and dispensed at the initial Connor’s location on Main Street. Again, the response was favorable.

Harvest Homecoming in 2008 offered NABC a very different set of variables. For one, we were in control of the building that was being remodeled for the Bank Street Brewhouse, and with a parking lot of our own for erecting a tent and booking music, we came up with the idea of Fringe Fest, a celebration of our own to run concurrently with the three primary “booth days” of New Albany’s civic fest.

Just as joyously, several of our employees and friends started raising hops at their farms in what we call “the Knobs,” those hills on the horizon that mark the end of the Ohio River floodplain and the beginning of the rolling terrain of the Southern Indiana uplands.

Our longtime office manager Colleen Abston and her husband Matt started Abstonia Farms, and worked at learning the hop game along with Tabbatha Elble (for many years an NABC server at Grant Line) and her husband Travis, whose property is close by the Abstons’ land.

Consequently, there was an opportunity for NABC to brew genuine “wet hop” ale using freshly harvested and unprocessed hops in the fashion of similar seasonal ales brewed for many years in hop-growing areas on the West Coast. The recipe was recalibrated for use with the house strain of London yeast, as many hops as possible from the first year’s harvest were used for aroma, the name was changed to Wet Knob Hop Harvest Ale, and it was designated as the official ale of Fringe Fest.

Now it’s 2009, and as noted, we’re ready to begin serving this year’s batch of Wet Knob a full three weeks before Fringe Fest. Why?

We’re being faithful to the fundamental concept of wet hop ale. The idea is to brew while the hop harvest is underway, and this year, the harvest was completed by the Abstons and Elbles much earlier than in 2008 because of the mild and wet summer growing season.

NABC's Wet Knob Hop Harvest Ale was brewed concurrent with the harvest, and it’s now it is finished, fresh and ready to drink. We propose to drink it now, at its peak, rather than wait for Fringe Fest.

Beer’s a natural thing, and this is the natural way to drink it.

So, the taps open on Tuesday, September 15, and the batch is split between Grant Line and Bank Street. Jared brewed this year’s Wet Knob at Grant Line, so that comes to eight kegs in all, so expect it to go very quickly. Senior management has done taste tests, and trust us: This one is superb.

Remember: While enjoying this marvelous ale, please salute the hop growing pioneers in the Knobs. They’re creating sustainable local business out of nothing, and deserve big kudos for doing so.

Here is Jared’s ingredient list and notes.

Malts:
Simpsons Golden Promise, Simpsons Caramalt

Hops:
Pellet Cascade (bittering/flavor), wet Cascade and Chinook in the hopback (for aroma, used in under 24 hours from the time of harvest)

Yeast:
House dry English (1st GL batch of ale brewed using Bank Street yeast)

ABV: 5%

IBU: 51

Photos from top to bottom: Abstonia hops; harvest duty with Matt Abston; Jared Williamson on brew day. All photo credits are John Campbell's.

Louisville Area Skeptics return to the Public House on Thursday, September 17.

NABC is very pleased to host monthly gatherings of the Louisville Area Skeptics. Here are the details for the group's next gathering on September 17 in the Prost wing (Public House entrance).


When:
Thursday, September 17, 2009 7:00 PM

Where:
The New Albanian Brewing Company (formerly Rich O's Public House and Sportstime Pizza) 3312 Plaza Dr New Albany, IN 47150 -- (812)949-2804

Please join us for our second Skeptics in the Pub! We have another fascinating presentation scheduled. This month, sports conditioning coach Jamie Hale will cut through the media hype to give us the scientific facts behind nutrition. Once again we'll meet at the fabulous New Albanian Brewing Company.

About September's Presentation:
With so much conflicting nutrition information and advice, how do we know what's right and what's wrong? Jamie Hale's "Nutrition: Fact or Fiction" lecture has the answers. Jamie Hale is a sports conditioning coach, author, lecturer, outdoor enthusiast, and fitness and nutrition consultant. He is the owner of MaxCondition Training and MaxCondition Nutrition. He has contributed to numerous exercise and sports publications (nationally and internationally) and has authored six books. Jamie is a member of the World Marital Arts Hall of Fame in recognition of his conditioning work with martial artists. He is the founder of HNE Research Group and a member of KASES. Jamie is currently working on a new book How We Know: A Guide To Reason with Brian Jones (Author, University of Louisville Professor). Check out Jamie's websites: Maxcondition and Knowledge Summit.

To RSVP, see the full listing. Thanks! See you there,

Laurie
Contact Organizer -- Louisville Area Skeptics

Weekend recap, and Bloody Mary Sunday today.

A third consecutive weekend of festivities at Bank Street Brewhouse was far less hective than the preceding two, but it was still fun, with the parking lot decked out in tent-city regalia, live music playing, the aroma of grilled meat in the air, and progressive pints pouring from Rosa L. Stumblebus. The New Albanian Charlie Vettiner Open brought disc golfers to BSB on both nights, and a good time was had by all.

I spent Friday night at the Public House dispensing Lambic by the Glass, and permit me to thank all of those who dropped in to enjoy the funk. My plan is to recast Lambic by the Glass into a Bank Street Brewhouse event, perhaps as soon as January or February of 2010. The reason is simple: Chef Josh's kitchen, where savory lambic-based cuisine can be prepared to complement the sublime liquid.

Kudos to all our employees and helpers the past weekend. Invariably, you rock.

Today from Noon to 3:00 p.m., John will have the Bloody Mary bar up and running at Bank Street. Note that both NABC locations will be closed tomorrow (Labor Day, Monday, September 7), and we'll back on Tuesday. Event to come include the Carnegie Center's fundraiser after-party at Bank Street on Friday, September 11, and Sandkerwa's annual (and this year, belated) kickoff in Prost on Thursday, September 24 -- assuming the shipment arrives, which is what I'll be checking come Tuesday.

Reintroductions and rescheduling: Lambic by the Glass (4 Sept) and Sandkerwa NA (24 Sept).

Readying for the weekend festivities at Bank Street Brewhouse.

And Hoptimus is back on tap ...



Disc golf will be the sporting pretext for the coming weekend's Bank Street Brewhouse tent party.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 6-11
Mick Sullivan
Adventure

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 6-11
The Outfit
Blood Turns Brown

Open to the public ... no cover charge.

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On the North Side: Lambic by the Glass starts at the Public House at 5:00 p.m.

Here's the lineup for this Friday's Lambic by the Glass.

A word to the wise.

It's Labor Day weekend, and there'll be a massive DUI enforcement presence out on the roads. Think before you drink, and if at all possible, have a designated driver.

Here's the lineup for this Friday's Lambic by the Glass.

Beer manager Mike Bauman and I have done the inventory, and I've selected the following assembly of Belgian lambics and fellow travelers (12 of them bottled, and three draft) to represent the range of styles in the genre. 4-oz sample pours are $4.00 unless otherwise noted, and if you don't know by now what I'm talking about, familiarize yourself with Lambic by the Glass, Version 5: On as scheduled for this Friday, September 4.

UNBLENDED LAMBIC

Cantillon 1900 Bruocsella Grand Cru
No vintage indicated. Straight, single-batch lambic aged three years before packaging. Minimal carbonation; usually almost still. This is the fundamental lambic flavor.

GUEUZE

Cantillon Organic Gueuze … DRAFT
Non-vintage. The famous Cantillon house blend of one-, two- and three-year old lambics, and a yardstick of sorts. One of three draft exceptions to the "bottled" theme of Lambic by the Glass.

Drie Fonteinen Doesjel
Bottled in ’06. The name means “snoozer,” and refers to yeast gone dormant in this blend of one-, two- and three-year-old lambics. The result generally lacks carbonation, much in the fashion of unblended lambic.

Girardin 1882
Black label; unfiltered – brewed in ’07, bottled in ’09. Girardin has been brewing and blending since 1845, and has been in the hands of the same owning family for more than a century.

St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
When the Van Honsebrouck family installed a coolship at the top of their Kasteel (Castle) brewery a decade ago and began brewing lambic, they were the first in Belgium to do it outside the Senne Valley.

FRAMBOISE

Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus … DRAFT
Fresh raspberries are added to year-and-a-half old lambic.

St. Louis Premium Framboise ... $2.00
Sweetened version of Framboise (raspberry).

KRIEK

Hanssens Young Kriek … FIRKIN
Another first: Non-vintage Kriek in a firkin. Cherries are the most traditional fruit of choice for steeping in lambic. Hanssens uses black cherry pulp.

St. Louis Premium Kriek ... $2.00
Sweetened version of Kriek (cherry)

MISCELLANEOUS (FLAVORED) LAMBICS and SPECIALTIES

Cantillon Fou’ Foune Apricot ... $7.00
Bottled in ’08. Apricots from Bordeaux are added to a blend of aged lambics.

Cantillon St. Lamvinus ... $7.00
Two-year old lambic (bottled in 2008) fermented with red Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, generally from different vineyards for each year’s batch.

De Ranke Cuvee de Ranke
Not "pure" lambic, and unpreviewed by the Publican, but sounds like hybrid fun. Used as the base for De Ranke's Kriek, but without cherries added, Cuvee de Ranke is 70% ale fermented with a Rodenbach-like yeast strain, and 30% Girardin lambic. It is billed as "somewhat sour, somewhat hoppy." I have only 6 bottles (750 ml).

St. Louis Premium Peche ... $2.00
Sweetened version of Peche (peach).

Two Brothers Project Opus 10 Kriek
From the Chicagoland microbrewer, thid is a “pseudo-lambic” ringer, oak-aged, with cherries added. The last four bottles in our possession have aged an additional two years since the batch was last sampled during the year of release (2007).

Hanssens Mead the Gueuze
Circa 2006 or early 2007. A blend of Hanssens Oude Gueuze and English mead from the Lurgashall meadery. We cellared these bottles, and at my last tasting of an earlier vintage, the result was some oxidization and diminished carbonation, but with a whole different dimension to the character. It's anyone's guess what we'll experience this time.

Tony's logo for the New Albanian Charlie Vettiner Open.

Disc golf will be the sporting pretext for the coming weekend's Bank Street Brewhouse tent party.

"Mug Shots" today in LEO: "Taste great and less filling?"

Tastes great and less alcoholic?

Mug Shots: Taste great and less filling?
Occasionally a cliché bears passing resemblance to reality. Recalling the eagerness of every politician to stump by heaping effusive praise on the genius of good, old-fashioned American workplace creativity, permit me to note that this characterization is spot-on when it comes to American craft brewing.

Disc golf will be the sporting pretext for the coming weekend's Bank Street Brewhouse tent party.

Bank Street Brewhouse will be staging a parking lot party this Friday and Saturday, September 4 and 5. Both nights, there'll be a tent, live music, and outdoor grill for burgers and brats, and plenty of NABC's progressive pints.

The important part: The public is invited to come take part in the fun. The actual reason for all of it requires a more detailed explanation.

The New Albanian Charlie Vettiner Open for disc golfers takes place this coming weekend. It's described as Louisville's first A-tier disc golf event, and NABC is sponsoring it along with FADE Gear, LLC.

Tournament action takes place at courses in Louisville and Lanesville, with the players coming to Bank Street Brewhouse to register on Friday night, September 4, and then returning on Saturday night, September 5, for the official tournament shindig.

I suppose that makes it a private/public party of sorts. We expect Friday night to be more laid back, with Saturday's the bigger crowd. I'll be at NABC Grant Line (in Prost) on Friday night doing this year's Lambic by the Glass seminar (you're invited to that, too), but hope to see friends, countrymen and fellow travelers on Saturday. It will be our third big weekend in a row, with the annual Carnegie Museum fundraiser across the street coming on Friday, September 11 (after-party at BSB), then a few weeks of relative peace until Fringe Fest 2009.

We're seriously considering starting Fringe Fest on Saturday, October 3, at the conclusion of the Harvest Homecoming parade, and running it continuously for almost eight days (maybe one day off) through Saturday, October 10 -- the final full day of booths. There'd be different formats for different days, with something happening constantly. It's completely insane, and because it makes so much sense, it isn't certain that the state of Indiana will permit us to do it, but we're checking.

Stay tuned. I just don't understand why my uncouncilman always talks about a "depression" when there's so much exhilaration going on.