Savaging the Louder Than Life festival? Me neither.

I'm delighted to observe that my de facto columnar replacement over at LouisvilleBeer.com, the estimable Todd Pharris, already has gotten the hang of beer writing without reference to beer. In this week's posting, Todd puts 530 words on the board before mentioning beer at all.

Going to the Louder than Life Festival? Me Neither.

(530 words, then)

There will apparently also be local beer there. Good for local beer. I’m mentioning this to justify this article’s place on LouisvilleBeer.com.

Atta boy. Just don't horn in on my turf too closely.

Todd refers to a music (not beer) festival called Louder Than Life, being held in Louisville in October. I'd venture a guess that the participating bands loosely would be described as "metal," which is not so much my preferred listen. Moreover, the promoters are from elsewhere, and they've gotten plenty of attention (and criticism) so far with their promise of "gourmet man food."

Well, I've been known to be critical of such easy targets as they pertain to beer festivals -- but you see, this is not a beer festival. It's a music thing. Furthermore, after pulling teeth for years to convince more highly esteemed local music festivals (read: Forecastle) to care about local beer, the organizers of Louder Than Life emerged from the chute having already contacted local wholesalers about these options, and vowing to include local beer in the event.

Even if local beer at a metal fest were consigned to token status, it still would represent placement in front of a non-traditional, non-enthusiast crowd. I'm not sure I can find anything objectionable about that. To me, the goal has always been to have better beer everywhere, not just somewhere, and available for the times of our varied lives when we need it.

Consequently, as it appears right now, NABC beer will be available at Louder Than Life. I'm told that BBC, West 6th and Alltech are likely, as well.

Why not?