Madison, Indiana, population roughly 12,000, is a split personality kind of place. Downtown is built horizontally on flatlands by the Ohio River, completely surrounded by hills. Although you can see newer homes atop some of these hills, the effect is that of a hidden gem.
It feels like an open air museum, and in fact, it largely is.
In 2006, the majority of Madison's downtown area was designated the largest contiguous National Historic Landmark in the United States—133 blocks of the downtown area is known as the Madison Historic Landmark District.
And so it's time again for RiverRoots, the annual music and folk arts festival held on the banks of the Ohio in Madison.
In 2015, RiverRoots takes place on Friday and Saturday nights, May 15 and 16.
For the tenth year running (actually, since the fest’s inception), NABC will be on hand to share beer vending duties with craft-brewing Hoosier friends, including Upland Brewing Company (Bloomington IN), who’ve been there with us from the beginning; Great Crescent Brewing from Aurora; Evansville's Tin Man; Power House out of Columbus; Quaff On (Brown County) and Bloomington Brewing Company.
As in 2014, the craft beer tent is being sponsored in part by the Brewers of Indiana Guild.
It’s a wonderful tradition to have great beers like these with equally stimulating music, and a pleasing festival ethos of localism. It’s a testament to the vision of the fest’s founder, the late John Walburn.
NABC’s beer lineup for RiverRoots is as follows.
For the comprehensive RiverRoots beer list and preview of American Craft Beer Week events in Madison, go here.
Black & Blue Grass
Belgian-style Spiced Ale
Whether ground cover or ear candy, the consensus is that “bluegrass” is an adaptive concept, deriving from more than one source, and reflecting the authenticity of America’s traditional melting pot. NABC brews Black & Blue Grass in Indiana, but the inspiration and raw materials come from many locales outside our own immediate neighborhood. The ingredient list for Black & Blue Grass includes North American barley malt, wheat, German hops and Wallonian yeast. Blue agave nectar from south of the border is used as a fermentable sugar, and black pepper and lemongrass (as opposed to blue) are added for spicing.
6.5% abv
18 IBUs
Community Dark
English-style Mild
Let’s shake on it. NABC’s best-selling beer in its own two New Albany premises isn’t Elector, Hoptimus or Black & Blue Grass. It’s Community Dark, a dark-hued, session-strength traditional English Mild, the style that fueled the factory workers who made the Industrial Revolution. Easy to drink, yet exuding integrity, Community Dark also is NABC’s most awarded ale.
3.7% abv
12.5 IBUs
Eastern Front
Post-War Imperial Pilsner
It's the place on the map where German and Slavic cultures overlap, and our homage to Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the Red Army's most famous female sniper during WWII. Such was her fame that in far-off America, folk singer Woody Guthrie immortalized her in song. NABC's Eastern Front is full-bodied and deceptively drinkable, with all the attributes of a crisp, clean, hoppy Pilsner – just more of everything.
8% abv
80 IBUs
Hoptimus
Imperial India Pale Ale
Living vicariously through others is a sad compromise meant only for rank amateurs and subpar international lagers. Rather, we all might profit from the principled example of Hoptimus, which lives vivaciously, audaciously and capriciously through itself. With a snarky hop character that is blatantly unrepentant, Hoptimus ensures that meek palates surely will not inherit the earth.
10.7% abv
100 IBUs
Special keg pour (TBA on Saturday):
Action! APA
American Pale Ale
Everybody wants a piece of the Action! ... and David Pierce has brainstormed classic American Pale Ale formulations and settled on a British Pale Ale malt bill, with uniquely American Galena and Mosaic hops, the latter a Simcoe/Nugget hybrid. Super San Diego yeast does the heavy lifting, and the end result is timeless, fruity ale with earthy, tropical notes.
6.3% abv
50 IBUs
We have a marvelous time pouring at RiverRoots each year, so plan on attending and supporting the soothing idea that handcrafted music and handcrafted beer belong together. Hit the links above and below to learn more.
RiverRoots on Facebook
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