Headlines from February 2018 on THE BEER BEAT.

This blog has gone on hiatus, primarily because these days my thoughts about beer are being posted alongside my utterances about everything else, over yonder at NA Confidential. You'll find them there in reverse chronological order via the helpful all-purpose tag, The Beer Beat.

However, each month I'll collect the links right here. Following are February's (2018) ruminations, with the oldest listed first. Some of these posts are more topical than others. On occasion, there'll be references to beer in posts using "The Beer Beat" as a label, though not a title. I hope this isn't overly confusing.

Thanks for reading, if belatedly.

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THE BEER BEAT: There's one small problem with the Growler USA franchise coming to Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Meanwhile, the News and Tribune informs us there'll be a new beer business down the road in Jeffersonville. The header says it's a brewpub, but I think not.

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THE BEER BEAT: Just so you know, Devil's Backbone is a Trojan Zombie Afterlife Brewery, Beer Necessities has perished, and AB InBev remains a pack o'vermin.

Repeat after me: "Pack o’ vermin." Like a plague virus, nothing AB InBev touches can be considered healthy or good.

I reiterate: Follow the money. There's enough excellent beer out in this and any other market to preclude supporting vermin with your money.

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THE BEER BEAT: "Pints & Union to open in New Albany, will be inspired by classic European pubs."

But first and foremost, Pints & Union marks a return to the ethos that originally compelled me to go into the beer business. For this opportunity, all thanks to Joe Phillips -- and serendipitously, Taco Steve (Powell).

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ON THE AVENUES: Golden oldie classic comfort beers at an old school pub? Sounds like Pints & Union to me.

Food and drink lend themselves to constant reinvention, and yet it cannot be denied that there are eternal, renewable “classics” amid the bedlam. Clichés become such precisely because they contain an element of truth, and certain aspects of the human experience stand the test of time, whether an umbrella, mouse trap or a lovely, satisfying De Koninck.

In summary, for several years my troublesome contrarian instincts have been telling me that the beer climate is ripe for a principled, thoughtful return to founding values, emblemized by a relatively small, mostly fixed list of classic beers on draft, and in bottles and cans, to be accompanied by some hearty old-fashioned beer education, which seems to have been tossed aside in the era of cyber “craft” fandom.

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THE BEER BEAT: "Busting Up the Brotherhood of Beer: Time to confront sexism & harassment in the industry."

Here comes the learnin'. I'd suggest diverting your gaze from Untappd, if only for a few seconds, and partaking in something real.

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THE BEER BEAT: On crowlers, Southern beer terroir and Sunday sales changes in Indiana.

Crowlers aren't new as such, but they're new to New Albany, so stop by FCBC, watch the show, and buy a can of beer to go.

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THE BEER BEAT: The twentieth Gravity Head begets a Pints & Union update.

Mark Lasbury does an excellent job of describing what Gravity Head looks like to the uninitiated (bizarre insanity), so take it to the bank: what makes me mildly churlish isn't the absence of personal recognition, but the fact that beer history is routinely neglected these days -- and there's a lot of history to Gravity Head.

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THE BEER BEAT: "Akasha Brewing Company: Karma and craftsmanship, cruising under the radar" -- from Food & Dining Magazine.

While Indian cosmology might make a fine category on Jeopardy!, the story of Akasha Brewing Company (909 East Market Street) in Louisville KY’s ever-evolving NuLu neighborhood is decidedly more prosaic.

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THE BEER BEAT: At long last, my NABC business divorce is about to be finalized.

Now it's 2018, and tomorrow morning -- three years after I followed Dr. Freedman's advice to pull down my pants and slide on the ice -- my ass is FROZEN SOLID, and a bit chapped, but the exit transaction finally will be complete.

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The Six Session Beers of Session Beer Day, 2016 (Ch. 6): An Akasha trio and a Monnik guest.

6th of 6 previews.

Previously:

The Six Session Beers of Session Beer Day, 2016 (Ch. 1): Falls City Kentucky Common.
The Six Session Beers of Session Beer Day, 2016 (Ch. 2): Gordon Biersch Golden Export.
The Six Session Beers of Session Beer Day, 2016 (Ch. 3): Bluegrass Brewing Company Altbier.
The Six Session Beers of Session Beer Day, 2016 (Ch. 4): Against the Grain Neckhole or Sho'Nuff.
The Six Session Beers of Session Beer Day, 2016 (Ch. 5): Goodwood Louisville Lager.

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Thursday, April 7 is Session Beer Day 2016 ... and since it's one of my favorite holidays of the year, I'll be celebrating it.

Join me on a Session Beer Day Brewery Crawl on Thursday, April 7.

On April 7, I'll start before lunch (circa 11:00 a.m.) and traverse downtown Louisville on foot, walking from brewery to brewery and having a session beer at each. Most usually have at least one 4.5% choice on draft. The brewery list, traveling roughly west to east, would be: Falls City (Over the 9), Gordon Biersch, BBC 3rd Street, Against the Grain, Goodwood and Akasha.

For all intents and purposes, session beer consciousness as we know it today originates with Lew Bryson's Session Beer Project.

For our purposes, 'session beer' is defined as a beer that is:

• 4.5% alcohol by volume or less
• flavorful enough to be interesting
• balanced enough for multiple pints
• conducive to conversation
• reasonably priced

Over at Lew Bryson's Session Beer Project, we scored some ink from the maestro himself. Thank you, kind sir.

If all goes as planned, I should be arriving at Akasha Brewing Company around opening at 5:00 p.m. One of Akasha's owners is Rick Stidham, whom I consider not just a friend, but also one of the most thoughtful and authentic personages in local brewing circles -- and we have so many fine people hereabouts.

When it became evident to me that I'd be unable to continue the tradition of Session Head at NABC, I asked Rick about the chances of Akasha having some session-strength beers on tap for Session Beer Day. He was enthused, and because of his gracious support, the idea of a Session Beer Day Brewery Crawl germinated.

Listen up: I've committed to full pours of small beers on Session Day, one at each stop. However, at Akasha, I reserve the right to consume halvers, because 3 + 1 = 2.

Akasha American Pale with Brett
Sour Ale/Wild Ale · 4.2% ABV
Funky and fruity, brewed with Nugget and a blend of citrus-fruity hops, fermented with California Ale yeast and six strains of Brettanomyces simultaneously.

Akasha Belgian Blonde
Golden Ale/Blond Ale · 4.5% ABV
Our Belgian Blonde is inspired by, but by no means a clone of, one of our all-time favorite beers from our friend, Yvan: De la Senne Taras Boulba. Dry, hoppy, and quenching.

Akasha English Mild with Brett
Mild Ale · 3.1% ABV
English Milds of long ago had Incidental Brett in them. We put Intentional Brett in ours. Dry, drinkable, light in body, dark in color.

Not only that, there's a guest from Monnik Beer Co. in Schnitzelburg, roughly two and a half miles south of Akasha. I'm glad Monnik Mild George (English Brown Ale, 3.5%) will be at Akasha, because after six beers ...

Like I said, 3 + 1 = 2 ... two full pints, that is. There's a chance that Rick can join me for some of the afternoon stops. That would be serious fun.

There's a 50% chance of showers in the morning on Thursday, with clouds in the afternoon and a high of 56 degrees. In short, delightful Irish weather for a brewery crawl through downtown Louisville.

I'm @newalbanian on Twitter, and will be using #sessionbeerday as a hashtag. My Instagram account is The New Albanian, and I usually post photos to Facebook.

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Come drink beer with me on Session Beer Day, April 7, 2016.

As noted in January, Lew Bryson has returned to beer and beer blogging. Happily, he's been beating the drum about Session Beer Day, 2016.

Specifically, Lew has issued a challenge to brewers.

SESSION BEER DAY 2016 IS ON!

... If you're a brewer interested in participating, it's simple. The "session IPA" has taken over the American session beer category, when it was supposed to be a meta-category, a category that would include many different types of beer at 4.5% and less. Session beer awareness is supposed to be about increasing choices for the beer drinker...and we largely got one extra choice out of it.

Snap out of it! Take this opportunity to show off your skills and make a session-strength beer, 4.5% or less (you can do it; you can go lower!), that doesn't rely on shouting hops for all its character. We get it, brewers know how to make a light, wildly hoppy beer: EVERY brewer's doing it.

Be different! On April 7th, show us some real innovation, or some real skills to make a beautiful example of a classic session-strength beer that stands apart from the herd of 'monkey-see, monkey-do' dialed-down IPAs.

I cannot "like" this sentiment often enough. This year's Session Beer Day takes place on Thursday, April 7, and I feel a scheme coming on.

Of course, for several years at NABC, I've tried to coordinate Session Beer Day as the de facto "close" of Gravity Head. Lew was in town once for the occasion. I'm no longer in a position to make NABC's observance happen, and cannot be sure if it will. In fact, I've been shrugging so often lately that I may be compelled to break with practice and visit a chiropractor.

But I've bounced the date off Rick Stidham at Akasha Brewing Company in Louisville, who thinks he might have as many as three session beers pouring. He'd like to do something to mark the occasion. There is no firm plan (yet) apart from holding a ceremony at Akasha later in the afternoon, and yet this should be sufficient to keep the tradition alive.

As for me, I'm toying with the idea of starting before lunch and traversing downtown Louisville on foot, much like Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's Ulysses -- walking from brewery to brewery, and having a session beer at each. Most usually have at least once 4.5% choice available on draft.

I'm doing pints, and won't be driving. If I could manage this without a single "Session IPA," it would suit me just fine.

The brewery list, traveling roughly west to east, would be Falls City, Gordon Biersch, BBC 3rd Street, Against the Grain, Goodwood and Akasha. Others might be too far away to walk, but perhaps they could sell kegs to Akasha for duty on the guest taps.

I know: It's a work day, and so is Friday. However, if you're interested in joining me, let me know. I just may see you on Session Beer Day, 2016.

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Louisville "craft" beer folks pick their 2015 favorites.

I considered making a year-end list of some sort, but it made me think of Thrillist, and who wants to begin the year by vomiting?

The reporter Mann perseveres, and offers a tasty overview.

Our growing craft beer scene makes it harder to pick a favorite — but we tried, by David A. Mann (Louisville Business First)

Louisville's beer scene continued to grow in 2015, both with new breweries and with new releases from our existing brewers hitting the market.

With so many Louisville-made brands now out there, it's tough to pick a favorite. But recently I tapped a few industry leaders for their thoughts on the subject.

Todd Antz of Keg Liquors had good things to say about Against the Grain, Akasha and NABC.

 ... Antz also enjoyed Akasha, saying its gose-style beer is spot-on. "Light and refreshing with just a touch of tartness," he said.

"I also like some of the tweaks that (brewer) Josh Hill at New Albanian[Brewing Co.] is doing with their beers. He changed up a few ingredients on their Elector [amber/red ale], and it really revitalized the beer."

NABC scored another year-end mention in Louisville Magazine, where actor Andy Gaukel selected the 5" roundhouse deep-dish pizza as part of his "perfect last meal."

You can view his choices here.

Nipping and nibbling at BBC St. Matthews, Akasha and Over the 9.

Last night we hopped around to three neighborhood joints in Louisville, and it started me thinking about how much easier pub crawling would be if we had adequate public transportation hereabouts. As it stood, Diana did the driving, which was good for me, though not so much for her.

I’d have preferred the subway. Shall we savagely tax cars to build one?

On Saturday, Bluegrass Brewing Company was celebrating its 22nd anniversary in St. Matthews, a locale that began as a rural village crossroads, then served as a staging point of sorts for post-war suburbanization. Now the area is closer to downtown in both distance and urban attitude than the vast sprawling cookie-cutter acreage just beyond it to the east.

There always were taverns nearby, probably more like roadhouse in days of yore, but most of the old-school places like Dutch’s have long since yielded to more moderately upscale ventures like Mellow Mushroom, Boombozz and Drake’s. Real beer abounds, though I still prefer the places where it is brewed.

More than two decades after BBC’s creation, I sat in precisely the same barroom quadrant as on “soft opening” night in 1993. In 2015, my own life couldn’t be any more different, Chef Atkins is long gone, and neither the Pilsner nor duck ravioli are available, although a Helles is in the works, the inimitable Mikki Rice was working the kitchen, and an anniversary evening special of fried oysters, shrimp and grits filled the bill nicely.

Founding brewmaster David Pierce has returned to home base, and his SOB’s ESB is a “revive-ale” based on a recipe by “Bossman Pat” (Hagan) – restrained and delicious at 5.5% abv. The brewery has been serviced and scrubbed, and I’m looking forward to classic album cuts and a few new songs as the months go past. It's like a reunion tour all over again.

Next stop was newborn (we’re counting in weeks, folks) Akasha Brewing Company in Louisville’s NuLu, a district that might be described as an ongoing gentrification start-up generator still in its capitalization phase.

This isn’t the same Akasha Brewing located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which is what turned up on Google Maps when plotting a route from BBC, and seemed too far afield for a light evening's drinking.

Akasha lies five miles west of St. Matthews in a downtown Louisville area that remained moribund throughout the period of BBC’s inception and growth. Until ten or so years ago, the stockyards still operated a few hundred yards from Akasha’s front door, and as we know, livestock dung can depress property values.

Akasha is a taproom only, sans kitchen; the wildly popular Feast BBQ is mere steps away, and Grind Burger Kitchen soon will be taking up residence next door. It is striking how taprooms have a purpose and ambiance all their own, existing as multi-purpose gathering spots for transitional beers, carry-out draft and package, or for packing in picnics from nearby eateries and making a night of it.

Taprooms deserve closer study.

There were five house beers on tap at Akasha, along with another six guests. After sampling Oatmeal Stout, Gose and a yummy Smoked Porter, we bought a Belgian-style “house glass” with to-go “howler” (half-growler) of Saison, the character of which took me back to semi-conscious Wallonian bicycle refueling stops during the early Noughties. As if on cue, I began craving mussels.

Our last stop: One block north to Main, two miles west, and a left on 10th Street. It’s a longer story than I have time to tell at present, so the compact version: It’s the Old 502 Winery and new-age version of the century-old Falls City Brewing, sharing bricks and mortar with a brand new eatery and bar called Over the 9.

I like them all. We’d stopped in once before, and while having come to detest the word “gastropub,” it’s probably appropriate for the casual setting. The food’s great; the menu has lots of burgers, bacon and marrow bones, the nachos feature lamb and a dollop of mustard, and the food is accompanied by solid beers and wines. The flagship beers are brewed elsewhere, but there's a full roster of house brews worth trying.

Much has been made of Over the 9’s positioning as “gateway” to the evolving Portland neighborhood. For non-Louisvillian readers, note only that urban planners from the 1950s forward consciously plotted Ninth Street as the downtown racial divide, tossing in working class Portland as part of the social-economic Machiavellian “bargain” of separation.

This has little to do with Over the 9 itself, but the social engineering gambit prefacing it being viewed as “on the other side” may or may not be unraveling as money finally finds its way into undervalued territory. We’ll have to wait and see how things pan out for the people already living west of 10th Street before rendering a verdict.

Meanwhile, last night I enjoyed Over the 9's Grimanti sandwich, which deploys smoky homemade pastrami on ciabatta with a sweet ‘n’ sour slaw of sorts slathered on it. It is a brilliant notion, and brewer Greenwood’s mildly hoppy Harvest Ale was an appropriate match.

The history and etymology of pastrami are fascinating, too. The word itself originates in Turkey and comes to us via Jewish immigrants from Romania. In essence, pastrami began as a way of brining, smoking and steaming less desirable cuts of meat as a means of preservation. Beef’s the usual target flesh. Louisville largely missed out on deli culture, but there’s always time to learn.

One evening, three establishments and a range of neighborhoods and possibilities. It was a welcome break from my recently concluded foray into New Albany politics, which largely served to underscore the need to take frequent breaks from New Albany.

BBC St.Matthews
Akasha Brewing
Over the 9

Rick Stidham and Akasha Brewing Company at the November 8 FOSSILS meeting.

Rick Stidham from Akasha Brewing Company will be the guest speaker at the November 8 FOSSILS meeting.

For the uninitiated, that's Fermenters of Special Southern Indiana Libations Society, the local homebrewing club, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in September.

Rick will be bringing Akasha beers and leading a "guided sampling of his delicious creations,created with the help of his talented co-brewer, Matt Meurer).

 Guests are welcome, and it's fine chance to learn what FOSSILS is all about, in addition to meeting Rick.

The meeting is on Sunday, November 8, from 6:00 p.m. through 8:30 p.m., and will be held at the New Albanian Brewing Company's original Pizzeria & Public House location at 3312 Plaza Dr. in New Albany, Indiana.

Survey of coming breweries includes the latest news on New Albany's Donum Dei.

Donum Dei's new logo.

It's gratifying to have Kevin Gibson on the job as a free lancer, being remunerated (we hope) for the time and shoe leather required to assemble news and information about the local brewing scene. Notice how he manages to describe new businesses without resorting to boilerplate chamber of commerce-speak?

With the exception of Bannerman, I've been keeping up with these projects on a fairly consistent basis, especially Rick Stidham's Akasha. Because I'm based in Hoosierland, the extended excerpt from Kevin's piece details progress toward fruition at Donum Dei, which is located a few hundred yards (as the crow flies) from NABC's original location off Grant Line Road on the North Side of the West Bank.

Five new Louisville breweries to watch out for in 2015, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)

We’ll take a quick look at five new breweries that are either on track for or are working toward opening in 2015.

Akasha Brewing Company
Beer Engine

Donum Dei Brewery: Over in New Albany, at 3211 Grant Line Road, just a stone’s throw from the original New Albanian Brewing Company location, is another brewery in waiting. Richard Otey is brewing in his new space, which is nearly complete. However, he still is yet to offer a target opening date.

Originally, he told us he had planned to open sometime around Derby 2014; that prognostication later changed to summer, and then to Thanksgiving. Now, early 2015 looks most likely. But Donum Dei already has a batch of its pale ale brewed and ready to drink, as well as an enkle. Up next is wee heavy.

Kegs have been purchased, and the buildout seems mostly complete. Otey is doing most of the buildout himself, using reclaimed materials whenever possible, from rescued wood to 1940s-era mirrors to chairs from an old Wendy’s restaurant.

I stopped by recently, and the place looks within reach of opening. Still, Otey hesitates to throw out a deadline.

“Every time I try to make a deadline,” he told me, “it’s just that — it’s dead.”

He did tell me how he acquired his reclaimed brew kettle, which was purchased from a brewery in Vancouver Wash. — he found it on Craigslist.com on a Friday, left in his truck to pick it up on Saturday, and had it back at the brewery by Wednesday. He called it a five-day “turn and burn.”

Otey gave me a sample of the Donum Dei pale ale, his first test batch, that sure tasted better than a test batch — moderately hopped, it was well balanced and right on the money. He also gave me a sample of a roast beef panini that will be representative of the future food menu — another thumbs up. Expect sandwiches, soups, hummus and other such small eats once Donum Dei opens.

When will that be? Hard to say, although he admits February should be doable. Of course, as noted, last February he began construction hoping to open by Derby.

“I didn’t say which year,” he clarified with a smile.

Bannerman Brewing
Old Louisville Brewing Company