Cousin Don praises the Weissbier at the 7 Stern Brau brewpub in Vienna.

I haven't had the pleasure of visiting Vienna's 7 Stern Brau brewery since 2006, and this needs to be rectified, although the sheer excellence of my last time there probably cannot be topped. It involved beer, spareribs, sauerkraut and camaraderie, each in huge portions.

My first experience at Sieben Stern probably was 1997, so I'm delighted they're still going strong after all these years. How do I know? Because my cousin Don recently wrote. He goes to Vienna each year in late July, meets a friend, and spends at least one evening at the brewpub.

For at least fifteen years, Randy and I have been in search of the world's best Weissebier. It is a quest more worthy and valuable than the discovery of the Holy Grail, which actually never existed at all.

Yesterday we might have found that Weissebier in Vienna. We decided to have an early dinner around 4 P.M. at the Seven Stars (Siebensterngasse) brew pub/restaurant. Their food is superb, and their beers are excellent, especially the Marzen and Rauchbier -- but they now brew an eighth draft beer, a wheat beer!

So of course, we had to try it.

The beer had a beautiful golden and opaque color, a robust and delicious flavor that included a distinct but not too strong hint of banana. Randy took a photo which he is sending to you.

Our quest for the world's finest wheat beer will continue for the remainder of our lives, but so far we have discovered the best wheat beer in Vienna. However, we will await your judgmental expertise.

I offered no such expertise in my reply.

I'm happy to hear this. There was a time when I'd turned against German-style wheat ales, primarily because I could not move customers past them. But everything's a pendulum, and I'm really into them now.

Don, the bicyclists and I found a good one in 2003 in Passau, which is a place worth visiting. Up on the hill, place called Anhofer or something like that. The house wheat ale is heavy on the clove, but still balanced.

I looked it up, and the name of the brewery in Passau actually is Weissbrau Andorfer. Passau is a wonderful place, and I regret only having been there once.

Overall, it's still hard for me to choose against Schneider Weisse, and I know better than to attempt selecting "the best" of anything.

As Don recognizes, it's not the kill that matters -- it's the thrill of the chase, and as it pertains to Europe, I just need to figure out a way to get back.

Maybe 2016.

Here's the report on the latest craft beer news at Louisville Slugger Field.

Beak's Best (and Alltech's Kentucky Ale) remained on tap at Louisville Slugger Field on Sunday evening, but a source indicates that Centerplate, the stadium concessionaire, has ordered Cumberland Red and BBC Nut Brown Ale for the next homestand local craft beer go-around. I'm told that Browning's will remain, along with Shock Top, which is not a craft beer no matter how many times Anheuser-Busch repeats the blatant lie aloud.

Although I can't predict whether NABC will continue as a progressive beer option as the baseball season proceeds at Louisville Slugger Field, it is somewhat heartening that there appears to be a commitment to local choice at the portable concession stand behind Section 115. That's a start, even if the price for purely euphemistic 14-oz pours (a 12-oz actual measure) increased from $5 to $5.50 at some point when we weren't looking. I try to see it this way: Craft always is better than Bud, even at twice the price.

My only regret (and no small measure of frustration) in this experience is that there seems to be so little communication between concessionaire and wholesaler/brewer.

The reality is that Centerplate and Craft Beer Nation operate on business models so profoundly different that they might as well be on separate planets, and I'm not sure if this implies that we should learn to speak their language, or they learn ours. The truth would lie somewhere in between if the playing field were level, and it is not. The prevailing system of ballpark vending discourages most of the marketing techniques that Craft Beer Nation successfully deploys -- primarily, education.

Consumer education is job one in our craft beer world. Consequently, if NABC is on tap at the ballpark on a dependable basis, and we know that we're not to be treated as Charlie Brown, with the ball yanked away at the last moment, then we can aggressively help sell the product, educate the consumers, and create a vibe. We make the same wholesale money in such a situation. Centerplate makes an increased amount of money from its higher craft beer retail sales. It should be a no-brainer, yet it is not. Maybe some day, it will become axiomatic.

Imagine the excitement that might be generated from making the concession stand at 115 into a genuine locally-themed craft beer destination, with signage and artwork to match. Unfortunately, when I asked about hanging banners, I was told that a table tent would be an acceptable idea. At best, that's 8.5 x 11. Budweiser's colossal right field billboard apparently overshadows not only a mere wee table tent, but also the very possibility that ballpark customers with no intention of drinking Budweiser might find refuge somewhere inside the belly of the corporate beast.

And that's the part that slays me.

On Sunday, the crowd in attendance at Louisville Slugger Field was reminded twice to pay homage to Memorial Day and the gallant fighting men who fought and died for freedom. I have no argument with that, although surely there were more folks in attendance than just me who grasped the damning irony of "freedom" in the context of monopolistic, non-free capitalist product placement. What does a "free market" mean in such a place? Is it really the sort of economic system that people should die to perpetuate?

Apologies, but some times serenity is elusive. As local craft brewers, we can't be satisfied with the status quo, where public tax money is used to create venues where corporate monopolies are exuberantly enforced, and free choice is exceedingly difficult, if not outright impossible. This should not be taken as criticism of Centerplate, which operates within rules of the game that were in effect when their contract was signed. I genuinely appreciate that they're doing what they're doing now.

Rather, it is to stress that there is much work to be done. The battle against the A-B's of the world cannot be abandoned.

As for the illustration above, it was with palpable optimism that NABC's artist in residence, Tony Beard, produced this baseball-themed homage to Beak's Best and its namesake, Dr. Donald Barry. We hope to be able to post it at the ballpark some sweet day in the future.

Don is returning to New Albany later this week for his annual visit prior to decamping for Europe. Back here in Louisville, there's a four-game weekend homestand coming for the Bats, beginning Friday, June 4th, and ending on Monday. The team then departs for a long road trip, returning on June 17. If you attend this weekend, let us know what's available and how it's being served, i.e., which kegs are on ice and being served via the cold plate; it's easy to glance around the back of the serving area and see what's on ice.

And: When you see Centerplate and Louisville Bats personnel, please thank them for having a true craft beer option.

Downtown NA pub crawl Wednesday night.

In honor of the honorable Don Barry, world traveler, scholar and the author’s cousin, who is in town for a brief stay before jetting to New York and Europe for the usual round of summer frolics, those of us forced to remain here are going to do something previously thought impossible: A pub crawl of ... yes ... downtown New Albany, with Don in tow.

That’d be a pub crawl with good beer, and not the area standard of swill. It ain't Bamberg ... but it's better than before.

This largely unplanned event will take place on Wednesday evening (May 30). We will be meeting at the Baylor residence (1117 E. Spring) at 5:30 p.m., and then decamping by foot to the nearby La Rosita for culinary succulence. Stated simply, there is no better Mexican cuisine in the Louisville metropolitan area than that prepared and served by Israel Landin and his family.

After various morsels, we’ll walk down Market Street and examine the Bistro New Albany’s expanded libations list, which now includes top shelf liquors. Founded in April, 2006, the Bistro New Albany offers fine dining in the historic New Albany Inn hotel building at 148 E. Market. It has an excellent, atmospheric patio, and four or five NABC beers always on draft.

Later, we’ll stroll around the corner to the brand new Connor's Place for nightcaps and cigars on the patio. Connor’s Place, with relaxed sports bar ambience and casual dining in a historic building at 207 E. Main Street, is former BNA partner Dave Himmel’s labor of love. It has another knockout outdoor seating area and two NABC beers always on tap.

Afterwards we’ll walk back to the starting point via Main Street and 11th. Readers and friends are invited to join us at one or all of the stops.