An Elector aside, and Bank Street Brewhouse changes its name to NABC Cafe & Brewhouse.

Scroll down and learn how Elector Ale came to be 14 years ago, but first, as you can see above, Bank Street Brewhouse has a new name.

Since the guy who helped found the business and wrote something like 96.7% of the press releases no longer is affiliated with the operation, we might be waiting a bit for an official explanation, though I'm sure it falls under the all-purpose heading of "rebranding."

And, before anyone asks, what I wrote in May remains the case: Here's the latest in the Great NABC Non-Buyout Saga of 2016. The next phase is about to commence' we'll see how that plays out.

On a more sensible note, at least they didn't abandon the august (November?) institution of Elector Day. As before, popularly-priced pints of the elixir were available Tuesday at both locations, BSB (oops, the Cafe) and the original Pizzeria & Public House location on the north side.

While I may no longer be involved in the business, it is a matter of pride that Elector has survived three and a half White House terms, and (hopefully) will persist into a fifth residency.

In fact, I ran into a friend and stopped by the downtown location on election afternoon. Josh Hill seems to have tipped the balance back toward the original maltiness, and it's tasty.

As such, here's a freebie -- written in 2014, updated for now. It's okay; you can pay me later at the usual piece rate.

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Elector was born 14 years ago on Election Day, 2002.

Now it is the year 2016, and on November 8, Elector’s birthday will be celebrated at both NABC locations with big cuts in the “poll” tax: $2 Imperial pints of Elector, all day long, and $6.66 growler refills of Elector, all day long.

No longer must we labor under the delusion of an election day prohibition on alcohol sales, so drink early and vote often.

Here is the Elector Story.

Elector’s conceptual roots extend to the beginnings of NABC’s original garage brewery off Grant Line Road — now the Research & Development Brewery.

Elector was the third recipe brewed by NABC’s founding brewer, Michael Borchers, and his assistant, Joey Burns, and was made for the very first time on Election Day, 2002.

Brew day happened to be the mid-term congressional election following the disputed presidential race of 2000, in which Al Gore won the popular vote nationwide, but lost the White House owing to Florida’s uncounted hanging chads and the state’s subsequent votes for George W. Bush in the Electoral College.

Needless to say, as subversive leftists (and craft brewers, who always should be subversive leftists), this political outcome was still somewhat fresh in our minds in 2002 as Michael concocted an initially modest plan to follow Community Dark and Beak’s Best with a traditional English-style seasonal winter warmer.

Brew day was uneventful, but as the fermentation proceeded and time rolled past, it became obvious that the new batch of winter warmer was going to have a deeper burgundy color than planned, and also was considerably hoppier than the intended style should ever be.

Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, as it turned out.

The resulting hybrid was delicious, full-bodied and aggressively hopped, and we concluded that while the intent had been tamer winter warmer, the result was something else – Imperial Red, in our reckoning – and we went forward with the results.

These days, I prefer to call it Elector-Style Ale, such is the beer’s uniqueness. It is a one-off, and stylistically, there is no classification except fine flavor.

Before the finished character of our newly hybridized ale had become apparent, we’d already started the process of hybridizing its name, something that arose out of drunken mischief (imagine that) when after much discussion, Joey suggested Elector in reference to the Electoral College and the way it made the popular vote pointless, and by extension, democracy itself somewhat redundant.

I replied that the “-tor” suffix would suggest Doppelbock in the minds of knowledgeable drinkers, and of course we had no intention of producing a beer remotely close to Doppelbock.

Joey: “Right.”

Roger: “Right.”

Good, then we’re agreed … Elector it would be.

Now it’s fourteen years later, and I feel just as strongly as I did then: An Elector in hand is well worth two Bushes in retirement, any election day, and in fact, any time of the year. Elector’s back story would be sufficient to render it an iconic brand, and Tony Beard’s graphics greatly add to the mystique — but of course, it’s the liquid in the glass that really matters.

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.

The Diary of Our Own Jimmy Bracken: All your beers suck ... well, no, just that one beer. Same difference.

My diary entries are purposely published without buffing and polishing, rather in the format of a notebook of ideas. Maybe they'll be cleaned up later; maybe not)

At the outset, please note that what I’ll be discussing in this diary entry is a habit of thought, which to me isn’t a sensible habit.

To repeat, I am about to disagree with a way of thinking, which to me isn’t logical. I am not “calling out” an individual. For this reason, I have changed the individual’s identity.

I’m taking great pains to explain my motives because in this day and age, it has become increasingly difficult to debate a topic coherently without personalities coming into play.

The exchange in question occurred on social media, where I observed quite simply that NABC’s director of brewing operations was giving a tour of our downtown brewery to members of the local homebrewing club.

Soon there was a reply. “Mr. Wood” wrote:

When they make a beer that is worth drinking let me know. ....... cause I'm disappointed everytime I go. I've tried numerous times and it's ridiculous how inconsistent it is

I can’t explain why an innocuous photo prompted the critique, but that’s who we are now, as a people, and it’s beyond my control. However, marshalling an argument is something that remains important, hence my critique of this critique.

Note that Mr. Wood begins with a universal statement of reality, which if more capably written might read like this: “NABC beers are not worth drinking because they disappoint me with inconsistency every time I go there and drink them.”

It’s a broad and sweeping claim, one that does not concede exceptions, although it is implied that Mr. Wood drinks the inconsistent NABC beers on draft in our own two establishments rather than in bottles (“everytime I go”). In short, NABC’s beers are being comprehensively damned.

Rather than sob into my hankie, I chose to ask questions.

I'll be sure to do that, but can you be a bit more specific? Which beers are at fault, and when/where did you have them? Thanks.

Mr. Wood replied.

Elector has been inconsistent in my opinion for years, I grew up here and moved back here from13 years in indy and I really want to like the beers here but I can't. I like the pickmans pale and single hop series but everything else has tasted watered down in my opinion

Now we can infer a bit more. Mr. Wood’s tastes tend toward hops, and his disappointment seems to center on Elector to the exclusion of others. I continued to probe with questions.

I appreciate the answer. It's always helpful to move from general to specific. If we're to be judged by the original brewery in the growth stage, it's one thing, but a beer like Elector has been dialed in for a while now. What about Community Dark, or Bonfire or Black & Blue Grass? A better question is this: What do you mean by "watered down"?

Mr. Wood responded.

Community dark is the exception, it's great. Elector was a red hoppy beer and I liKed it but it has no hop aroma or taste from what I've had lately, wecompare it too a green flash hop head red and it's no comparison. I can't comment on black and bluegrass as I have not had it. I appreciate you commenting back I root for you guys but am not exciTed go try beers lately

I see. Compared to one other randomly chosen commercial beer, Elector has no hop aroma or taste, and thus is “watered down.” It’s a shaky definition, and not really what I asked for, but it will have to do.

Mr. Wood then quickly added that because of a customer complaint posted the night before, he’d decided not to keep his inconsistently rendered beer money in Indiana, and had gone to Louisville to drink on Saturday night. I thanked him for the give and take, and went to bed.

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NABC brews 25+ different beers during the course of a year. In his opening statement, Mr. Wood suggests that inconsistency is a hallmark of the brewery, across this wide expanse of differing styles – some of which aren’t even hoppy because THEY’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE, which is something one can glean from a brief survey of the very concept of style, and something that Mr. Wood himself belatedly concedes with his comment about Community Dark, an English-style Mild.

It would seem, then, that Elector’s current state is the only real point to Mr. Wood’s comment, and that he does not often drink NABC’s other styles, probably because as a hophead, his flavor profile is more narrowly defined, and they’re not what he prefers.

No problem. Fair enough. There is nothing wrong with this view. To each his own. We’re entitled to our own opinions … although not to our own facts.

But here’s the issue, at least to me: Mr. Wood begins the chat by broadly maligning the whole range of NABC’s beers, many of which he seemingly would not customarily drink owing to personal taste.

As such, how can judgment be passed on beers that never touch one’s lips? Furthermore, when questioned, is transpires that Elector obviously is the very specific point apart from Mr. Wood's broad and generalized opening statement.

So, Mr. Wood, why not instead begin with the defensible specific (“I think Elector is inconsistent”), and not the indefensible generality (“NABC does not brew consistent beer”)?

At least an exchange of views is possible as to the first assertion, while the second is nonsensical unless the speaker has repeatedly tried them all, because without repeatedly trying them all, he'd have no way of establishing criteria for consistency vs. inconsistency.

Has our Elector evolved? Yes, of course, but it has been what it is for a very long time now.

Is it to be compared with Green Flash This or That? I’d think not, but if it were to be compared, and came out poorly in a BLIND taste test, I’d accept the verdict. Elector tastes fine to me, and continues to sell well.

Finally, as for the meaning of “watered down,” wouldn’t this concept pertain more to the absence of malt character than hops? Nuance fades, and we're left with hop juice.

I suppose that efficient argumentation is a lost art. At the same time, the very nature of social media isn’t about sensible argumentation or coherent logic.

In fact, it’s ridiculous how inconsistent it is.

Let's do an Elector Day recap, with Electimus and a requisite graphic Elector retrospective.

Let's do an Elector Day recap.

Since 2010, Indiana no longer labors under the restrictive "blue laws" that formerly forbade alcohol sales until the closing of the polls at 6:00 p.m. Kentucky has no such luck, and life there will be painfully dry until early this evening.

Over here on the Sunny Side, some taverns will open at 7:00 a.m., and package stores will be doing business as usual.

Both NABC locations will be open at 11:00 a.m., serving beers of proven merit. Our time-tested Elector Ale (for over a decade, it has made democracy pointless) will be on special all day at $3 for an imperial pint.

Also, there's a rare beery surprise: Electimus, which comes out of hiding only during presidential election years. It's a blend of 70% Elector and 30% Hoptimus, and there's only one keg of Electimus at each NABC location. That's it.

In 2008, there was no Bank Street Brewhouse, and so the tradition begins there tonight. I'll be there. The Pizzeria & Public House will be rocking, too, as has been the case since Bill Clinton was elected in 1992.

Vote (and drink) early and often, people. Let's kill a few minutes with a visual history of Elector. First, the official Tony Beard "HOPS" poster for 2012.

The Elector Day 2008 poster was designed by John Campbell. The crazed John McCain image is a classic.

Just how far has Elector progressed since the first clip art cut 'n' paste from 2002? Here is what I cobbled together, pre-Tony.

By 2007, glimmers of a new Elector were to be seen. For a fairly succinct history of Elector, how it was first brewed and the way it came to be named, go here.

There was a retrofit in preparation for bottling, once Elector was being brewed downtown at Bank Street Brewhouse.

Which brings us to the present day -- Elector Day, 2012.

And a big round of applause for the inimitable Tony Beard. He thanks you, and we thank you.

Next Tuesday is ELECTOR DAY. In Indiana, that means ALL DAY.

Just a reminder that since 2010, Indiana no longer labors under the restrictive blue laws that formerly forbade alcohol sales until the closing of the polls at 6:00 p.m.

This is good. We will be ready.

Both NABC locations will be open at 11:00 a.m. and serving beers of proven merit. Our time-tested Elector Ale (it makes democracy pointless) will be on special all day, and we may yet have a beery surprise or two -- like Electimus, which usually comes out of hiding only during presidential election years.

I likely will be at Bank Street Brewhouse for the duration. The Public House will be rocking, too. Vote (and drink) early and often.

Elector drives the tap takeover at V the Market in Danville KY this Wednesday, October 10.

It's finally almost here: Danville, Kentucky's superlative V the Market is hosting an NABC tap takeover  on Wednesday, October 10 -- the day before the vice presidential debate at Centre College. Because an Elector makes democracy pointless, it's the takeover headliner. Also on the bill: Black & Blue Grass, Beak's Best and Hoptimus.

I'll have a few of the shirts pictured below (short-sleeve version), and some posters of the same image. Perhaps a creative way can be devised to give them away during the course of the evening.

An Elector always makes democracy pointless, and Tony shows you why.

As always, NABC's artwork comes to you courtesy of the inimitable Tony Beard, who continues to conjure designs as a basis for a pre-election Elector marketing run.

Where Are We?

Photo Hunt! Can you spot the differences?

Photo credit to NABC's Richard Atnip; joined by beer tech accomplice Eric Gray, Richard oversaw a wonderful switch today at Tucker's American Favorites. Another Bud bites the dust, so be sure to ask for Elector when visiting our friends at Tucker's.

Meheen Merlin Meets Elector, Chapter 1.

Thanks to Jeremy Kennedy, Josh Hill, Eric Gray and David Pierce for defying the heat and bottling Elector.

An Elector Day pint special.

Because a troglodyte surely will complain, note the small print: In the state of Indiana, discounted alcoholic beverages are offered all day long during business hours, to all comers in a strictly non-discriminatory manner, provided (a) you're 21 years of age and can prove it, and (b) not already intoxicated. Enjoy Elector Day responsibly.

Tony's bomber label design for Elector.

The label has been submitted for Federal approval ... and Tony starts on the next design.

Beak's and Elector at the Black Keys concert (Iroquois Amphitheater) on Wednesday, August 11.

We're only a week away.

On Friday last week, teams from NABC and River City Distributing (our Louisville wholesaler) met for lunch at the Blind Pig in Butchertown. Hoptimus was involved, but not so much that I couldn't navigate home on my bicycle.

I mention this because we now know that Beak's Best and Elector will be the NABC beers on tap for the Black Keys show at Iroquois Amphitheater on Wednesday, August 11. Thanks to River City for designating NABC as the "official" local craft beer sponsor for the evening.

The Black Keys are guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. The group's most recent album, Brothers, is its highest charting album to date, and it is scarcely an exaggeration to peg the band's summer tour one of the season's hottest tickets. I'm happy NABC will be on tap for the perfect send-off to our annual journey to Madison, Wisconsin, for the Great Taste of the Midwest (August 14).

Here's what NABC plans to take to the Great Taste of the Midwest.

Following is what I've submitted on behalf of NABC to the Great Taste of the Midwest for inclusion in this year's program. The festival takes place on August 14 in Madison, Wisconsin, and is a must-visit at some point in your beer drinking career. This year, we're being placed close by The Livery, Schlafly and O'Fallon so as to enable a "collaboration corner" and feature cooperative projects brewed during the past year.

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NABC Beer Descriptions, for the Great Taste of the Midwest 2010 official program

(Includes both descriptions and details about NABC collaboration beer placements. *Recipe notes provided for collaborations brewed at NABC)

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At the NABC station, C02 pour:

Elector, Elsa von Horizon, Hoptimus, Thunderfoot

Cask-conditioned NABC (pin at the NABC station; tapping time TBA):

2008 Port-aged Bonfire of the Valkyries

Cask-conditioned NABC (firkins at the real ale tent):

Beak’s Best and Community Dark

Collaboration(s) casks, to be tapped at Collaboration Corner, not the real ale tent:

*NABC/The Livery Oaked Le Douche Mentale & Scotch pin conditioned Le Douche Mentale

Malts: Castle Pale, Castle Biscuit, Simpsons Medium Crystal

Hops: Wet Fuggles, Nugget, Fuggle, Cascade

ABV: 8.5%

IBU: 75

*NABC/O’Fallon/Schlafly C2 Smoked Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Malts: Castle Pale, Weyermann Rauchmalz, Castle Biscuit, Briess Smoked, Castle Aromatic, Castle Special B Mash hops: Mt. Hood, Crystal Kettle hops: Magnum, Celeia Yeast: Belgian Chouffe O.G. 1.097 or 24.3 Plato ABV: 10.4% IBU: 35 Color: 14.8

Collaboration Notes:
The Livery also debuts its 5th anniversary beer, Imperial Dark IPA (NABC’s Jared Williamson helped brew it) at its station, and O' Fallon debuts C3, the third collaboration series beer with O’Fallon’s, NABC and Schlafly, at its station.

Main NABC beer descriptions

Beak’s Best

Malts: Simpsons Golden Promise, Simpsons Medium Crystal, Castle (Belgian) Aromatic and Special B

Hops: Double hopped with Cascade pellets, finished through hop-back with whole cone Cascades

Yeast: House London

OG: 1.059 or 14.75 degree Plato

ABV: 5.3%

IBU: 35

Color: 10.3 degree Lovibond SRM

American bitter & soul liniment
NABC’s session-strength American Bitter is named in honor of globetrotting historian and educator Don "Beak" Barry, and in 2003 it was the winner of the "Louisville Magazine Best Of" award for Louisville area microbrews. Like its namesake, Beak’s is fond of traveling (albeit in kegs), lending itself to refreshing contemplation.
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Bonfire of the Valkyries

Malts: Weyermanns Rauchmalz, Simpsons Black, Castle Aromatic, Castle Special B

Hops: Czech Zatec (Saaz)

Yeast: Common Lager

OG: 1083

ABV: 8.5%

IBU: 5.1

Color: 46.2 SRM

Burning away the hours 'til Ragnarok
Although it’s probably somewhere in the German brewing playbook, we couldn’t find the rule prohibiting the higher-gravity crossing of Black Lager with Smoked Lager, so we brew Bonfire each year in autumn and let it age until release just before Christmas. For the Great Taste, Bonfire has been aged in JW Lees ’08 Port pin.

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Community Dark

Malts: Special Pale, Dark Crystal and Chocolate malts

Hops: Double hopped with EK Golding

Yeast: House London

OG: 1.046 or 11.5 degree Plato

ABV: 3.7%

IBU: 12.5

Color: 25 degree Lovibond SRM

Inside is what counts
Inspired by traditional English Mild, the style that fueled the workers who made the Industrial Revolution, Community Dark is revolutionary in its own way: Dark-colored but light-bodied, and a session ale suitable for New Albany’s emerging downtown renaissance.

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Elector

Malts: Special Pale and Simpsons Medium Crystal

Hops: Triple hopped with Chinook pellets, finished through hop-back with whole cone Cascades

Yeast: House London

OG: 1.074 or 18.5 degree Plato

ABV: 7.5%

IBU: 62

Color: 11.9 degree Lovibond SRM

Makes democracy pointless
Excessive hopping rendered moot the original modest plan to brew a traditional winter warmer, but the resulting hybrid was delicious and redefines the Imperial Red style category. The first batch of Elector was brewed on Election Day, 2002, a mere two years after the nation’s electors (most recently) made democracy pointless, and we persist in thinking that an Elector in hand is worth two Bushes in retirement, any election day, any old time at all.

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Elsa Von Horizon

Malts: German Pilsner, German Munich

Hops: Hallertauer Mittelfruh, Tettnang

Yeast: Common Lager

OG: 1.100

ABV: 10%

IBU: 80

Color: 5.4 SRM

Bekämpfen sie und ich beiße sie
It is deceptively simple. A Pilsner rich in noble continental hops is brewed to the strength of Maibock and beyond, and then even more noble hops are added to the recipe for balance and bite. Not even the Germans try it, and we consider this shyness as implicit encouragement to innovate. Elsa is a proud member of NABC’s Brewers’ Best Friend Series, along with Malcolm and Jasmine. They’re assertive, loyal specialties named for our brewers’ canine chums.

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Hoptimus

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

Made of sterner stuff
“Vicariously” is for rank amateurs and subpar international lagers, because Hoptimus lives vivaciously through itself, and is best consumed in the prime of youth, when its bold hop character is at its snarkiest and most blatantly unrepentant. Hoptimus has been named “the beer most likely to be preferred by the most interesting man in the world, if he really were the most interesting man in the world, but he isn’t” by Publicans Monthly magazine.

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Thunderfoot

Malts: Special Pale, Simpson's Roasted Barley, Simpson's Dark Crystal, Flaked Oats

Adjunct: Pure free-range sucrose

Hops: Quad-hopped with Northern Brewer and Willamette

Special treatment: Dried tart cherries fall into the hopback, and medium-toast American oak chips and dried Bing cherries go into each keg for aging. One year later: In your glass.

Yeast: House London

OG: 1.106 or 25.2 degree Plato

ABV: 12%

IBU: 84

Color: 72.7 degree Lovibond SRM

Ultimate urban renewal
There can be no doubt that Thunderfoot actively renounces the art of the gentle tweak, the mild revision, and the imperceptible hint. Rather, Thunderfoot advocates palatal renewal the old-fashioned way – complete, irresistible and certain. 20 months old; brewed January, 2009.

Ms. Elector in Indy.

Elector and a New Orleans medley at Selena's?

In today's LEO Weekly, reviewer Robin Garr visits Selena's, which is located in Louisville's East End on LaGrange Road, roughly equidistant between Lyndon and Anchorage. Owing to the menu's enticing "Cajun and Sicilian" theme, Robin (a noted wine writer, but a beer lover, too) eschewed the wine list and opted for a Dixie Lager.

But I'm thinking a refreshing NABC Elector might have provided more firm accompaniment to the meals described; after all, it's on tap at Selena's, and has been for a month. The establishment was one of NABC's first draft accounts in Louisville following our roll-out.

One thing's for sure: The only way for me to know how well Elector pairs with the food at Selena's is to go and conduct a scientific sampling. I'll try to schedule one very soon.

Selena’s brings comfort to Willow Lake

An old, popular East End country dive bar, closed for years, reopened about a year ago as Selena’s and has been drawing crowds ever since, owing its growing popularity to bountiful food, friendly service and a relaxing atmosphere.

Going Local: Were we in downtown New Albany Saturday night, and did we really do all that?

(expanded version of previously published text)

Times may be changing in New Albany, but days like Saturday still strike me as somewhat surreal when viewed from the sobriety of a mellow morning after.

Perhaps some day this will change -- not the sobering up, which is a required feature of the professional drinker's life, but the surrealism of change in New Albany.

We began with late afternoon, craft-roasted coffee at Dueling Grounds, browsing the Destinations Booksellers racks as we sipped (I need a fresh copy of Garrett Oliver's book in the worst way), and then adjourning to the Bank Street Brewhouse for frites and a beer for each of us. Mine was Elector, because I felt a curious premonition.

Next stop was Wick’s on State for dinner with our friends, the Gillenwaters. Upon entering, I heard a familiar voice: Hugh E. Bir, covering Conway Twitty’s “Tight Fitting Jeans” from a stool in the crowded barroom. Not only is Hugh a performer, but he also owns the Louisville area's last authentic honky tonk, just up the street on Market. We really need to have Abzug pouring in there.

Mike "The Big Wick" Wyckliffe didn’t even wait for me to ask, and within minutes, I was ushered behind the bar, changing the tap handles as Elector supplanted Amber Bock on tap. They're long draw draft lines, and it took a few tastes to get the A-B liquid washed away.

This brief effort led to progressive pints to accompany our pizza and salad, and sated, the four of us proceeded to the Horseshoe Casino for the local leg of The Who singer Roger Daltrey’s “Use It or Lose It” tour in the Showroom. To my considerable surprise, the Horseshoe’s main barroom had BBC Bourbon Barrel Stout on tap, and it proved a worthy libation for sipping as I caught up with Mo, arguably the area’s biggest fan of The Who, after a chance meeting with him along the concourse.

This isn’t intended as a concert review. At the same time, Daltrey was spry and in as good a voice as one might imagine at the age of 65. The set list was predictably filled with Who songs, but to Daltrey’s credit, some of these are seldom played live by anyone, including the group itself ("Tattoo" and "Pictures of Lily" spring to mind). A wildly energetic version of “Going Mobile” was sung by Daltrey’s band mate, Simon Townshend (yes, the younger brother of Peter), and will stand as my top concert moment of the year so far.

When it was over, we returned home to reset clocks and contemplate the evening’s central theme: Most of the action took place within New Albany, and all of it within 10 miles of home, without crossing the river to Louisville.

Let’s all pat ourselves on the back … and return to work, because the trick now is to keep the momentum going.

Bank Street brewed Elector hits the taps at both NABC locations.

Last Friday (August 21), the first batch of Elector to be brewed at NABC’s new Bank Street Brewhouse went on tap at BSB. Kegs were taken to the Public House and Pizzeria, and two kegs were consumed down by the riverside at the Kentuckiana Celtic Fest on Saturday.

Elector’s roots extend to the beginnings of NABC’s original garage brewery off Grant Line Road. It was the third recipe brewed by NABC’s founding brewer, Michael Borchers, and his assistant, Joey Burns, and was first brewed on Election Day, 2002, coincidentally the date of the mid-term congressional election that followed the disputed presidential race in 2000, in which Al Gore won the popular vote nationwide, but lost the White House owing to Florida’s uncounted hanging chads and the state’s votes in the Electoral College.

Needless to say, as subversive leftists, this political outcome was still somewhat fresh in our minds in 2002 as Michael concocted an initially modest plan to follow Community Dark and Beak’s Best with a traditional English-style seasonal winter warmer. Brew day was uneventful, but as the fermentation proceeded and time rolled past, it became obvious that the new batch of winter warmer was going to have a deeper burgundy color than planned, and also was considerably hoppier than the intended style should ever be.

Nothing wrong with that. The resulting hybrid was delicious, full-bodied and aggressively hopped, and we concluded that while the intent had been winter warmer, the result was something else – Imperial Red, in our reckoning – and we went with the results.

Before the finished flavor of our newly hybridized ale had become apparent, we’d already started the process of hybridizing its name, something that arose out of drunken mischief (imagine that!) Joey suggested Elector. The “-tor” suffix would suggest Doppelbock in the minds of knowledgeable drinkers, and of course we had no intention of producing a beer remotely close to Doppelbock, and since “electors” had been in the news, anyway, owing to the 2000 election, and since these electors had overruled the will of the people and in effect made democracy pointless … well, you can see how it all came together.

It’s almost seven years later, and I feel just as strongly that now as then that an Elector in hand is well worth two Bushes in retirement, any election day, and in fact, any time.

Graphics by the inimitable Tony Beard.

Dinner menu at Bank Street Brewhouse tonight ... and a special Elector.

On Thursday evening (March 26) the NABC Bank Street Brewhouse dinner menu will debut. Please note the dinner hours of 5:30 - 9:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

To honor the occasion, the NABC’s brew crew will be releasing a cask-conditioned pin (5 gallons) of Elector, which has been aged for nine months in a wooden cask formerly used to dispense Lagavulin-aged JW Lees Vintage Harvest Ale. This special batch of Elector will be tapped at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Stay tuned. There are rumors of a Thunderfoot appearance during the week of March 30.

Executive Chef - Joshua Lehman
Sous Chef - Andy Gunn
Brewers – Jesse Williams & Jared Williamson

Dinner Menu

Soup du Jour
Chef's Whim
$4.50

Asparagus Salad
Fennel, Radishes, Citrus Vinaigrette
$6.00

Scallops
Diver Scallops, Carrot Mousse, English Peas, Bacon, Lemon Brown Butter
$16.95

Pork Confit - Slow Roasted Pork, Fingerling Potatoes, Pickled
Carrots
$13.95

Flat Iron Steak
Caramelized Onions, Sunchokes, Asparagus, Veal reduction
$15.95

English Pea & Mushroom Risotto
Arborio Rice, Shiitake Mushrooms, Roasted Fennel, Parmigiano-Reggiano
$11.95

Elector Day 2008: Elector's 6th birthday celebration.

For the record: Hopocalypse Now: Lupulin Land update.