BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Headlines from August 2018 on the beer beat ... at Pints & Union.

This blog has gone on hiatus, probably permanently. These days my thoughts about beer are being posted alongside my utterances about everything else, over yonder at NA Confidential.

You'll still find them there in reverse chronological order via the helpful all-purpose tag, Beer with a Socialist, with The Beer Beat having been retired as of September. That's because some also will be identified as Pints & Union Portfolio.

At any rate, use the Beer with a Socialist search term and it should suffice. At the end of each month, I'll still collect the links right here.

Following are August (2018) ruminations, with the oldest listed first. Some of these posts are more topical than others.

I hope this isn't overly confusing. Thanks for reading, if belatedly.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Pints&union begins regular hours tonight, and there's a "luxuriant brunette brew" to help celebrate.

As for the beer, eight of ten potential faucets will be pouring. It isn't yet clear whether the permanent number of taps will be seven or eight, but for now I've squeezed in a special treat for those of you who enjoy classic styles: Daredevil Munich Dunkel from Indianapolis.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Drink a toast to trailblazing New Albany brewer Hew Ainslie with a McEwan's Scotch Ale.

I believe Ainslie deserves some manner of recognition. After all, too many plaques are mounted in honor of underachieving politicians, and too few to men like Ainslie. In addition to brewing, he was a published poet and an ardent Scottish nationalist.

I'm telling you abut Ainslie because a spoonful of McEwan's Scotch Ale helps the history lesson go down.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: And the honor goes to Fuller's London Pride.

At approximately 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 2, 2018 the first keg to be emptied at Pints&union was Fuller's London Pride, with Guinness queuing close behind it.

This pleases me for a number of reasons.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: An accumulated thirst -- or, lots of kegs floated at Pints&union.

After four "official" business days preceded by two "soft" evenings, something like 800 pints of draft beer have been consumed at Pints&union, including two full kegs of Fuller's London Pride -- and only one of the other blown kegs was an IPA (Bell's Two Hearted).

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: "When you think of your favorite spot to grab a beer, what architectural features come to mind?"

To me, the essential ingredient for bucket-list bars is that they're located somewhere else, preferably in Europe, and have good adult beverages to drink -- namely, beer. As such, I've actually been to the Hofbrauhaus and Hirschgarten for lagers, and once walked past the American Bar in Vienna.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: No absinthe-barrel-aged IPAs, please. Imperial Stout? Let me think about that one.

Too late.

Someone in the Netherlands already went and did absinthe beer, not barrel-aged (some things should remain far removed from scheming human hands), but with barley, wheat and an herbal extract.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: "In short, hemp and hops can only work together if state and federal regulators get out of the way."

This is an excellent essay about innovation, regulation and weirdness. Thanks to E for the link.

As for me, a pint of Fuller's London Pride will do just fine, but by all means, get out there and expand the perimeter.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: In consideration of Falls City Classic Pilsner, on tap now at Pints&union.

It's always best to start at the beginning, and so it might help to know that the term "Falls City" predates those beers bearing its name, as Thomas Jefferson himself explains.

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PINTS & UNION PORTFOLIO: Beer Tuesday Talk & Taste, and Tabletop Tuesday; beer and board gaming starting Tuesday, August 14.

As often as humanly possible, I'll be upstairs at between 5:00 p.m. and at least 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday evenings, starting Tuesday, August 14.

This weekly event is strictly informal, and you need not be present at any precise time, just at any point within the window. It's not exactly a class, and there'll be no tests. However, there'll be a beer of the week; purchase one downstairs, bring the beer upstairs, and we'll talk it over.

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PINTS & UNION PORTFOLIO: Orval exemplifies true religion, Trappist (ale)-style.

Narrowing the focus, a particularly wonderful sub-culture within Belgian brewing is that occupied by the Trappists, or those ales brewed at Trappist monasteries. In recent years, this practice has spread outside the original six Belgium (and the seventh in the Netherlands) to Austria, Italy, the UK and even Massachusetts.

These thoughts are occasioned by a chance meeting with this article about Orval.

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PINTS & UNION PORTFOLIO: Anyone up for Tuesday evening beer classes at the pub?

When the IU Southeast opportunity came to an end, I continued with the NABC program of charitable tasting donations, which was a light variant of the class, but the class itself never was revived.

At Pints&union, there's a second chance, and we're working on it. The class would take place on Tuesday evenings within a specified period of time -- say, an hour or so each night for six weeks. We'd meet upstairs in the room that still needs to be named.

You'd pay a minimal fee each night to cover class samples, and while attendance wouldn't be mandatory, maybe those who made every session would get recognition on the wall, or some such way of reflecting "graduation."

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PINTS & UNION PORTFOLIO: Revised weekend hours, with a noon opening on Saturday and hangover relief on Sunday from noon - 4 p.m.

For those who have enjoyed the exemplary draft Daredevil Munich Dunkel Lager, the third of our allocated three kegs was tapped earlier this week. When it's gone, probably early next week, it will be time for Oktoberfest season to begin.

The final decision has yet to be made, but I'm leaning toward a traditional Munich interpretation. Also, Wychwood Hobgoblin continues to stand in for Fuller's London Pride, and probably will remain pouring through September.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: There's a place for retro beers, but for better or worse, they don't taste the same as they once did.

Following is my answer, right or wrong, without having done the slightest research on the matter.

To me, it's just common beer sense that many, if not all, of the contemporary "retro" beer brands have little in common with their foundational predecessors.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST Exploding beer cans? If I want to risk injury, I'll try to make it across a New Albany street on foot.

I'd dropped by The Keg to purchase a few German-brewed Oktoberfest bottles for a vital personal sampling, and was told a case of 450 North had just detonated in the storeroom.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, allow me to paraphrase an old saw: I may be entirely befuddled by what you're brewing, but I'll fight to the point of unconsciousness in support of your right to brew it.

At the same time, count me among those who can't come to grips with the notion of craft beer as potential can bombs.

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PINTS & UNION PORTFOLIO: About a burger, and draft list notes.

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Headlines from June 2017 on THE BEER BEAT.

Previously, I've explained several reasons why this blog has gone on hiatus, adding that my thoughts about beer will be posted alongside my utterances about everything else, over yonder at NA Confidential.

You'll find them there via the helpful all-purpose tag, The Beer Beat.

However, whenever the urge strikes -- probably monthly -- I'll collect a few of these links right here. Following are June's ruminations, with the oldest listed first. Some are more topical than others, and I'm past the point of caring about it.

Thanks for reading, if belatedly.

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THE BEER BEAT: "Please stop calling your legal, open-to-the-public bar a "speakeasy," and other adventures in fake news.

Allow me to suggest that far too many lamentations about the scourge of "fake news" are found to emanate from those who routinely and unquestioningly absorb vast mounds of extraneous bilge written and photographed in the service of food and drink promotion.

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THE BEER BEAT: Falls City nixes its previous expansion plan, and now the new brewery is slated for NuLu.

Obviously, it makes little sense for the Neace family to own a brewery and for it not to supply vast amounts of beer for games played by the soccer team, in which they also have an ownership stake. This new projected brewery location is a bare mile from the proposed stadium site.

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THE BEER BEAT: Ted, Shannon, their businesses, and what happens when creative exuberance meets that immovable capitalist object.

Brugge Brasserie is safe and sound, though there have been tumultuous times for Ted and Shannon, owners of the Broad Ripple shrine to the wonders of Belgian steak frites and ale. They've been compelled by reality to make a difficult business decision regarding Outliers Brewing and The Owner's Wife, their newer ventures on Mass Ave. in Indianapolis.

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THE BEER BEAT: Cincinnati area lagers during Reds baseball on Thursday, June 8. I hear they serve Bud Light at Louisville KY Bats games.

How very avant-garde of them. Next thing you know, Bats management will admit to the existence of iPhone selfies and have a special commemorative event -- or maybe it's finally time for a Mike Calise Bobblehead Night. At the same time, periodic visits to major league parks in recent years have convinced me that in the big leagues, they're getting it. In Minneapolis in 2014 and Cleveland last year, local "craft" choices were many and varied, if predictably pricey.

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THE BEER BEAT: The timeless wisdom of Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon.

Finally you took the abundant hints and stepped off the merry-go-round, only to be nickel-and-dimed into oblivion because now you're a quitter. You find it difficult to address all this publicly, because you can see that the behavior currently being directed against you can be explained by the same behavior once directed against them. That's life.

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THE BEER BEAT: Neace Ventures acquires Tin Man Brewing Company.

For now, just the press release. After U2 is finished tonight and there is time to think, maybe I'll offer analysis, but for now, I'm simply delighted for the Davidsons. They're first-rate folks and I hope this is a power move for them. And this: Damn it Neace Ventures, I was really hoping you'd buy my 1/3 share of NABC. Guess I'll keep having to e-mail that guy in Shanghai.

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THE BEER BEAT: 30 years ago today, labels from beer hunting in Red Hungary ... and töltött káposzta at Czarnok Vendéglő.

Sturdy half-liter returnable bottles were the norm. There were a handful of breweries in Hungary, including the once-dominant Dreher plant in the Kobanya district. The beers they brewed were lagers in the broad German and Austrian tradition, with an occasional dark or bock included in the range. "Imported" beer meant brands from Czechoslovakia, East German and Poland.

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THE BEER BEAT: I'm curious about the origins of the smooth, crisp and milky Pilsner Urquell pours.

I've been vaguely aware that the Pilsner Urquell international distribution effort of late has been emphasizing the "three pours" draft approach. I'm all aboard, and want to learn more. If my pub sanctuary project-in-development gets off the ground, this will be my daily classic house lager -- and make no mistake, Asahi as Urquell's new owner ranks nowhere near AB-InBev's level of multinational swinishness.

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THE BEER BEAT: Day drinking porter with the porters at the market pub.

Historically, a porter is a person employed to carry burdens, as at a market. In the UK, what makes a "market pub" noteworthy is its exception with respect to allowable opening hours.

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THE BEER BEAT: Making light switch covers great again, and other examples of stewed cranberries tasting like prunes.

File under: Slow news day. Or maybe "any publicity is good publicity," this coming from the guy who put Lenin (and Che) on the Red Room wall.

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And a non-beat bonus:

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: We only want to get drunk, so send away the tigers and climb into your cups.

It is my belief that frequent drinkers of alcoholic beverages, of whom I am unrepentantly one, have about as many ways of describing our condition as the Inuit have for snow.

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Headlines from February 2017 on THE BEER BEAT.

Previously, I explained several reasons why this blog has gone on hiatus, and explained that my thoughts about beer will be posted alongside my utterances about everything else, at NA Confidential.

You'll find them there via the all-purpose tag, The Beer Beat. However, whenever the urge strikes, I'll collect a few of these links right here.

Here are another month's worth of them, with the most recent listed first. One of my columns sneaked in there, too.

Apologies if topicality has gone out the window. I'm still groping for a working routine.

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THE BEER BEAT: Some great ink for Floyd County Brewing Company.

Crucially for Floyd County Brewing Company, the business is a classic brewpub model. The beer is brewed and consumed in-house. It's the right model for the here and now. The object is to dial in the beer at FCBC's home base, and then become a can't miss destination for local beer lovers.

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ON THE AVENUES: A stern side view of Gravity Head, nineteen times over.

Gravity Head might be staged differently, but as they pertain to what unexpectedly has become a bona fide tradition, an array of minor and often weirdly eccentric points adds up to a greater sum.

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THE BEER BEAT: A compendium of local and regional craft beer headlines.

Once upon a time the pace of change in regional brewing circles was fast, but not so rapid as to defy the efforts of an intrepid observer or two to consistently document the phenomenon.

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THE BEER BEAT: Why not a Session Beer Day pub crawl in downtown New Albany?

With Session Beer Day 2017 less than two months away, it's time for me to decide how I'll be honoring the occasion this year, and here's what I've come up with. This year, I'd like to make my Session Beer Day stroll in downtown New Albany. You're welcome to join me.

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THE BEER BEAT: You may need pickle brine after the Stupor Bowl, or throughout Trump's term.

Welcome to the pickleback: A whiskey shot with pickle brine as a chaser. Thanks to K for the link.

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THE BEER BEAT: "There is not ONE FREAKING IOTA of truth about how AB got started in this beautifully-crafted, button-pushing, faux-sensy-poo, piece o’ trash ad."

For those readers who may be coming late to my beer-related scribblings, know that Stevefoolbody is my hero. He is so awesome that typically I have nothing whatever to add, and merely attach a link and brief teaser to encourage you to go to his page and read.

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THE BEER BEAT: It took a week to get the details straight, but BBC is leaving its current St. Matthews location after 23 years and hopes to reopen elsewhere in Louisville KY.

So, to recap: Owner Pat Hagan bowed (intelligently, in my view) to leasing and area development realities and now hopes to move BBC to a new location, one that will allow the expansion of brewing into bottling and/or canning. The 3rd Street brewery and restaurant remain open, and the 4th Street branch will reopen when the Kindred building is finished. The coming week will be a victory lap for BBC in St. Matthews, and I hope to make it over and learn the future of my Wort Mug, number 66.

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THE BEER BEAT: No selfies necessary, because localism is why I believe the impending Falls City expansion is good news.

But localism as an economic doctrine provides another way of looking at the world – capitalism with a more human face, complementary to a good beer ethos, and also a different collection of information that permits tying a singular love of mine (beer) to another (the community in which I live, and how to make it better). It offers sense and sensibility out of relative scale, and suggests differing standards of value and achievement.

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THE BEER BEAT: Tailspin Ale Fest returns to Bowman Field on Saturday, February 18.

In my view, Tailspin Ale Fest has become Louisville KY's premier beer festival, and it's the brainchild of New Albany's own Tisha Gainey.

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THE BEER BEAT: Green Mouse sez the rumors are unsubstantiated and it's business as usual at BBC St. Matthews.

If and when further information becomes available, I'll let readers know. Until then ... can someone bring daddy a nice growler of David Pierce's signature BBC APA? I've been known to pay cash for such favors.

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The past month on THE BEER BEAT.

1st notice: Fall City/Gospel Bird beer dinner will be on Tuesday, May 31.

There are no details yet, but we expect to hear more next week. It's happening, so put it on the calendar, and you'll know more when we do.

Falls City Beer: "In 1905 a group of bartenders and grocery store owners had had enough with being forced to buy, serve, and sell beer produced by a local beer monopoly. So they got together and created Falls City Beer. At that moment of rebellion and independence, Louisville’s first craft beer was born. Falls City Beer is once again, regionally, leading the way with a variety of well-balanced, highly-drinkable, and innovative craft beers that include traditional styles, bold new flavors and non-traditional ingredients."

Gospel Bird: "Gospel Bird is a full-service restaurant in southern Indiana focusing on the cuisine of the south and regional flavors." Read the Courier-Journal review:

"Gospel Bird’s chicken is a don’t-miss, can’t-go-wrong choice, but on our visit there were no wrong turn choices. Now and then, biting into the fried chicken will spurt juices that dribble down your chin. Dab with a napkin or forget your manners just long enough to relish the unfancy-schmancy, well-seasoned, crispy fried chicken. Pair it with a side of flavor-walloped chorizo baked beans."

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New Albany Craft Beer Week Calendar, 2016

Sunday, May 29
Boomtown Ball & Festival
New Albanian Brewing Company’s Houndmouth Ale will be available for purchase.

Tuesday, May 31
Beer dinner at Gospel Bird with Falls City Beer (details TBA)

Wednesday, June 1
Surf & Turf Tap Takeover (Sierra Nevada and The Exchange)

Thursday, June 2
Monty PINT-thon Night at Floyd County Brewing Company

Saturday, June 4
Keg Liquors Fest of Ale
100+ Breweries, 7 Craft Beer Distributors, 8 Fine Wine Distributors, over 250 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity raffle and more.

Saturday, June 4
The official Keg Liquors Fest of Ale after party will take place at The Exchange pub + kitchen.


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Musings on Falls City, standards of longevity, and that strange word "craft."

From the outset, let's be clear. I'm a big fan of what Falls City is doing these days. My wife and I like Over the 9, the Falls City/Old 502 gastropub.

We took friends there recently, and they also enjoyed it. Verily, by doing business where it does, Falls City is playing a leading role in reconnecting Portland with downtown, and this matters to me a great deal.

Falls City's latest bottle releases, Kentucky Common and Easy Goer Session IPA, are 4% abv and 4.5% abv, respectively, and that's huge; finally, there is ballyhoo about session-strength releases, and I'll be drinking a lot of the Kentucky Common.

To summarize, I'm coming from a position of friendship and appreciation.

This said, a headline at Louisville Business First is slightly misleading, and with requisite gentleness and scrupulous objectivity, I'd like to explain why.

One of the city's oldest craft beer breweries is rolling out the biggest product line expansion in its history

Before I tell you, let's look at the story from last week's roll-out.

 ... The brewery is adding a new year-round offering, Kentucky Common, which is inspired by the city's pre-Prohibition bourbon industry, along with a family of seasonal beers, including Easy Goer Session IPA, according to WLKY-TV.

Kentucky Common has ingredients that are similar to a bourbon distiller's mash, and that style is one that originated in Louisville, the story said.

Cezary Wlodarczyk, Falls City's CEO and president, said he hopes the beer will be offered at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington and Churchill Downs in Louisville. Wlodarczyk said the beer is iconic and deserves a presence in the state.

The headline identifies Falls City as one of Louisville's "oldest craft beer breweries." Allow me to observe that this is a tad far-fetched, although Louisville Business First merely takes its cues from Falls City's own web site.

In 1905 a group of bartenders and grocery store owners had had enough with being forced to buy, serve, and sell beer produced by a local beer monopoly. So they got together and created Falls City Beer. At that moment of rebellion and independence, Louisville’s first craft beer was born.

And ...

Craft beer before craft beer was cool. 

In fairness, I've embraced a cynical, post/pre-craft position with regard to the use of this word, and it is quite possible that "craft" currently possesses almost no coherent definition whatever. Still, as a functional curmudgeon, I strive for accuracy. In this instance, verifiable chronology is available to assist us.

• The original Falls City Brewing Company operated in Louisville from 1905 through 1978.
• The original American "microbrewery" was New Albion, founded in 1976.
• In 1984, the word "craft" was used for the first time, and the New York Times did not use the word until 1997.
• The "old" Falls City, which had nothing whatever to do with micro- or craft-brewing, was contract-brewed in Pittsburgh until 2007.
• Today's Falls City began contract-brewing in 2010 and brews on-site, too.

If 2010 represents Falls City's contemporary inception, then it was preceded in Louisville by at least seven other breweries during the period of "craft" beer's ascendancy -- some lasting, some morphing, others folding. BBC and Cumberland Brewery predate the "new" Falls City by 17 and 10 years, respectively.

A brewery reborn in 2010, while "craft" by most any sensible modern definition, is not one of the city's "oldest" in the same chronological sense.

Concurrently, a brewery originally born in 1905 hardly can be referred to as a "craft" brewery, since neither the usage nor the concept existed then.

The "new" Falls City has brewed certain of its beers on site, in Louisville, at two locations since 2011 or thereabouts, with a short break when the Barrett Avenue taproom closed and the brewery was reinstalled at the present 10th Street location. Flagship brands continue to be contract-brewed elsewhere.

All this is admirable, and as noted, I'm a fan. But Falls City, while "craft," is not one of Louisville's "oldest" "craft" breweries.

Of course, perhaps we might dispense with "craft" altogether and move forward with the reclamation of good, real and true beer. Falls City certainly is helping fulfill this mandate, because as Cresant Smith rightly observes in her assessment of last week's brand introduction, Falls City's Kentucky Common is delicious ... as well as historically accurate.

Falls City Brewing Co Expanded Line-Up of Beers (Louisville Beer Dot Com)

I was able to try the Kentucky Common and it was very easy to drink. It very well matched the Beer Judging Certification Program standards of what a Kentucky Common should taste like. Medium amber in color, moderately grainy/corn aroma with a medium sweet flavor. Bready, toffee notes and gentle carbonation. It finishes semi-dry and clean.

Note that Over the 9 will be my first stop for Session Day 2016.

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

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Falls City Common Beer and my introduction to Over the 9.

I finally made it to Over the 9, and had a wonderful time. The pretext was to have another beer or two with Cezary ... and the mission was accomplished.

My beer with Cezary Wlodarczyk, and what's up at Falls City, Old 502 and Over the 9.

The two top-selling Falls City beers are brewed under contract elsewhere, but Over the 9 has plenty of Dylan's beers brewed on site, with more to come. Many are at a human-friendly, sessionable alcohol content, and a few dip beneath the Bryson threshold. I was very pleased with this fact, and was able to have full pours of Cream Ale and Common, both in or around 4.5% abv.

The Falls City Common described below is delightful: Amber-brown in color, moderately hopped, and entirely poundable. There is a hint of adjunct, and no sourness. I can see many growlers of it in my future.

At RateBeer, an observer expresses confusion over the absence of sourness. While I support the notion of brewing Common (Komon) as a sour, as NABC has done, it does not appear likely that the style ever was intentionally sour in its heyday more than a century ago. This is explained in great detail here:

Kentucky Common – An Almost Forgotten Style, by Leah Dienes and Dibbs Harting

Whatever my future holds, it probably will not include regular commuting to Louisville for beer, insofar as the commute requires driving. I prefer walking or biking. To me, the fun thing about Falls City, Old 502 Winery and Over the 9 is that their 10th Street location in downtown Louisville is so close to New Albany. If the K and I Bridge ever becomes a pedway, as it  should, I'd be able to bike to 10th Street in 20-odd minutes.

Until then ... those growlers, and my complete satisfaction with being a Commoner.

Falls City's new beer is based on an old tradition, by David A. Mann (Louisville Business First)

Falls City Brewing Co. is making a push for its version of Kentucky Common beer — a brew that officials there believe has the potential to become a major new product for the company.

The brewery first debuted Kentucky Common during a Derby Eve brew festival earlier this year.

Falls City brewmaster Dylan Greenwood said he believes the company's Kentucky Common has the potential to become a flagship product for the brewery.

Kentucky common-style beer borrows a bit of inspiration from the state's distilling industry, in that it uses a grain bill (the grains used in brewing) that features corn and rye, Brewmaster Dylan Greenwood told me during a recent interview at Over the 9 restaurant on 10th Street.

My beer with Cezary Wlodarczyk, and what's up at Falls City, Old 502 and Over the 9.

I've been intending to publish this link for ages, and finally something happened this week to remind me.

First, the overview.

The home of Falls City Beer and Old 502 Winery on the edge of the Portland neighborhood is adding a new restaurant and bar called Over the 9, at LouisvilleBeer.com

With a name referencing the emerging district west of 9th Street near downtown, Over the 9 is adjacent to the brewing and winemaking facilities for Old 502 and Falls City, at 120 S. 10th Street. The previous beer and wine tasting room is currently undergoing renovations to include an expanded, full-service bar and the facilities needed to accommodate a kitchen and table service.

Over the 9’s menu will be curated by Griffin Paulin, known for his culinary creativity with local restaurants Hammerhead’s and Roux, as well as the popular Ten Tables program.

Next, the ownership clarification.

The addition of a full-service restaurant and bar, Over the 9, comes on the heels of a leadership transition at Falls City. Louisville entrepreneur John Neace has acquired the ownership rights of Falls City Brewing Co., purchasing the storied beer brand from David Easterling. Neace first partnered with Easterling last year as an equity investor in a deal that resulted in Falls City co-locating with Old 502 Winery, which Neace also owns.

Here's the really interesting part, at least to this old roamer of Eastern European lands.

Neace has named Cezary Wlodarczyk president of Falls City Brewing Co. Wlodarczyk has extensive experience in the beverage alcohol business, including international marketing, sales and general management leadership roles with Brown-Forman, Nolet Spirits and Diageo. Past experience also includes leadership roles with Snapple and Procter & Gamble.

Cezary called me two weeks ago, and we met for a beer at Bank Street Brewhouse. It turns out that we're about the same age. He was born and raised in Gdansk, Poland, and his father worked at the Lenin Shipyards during the time of Solidarity. Later he moved to Mexico, then lived both in Miami and Louisville during the high-powered beverage career recapped above.

We had a wonderful discussion about Central European culture and history, barely even touching on current business affairs, although I'd like to learn more about what Cezary and Neace have in mind for Falls City.

Meanwhile, early "pre-reviews" of Over the 9 have been stellar. I plan on meeting Cezary there soon, and giving it a sample.

Over the 9: Old 502 Winery "joins forces" with Falls City.

Here is Robin Garr's remix of the press release, as published at the Louisville Restaurants Forum. The Old 502 alliance with Falls City has been known but on the down low for a while; suffice to say that the Neace business empire has the resources to make good on the promise. It will be interesting, indeed.

FYI: It is rumored that Falls City seeks a brewer. Let me know if you're interested, and I'll forward to the right people.

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Old 502 Winery and Falls City Beer Plan Growth Through Partnership

Craft beer and wine destination planned for downtown Louisville

Two Louisville brands -- Old 502 Winery, Kentucky’s only urban winery, and Falls City Brewing Company, with its rich local history -- have joined forces to foster synergy and growth.

John Neace, owner of Old 502 Winery, has become an equity partner in Falls City Brewing Company. David Easterling, who reintroduced the Falls City brand 4 years ago, will remain chief executive officer of Falls City.

Falls City and Old 502 will be investing $1 million in a renovation project to create a craft beer and wine destination on 10th Street between Main and Market, at the current location of Old 502 Winery. The more than 35,000 square-foot complex spanning multiple buildings will feature both wine and beer production facilities, tasting rooms and indoor and outdoor event spaces, and serve as an anchor in the ongoing efforts to revitalize downtown areas west of 9th Street.

The renovation project will double the winemaking capacity for Old 502 and relocate Falls City’s production facility and tasting room currently located on Barret Ave.

“We’re creating Louisville’s craft beer and wine block,” said John Neace. “We believe this facility can be a hub for both beer and wine lovers, and also serve as a catalyst for not just our two brands, but for this part of town as well.”

The co-location of Old 502 and Falls City, and the new beer and wine hub, further expands Louisville’s focus as a food and beverage capitol, drawing culinary tourists from across the country and beyond.

“While both brands will maintain their unique and distinct identities, we believe that bringing them together ‘over the 9’ is going to be a big hit,” Easterling said. “The Old 502 and Falls City complex will offer a truly unique experience where patrons can enjoy locally-produced wine and beer in a top-notch venue.”

In addition to wine tastings and bottle purchases available currently at Old 502, visitors to the new craft beer and wine hub will also be able enjoy a pint, take home a growler or sample some special-edition and experimental Falls City brews. In addition to on-premise sales, the venue can also accommodate wedding receptions and large meetings.

Old 502 and Falls City expect the renovation of the craft beer and wine hub to be complete later this summer.

In addition to moving the brewery to the 10th St. location, both brands will benefit from an expanded sales force in the near future to better cover emerging markets in Ohio and Indiana.

“We’re excited to see the growth of these two brands and plan to continually reinvest to improve capacity,” said Neace, who added that long-term plans for Falls City include moving the production and bottle that currently takes place in Nashville to Louisville.

“These brands both have a history and a heritage that is uniquely Louisville, and we are focused on growing these brands in a way that reinvests in the city,” Neace said.

About Old 502 Winery

Located at 120 S. 10th Street in Downtown Louisville, Old 502 is an award-winning winery that produces a variety of unique wines that embrace the spirit of Kentucky. Using grapes grown by local farmers, Old 502 crafts some of the most eclectic — dare we say funky — wines you'll ever have the pleasure of tasting. The winery also boosts a tasting room and event space in its reclaimed 19th-century warehouse venue. Old 502’s products are sold in its tasting room and at over 200 retailers across the region.

About Falls City Beer

Falls City Brewing Company was formed in Louisville in 1905 and continued brewing in Louisville until 1978. At its peak, Falls City produced more than 700,000 barrels per year. David Easterling revived the brand and reintroduced Falls City to the Louisville market in February 2010. In the early days, Falls City made ales, such as the English Ale that can be found at most bars and restaurants in the Louisville area now. In addition the the English Ale, Falls City has American Wheat Ale and Hipster Repellant IPA in distribution and many other varieties (that are not distributed) available at the Falls City tasting room at 120 S. 10th St.

Idle 1980s thoughts about bad beers and old men.

I was thinking back to when my love affair began ... with bars, taverns and watering holes. It was before I began traveling, so these were the local spots -- some of them dives, others with slightly more dignified pretensions.

Seeing as I was just south of 21 when it started, pretty much all the patrons were older than me, and it seems that when it came to the old men, who in retrospect probably meant anyone older than 40, most of them were drinking traditional manly, old-man beers like Pabst, Sterling and Miller High Life.

At some point shortly thereafter, when I was in my mid-twenties, I became aware that almost all of them had switched to Lite, Bud Light and even Old Milwaukee Light. Price seemingly wasn’t the issue; if anything, they’d traded up and were paying more to cover the cost of Miller’s and Bud's television ads.

After long consideration, I concluded that a lifetime of Sterling and City finally had gotten to them, and when they realized that light beer was socially acceptable to their peers, under the rationalization that it was less filling, thus enabling them to drink even more beer than ever before, they fled their traditional brands as fast as their terminally damaged taste buds would carry them. Better the nothingness of wet air than something terminally foul ... and you could hear the sighs of relief in air-conditioned lounges and softball fields all across the nation.

It pleases me that local brands like City and Sterling are back, in altered form; in short, drinkable. The Pabst renaissance over the past two decades as yet puzzles me. It tastes nothing like the Pabst I remember. In fact, it tastes like nothing at all.

Wait, I forget; that's the point, isn't it?

Wednesday Weekly: Pornadoes at 15.

It would be my educated guess that visual cues are generally assumed to be the preferred tripwire for the re-establishment of errant memory. One looks at old photos, frayed synapses wriggle to renewed life, and it all comes back.

As I sit in my office trying to work amid storm windows rattling and wind gusts carrying small critters past my second-story field of view, it occurs to me that as surely as barometric changes prompt my aging knee to ache, weather conditions also prompt their fair share of memories -- along with smell, of course, although noses aren’t the point of today’s reflection.

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I no longer remember that long-anticipated April weekend “just like it was yesterday.” I cannot tell you who all attended the party, or which day it was held, Friday or Saturday. What I can tell you with certainty is that it felt very much like today feels.

Given the outcome, had any of us even bothered to take the weather into consideration?

After all, only three years earlier, the Louisville area had been wrecked by tornadoes. None actually touched down in Floyd County, and maybe that’s why we were so youthfully oblivious. Three years might as well have been thirty.

We were freshmen in high school, and the day in question was slated to be a memorable, historic occasion: The gang’s first (of what proved to be many) swill-soaked camping forays, out in the fields of the Floyds Knobs farm where one of one of my closest friends lived.

Caution was the watchword, and I directed my mother to drop me off at the foot of the gravel driveway that crossed the creek, and then snaked up the bluff. I walked to the staging area between the house and barn. For April, it seemed warm at first, but showed definite signs of cooling as the clouds slowly rolled in.

The campsite was being established, far enough away behind a copse of trees to shield our activities from prying eyes. It seemed like miles at the time, and probably totaled about a hundred yards. After arranging coolers of weenies and stacking wood for the fire, we hiked into the woods and back down the bluff, away from the driveway, where three cases of Falls City longnecks had been artfully hidden in the chilly waters of the creek by a friendly senior football player eager to spare a rising generation the miseries of sobriety.

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The perimeter secured amid darkening skies, I was rewarded with my first genuine bout of inebriation. This rite of passage was facilitated by two beers, maybe three, and was made tolerable by the icy flavorlessness of the liquid. It numbed my teeth, bolstered my confidence, and provided an escape from my persistent terrors of shyness, even if there were no girls present.

As we drank, we remained oblivious to the elements, paying little heed to the rising winds and droplets of cold rain heralding the storm’s arrival. However, a short distance away, my pal’s folks were paying very close attention, and with dusk and bad weather closing in, we saw the headlights from their pickup truck coming down the dirt path.

Drunken paranoia flared until we realized that they didn’t care one jot about our drinking. Rather, tornadoes had been spotted, and we needed to move the party, beer, burnt weenies and all to the barn I case it got any worse.

Relieved, everyone piled into the pickup and collapsed onto the metal bed, on their backs, staring up at the weird and swirling eternity. I swore aloud through stinging raindrops that I could see tornadoes fornicating – except it wasn’t the exact word I used, but you get the picture. Maybe you had to be there.

In the end, frantically coupling tornadoes didn’t disturb our consumption of the few remaining drops of beer, although the cold temperatures brought by the incoming front made the sharing of too few blankets interesting. It was the era of Top Forty radio hits, and someone turned on the tunes, which repeated dismally, again and again, the same songs over and over, with it being too cold for anyone to get up and turn the damn thing off.

The next morning I was cold, dirty, hung way over for the first time ever, and I had “Chevy Van” as an ear worm. I was offered fried eggs for breakfast and came close to vomiting. Careful to keep heretical thoughts to myself, I questioned whether the campout had been sufficiently fun to justify a return engagement.

The day after that, I was hooked for life.

Now it is 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23, 2011. The sun is gone, there’s a tornado watch, and I need a drink. The Falls City we have today is better than what we lugged up that hill 35 years ago, but there’s none in the house, just some leftover Smoked Abzug in a growler.

Might as well drink it before the power goes down, which reminds me ...

Falls City Taproom under construction.

Here are a couple views from last week of the future Falls City Taproom at 545 Barret Avenue, just down the street from The Silo (Louisville's first brewpub of the contemporary era (1992-circa 1997).

The Consuming Louisville blog has more, and I'm preparing a piece about Falls City for the pre-Derby issue of Food & Dining magazine.

Falls City Beer? It's in today's LEO.

A month ago I ran into David Easterling at River City Distributing annual beer expo, and he gave me the lowdown on his "new" Fall City, which I turned into a formal interview and wrote as one of my Mug Shots columns for LEO. In turn, my editor Sara Havens informed me that Kevin Gibson had already written a Falls City piece for the newspaper's pre-Derby Bar Guide, released today.

Much to my delight, we didn't approach the return of Falls City from the same angle (with one fatherly exception), and so both of us are published back to back in today's issue.

The return of Falls City beer - my interview and a bit of the brand's history.

New Falls City Catching on with local beer drinkers - Kevin visited two Louisville taverns for feedback from the drinking public.