Recap: "Excellent Beer Gardening Adventure" at Hidden Hill on July 10.

Saturday’s beer gardening adventure was excellent, indeed. Bob (“Hidden” Hill) and Rog (that’s me) both were pleased, with more than 200 people in attendance for a first-time event running against the Forecastle music fest in Louisville. Folks were nice, their questions and comments were good, and there was nothing unfavorable about it.

Chef Josh sold out of food, and the Non-Tiki Lounge – tended by David Pierce -- under the trees was a big hit. There are many things to like about the Hidden Hill nursery as a venue, including the reigning serendipity of the sculpture and green layouts. It appeals to me that while Hidden Hill is perhaps six miles form downtown Louisville as the crow flies, there’s a sense of isolation. You could be 500 miles away.

A bonus for me was that my station dispensing Elector samples by the Pasture Door was next to Jeff “Persimmon Forge” Reinhardt’s mobile blacksmith shop, and coal smoke always makes me thirsty, as well as nostalgic for the Eastern Europe of youthful travels. Blacksmithing is a small but flourishing subculture, and it was fascinating to learn a bit more about the artisan side.

We’ll do another Hidden Hill gig some time next year. Thanks to everyone who worked and attended.

Previously:

The brochure for Saturday's epochal "Excellent Beer Gardening Adventure" at the Hidden Hill Nursery.

The brochure for Saturday's epochal "Excellent Beer Gardening Adventure" at the Hidden Hill Nursery.

Click to view enlargements.

Chef Josh's Hidden Hill picnic menu and NABC beers on site.

This event continues to evolve. Yesterday, I posted this:

Saturday, July 10: Bob's and Rog's Excellent Beer Gardening Adventure, at Hidden Hill Nursery in Utica.

Subsequently, Chef Josh Lehman provided these contents of his picnic basket, priced a la carte, and told me there could be a few more items added to the menu.

Cold Asian Noodles with Peanut Sauce
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Orange
Watermelon Gazpacho
Fingerling Potato Salad with Bacon and Creme Fraiche

Samples and full pours (cash bar) of these NABC favorites will be there, too, along with a few growler surprises (think: Hoptimus):

Beak's Best
Community Dark
Elector
Mt. Lee

We're working on the text of the pairings. Thanks to the volunteers who'll be helping man the sampling stations on the grounds.

Saturday, July 10: Bob's and Rog's Excellent Beer Gardening Adventure, at Hidden Hill Nursery in Utica.

This will be a loosely organized, mellow day: Coming July 10: Bob's and Roger's Excellent "Nursery Beer" Adventure.

Volunteers needed for Bob's and Rog's Excellent Beer Gardening Adventure at Hidden Hill, this Saturday.

I know that it is Forecastle weekend coming up, but: If any of my friends reading here (a) possesses an Indiana alcohol server's permit and (b) would be able to help NABC at Bob's and Rog's Excellent Beer Gardening Adventure at the Hidden Hill nursery between 3 and 7 on Saturday, please let me know, ASAP. We're doing a beer sampling/beer garden along with Bob Hill at his place, and need a few helpers, terms negotiable. Thanks in advance.

Coming July 10: Bob's and Roger's Excellent "Nursery Beer" Adventure.

Last year, Mr. and Mrs. Curmudgeon made the short drive to Utica, Indiana (that's a bit past Jeffersonville, for the uninitiated) for our first experience at Hidden Hill Nursery, Bob and Janet Hill's labor of love, situated on the grounds of the farm they've inhabited for the past 30-plus years. The photos here should give you an idea of the creativity and serendipity on display.

Many readers will remember Bob from his years as columnist for the Courier-Journal, and his decade-long gig on HomeGrown on 89.3 WFPL. They may not know that he got his start at university on a basketball scholarship -- he's taller than the Curmudgeon himself.

During that first visit, Bob and I began conspiring to stage a low-key "gardens + beer, food and music" outing at Hidden Hill. A rough outline has emerged:

Nature & Craft Beer with NABC at Hidden Hill in Utica

Saturday, July 10
3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Free admission

The nursery already contains themed areas of landscaping, plants and sculpture. There will be five or six NABC sample (2-oz) stations around the nursery grounds. Visitors can roam among them using a map, which will include written nursery/beer “pairings” written by Bob and Roger.

There's a ready-made central seating area between the house and nursery center, which we'll transform into a "beer garden," with a cash NABC beer bar and Chef Josh Lehman's special Hidden Hill picnic menu. There'll be music with a bluegrass or roots tinge, and people can wander around the nursery, enjoy the free samples and pairings, and then sit for a bit under the trees and listen, eat and drink.

Mark your calendars for Juy 10, and stay tuned for further information.