Holy Grale is one of the best places in America for beer, but we didn't need click bait to know THAT.

I'll indulge this chain of busyness-oriented click bait for only one reason: Holy Grale deserves whatever notice it receives.

Holy Grale is a crown jewel of the Louisville beer scene.

Louisville beer bar ranked as one of best in U.S. for craft brews at Louisville Business First

Louisville's beer scene just keeps getting better. And now Business Insider has selected a local bar for its roundup of the best places for craft beer in America.

Curious about Business Insider? I was.

The New York Times reported in January 2014 that Business Insider's web traffic was comparable to that of The Wall Street Journal. However, the website has received widespread criticism for blatant clickbait and gets most of its "hits" from websites such as Yahoo News, where its articles are often posted. It has also been criticized for routinely putting publishing speed before fact checking.

It seems that click bait begets click bait. Forget the provocation, but remember to patronize Holy Grale early and often. It's been to damned long for me, and I hereby resolve to haul my posterior over there for a beer in the near future.

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Tyler and Lori and the great places they've created.

I've said it before, and will repeat it now.

I live vicariously through what Lori Beck, Tyler Trotter and their staff have achieved at the Louisville Beer Store, Holy Grale, and the Gralehaus. They've painstakingly realized ideas that are great fun to conjecture over endless servings of ale, but far harder to actually achieve in the real world.

Trust me on this point.

They've implemented and refined these great ideas and brought them to fruition. They've earned the plaudits they receive now and in the future. Now, read this fine profile of Tyler, Lori and their world(s).

Hauses of the holy: How Tyler Trotter and Lori Beck amassed the beer trifecta — Louisville Beer Store, Holy Grale and Gralehaus, by Sarah Balliet (LEO Weekly)

Lori Beck and Tyler Trotter are the power couple behind the Louisville Beer Store, the Holy Grale bar and restaurant, and the new Gralehaus cafe. Bringing a taste of Europe to Louisvillians — who can be fiercely loyal to Kentucky bourbon and Southern culinary traditions — is, in a word, gutsy. And they’ve taken some heat for it. When they opened the Louisville Beer Store in 2009, reviews were peppered with words like “pretentious” and “hipster.” Their growing pains have most recently included a two-year legal battle with a distributor, which Beck and Trotter are slogging through to keep their doors open. (Since they are still under scrutiny, that story will unfold later this year).

The Gralehaus. "From the same people who run Holy Grale."

It is without the slightest tinge of irony, and absent any discernible snark, that I say: I live vicariously through what Lori Beck, Tyler Trotter and their staff have done at the Holy Grale, and now the Gralehaus. They are not necessarily new or original ideas, but this is not the point at all; they've painstakingly realized these ideas, refined and built and implemented them, and deserve all the plaudits they receive now and in the future for doing so.

Congratulations, salutations and best wishes.

I wouldn't be human if I didn't concede a measure of bittersweet reflection. I've wanted to do something like the Gralehaus since those early days in Europe. For 1,001 reasons, ranging from serendipity through circumstance, and not omitting the very palpable fact that I've had neither the money nor the aptitude to pretend otherwise, it was not to be.  So it goes, with no tears shed and rear-view mirrors reduced to shards with a hammer. But my enthusiasm for the Grale empire is absolutely sincere. I've always known it was possible, and I'm simply elated that they've gotten it done.

Keep on rocking, guys.

The much-anticipated Gralehaus opens today, offering a new take on breakfast and lunch fare, by Steve Kaufman (Insider Louisville)

Kudos to Holy Grale and Sergio's for making Draft's "best beer bars" list.

National eyes have turned to the Louisville beer scene once again, and as someone who's been in the trenches for a quarter-century, constantly fighting these battles ... come to think of it, sometimes before many local commentators were even born ... let me just say that it's a wonderful thing, indeed.

And so, congratulations to Holy Grale and Sergio's. Louisville is richer because of  establishments like these, and I echo noted IPA lover Mr. Spock in saying: "Pour long and prosper, guys."

When we speak with craft beer lovers in other parts of the country, it's an unparalleled selling point to be able to tell folks that in addition to an ever-expanding local independent craft brewing scene in metro Louisville and the surrounding region, there are world-class beer bars aplenty -- in fact, some of the best anywhere.

Praise also is due the justly fabled Heorot in Muncie, Indiana, although Draft's list writer is plainly foolish to dismiss Indiana-at-large by suggesting the Heorot is "often the lone Indiana stop for craft brewers crossing the Midwest."

Really?

With more than a dozen local craft breweries in the Indianapolis area alone, not to mention Twenty Tap and other excellent purveyors in the state capital? But Heorot's inclusion is amply merited, and it is one of many reasons to visit Indiana for beer, something that can be said about the metro Louisville area as well.

Nostalgia nudges me. I fondly remember the warm feeling that recognition brings, as when the Public House was declared the 6th-best beer bar in the world all the way back in 2007, or when we made it into Stan's and Daria's "The Beer Lover's Guide to the USA" thirteen years ago, in 2000.

Cherish it, keep up the damned fine work, and thanks.

Draft Magazine's listing is here: America’s 100 best beer bars: 2013

And, at Insider Louisville, the Draft link with superfluous commentary (Windhoek?) from the nominal music writer: Polly Wanna History Lesson?

Urbain madness at LBS and Holy Grale, tonight and tomorrow -- and with NABC casks.

Reprinted below is the plan and pertinent details for Urbain "Struise" Coutteau's whereabouts tonight and tomorrow, at Louisville Beer Store and Holy Grale. NABC's contribution to the festivities are cask-conditioned Henna Black IPA and Yakima Rye IPA at LBS tonight, and yet another Yakima at Holy Grale on Saturday.

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Friday, May 6th (Derby Eve & Trolley Hop)-
DUB & GRUB at Louisville Beer Store
with special guests: Urbain Coutteau of Struise, John Host of Founders and the
3 Floyds crew
Starts at 7:00 p.m.
Jamaican food by Dirk Woods
Music by World Force Reggae (DJ's Ibuka & Basil)
Special tap line-up with beers from Struise, Founders, 3 Floyds, NABC and more!
*outdoor seating (music and food) is weather permitting

Saturday, May 7th - 1st annual DERBY BEER BALL
with special guests: Urbain Coutteau of Struise, John Host of Foundersand the
3 Floyds crew
Starts at 7:00 p.m.
Beer inspired snack menu ... we will cook good things to eat in beer
Track/garden attire preferred
Special tap line-up with beers from Struise, Founders, 3 Floyds, NABC and more!
*RSVP NOW, limited space available, email names in party to:
info(at)louisvillebeerstore.com

Lori has posted more details about The Urbain exchange: Struise meets the Midwest.

Holy Grale in the C-J today.

I don't always check the Courier-Journal on Saturday, which is restaurant review day. This morning over espresso, the thought occurred to me, and voila ... more wonderful press for good beer.

Congrats to Lori and Tyler.

Louisville Restaurant Review: Go medieval at Holy Grale, by Marty Rosen.

Drop in at Holy Grale, the pub/restaurant that opened late last year on Bardstown Road, and you may find yourself thinking once again in candlepower units and contemplating what it might have been like to drop in at the neighborhood pub during the heyday of Gothic architecture, when triptychs — like the one behind the bar — were in vogue, when lancet arches were all the fashion, and when chivalrous knights spent their days questing after the Holy Grail and their nights boasting over mugs of wholesome ale.