Jesse Williams stars in new NABC ad.

Here's the recent ad that Tony designed for the Louisville Restaurants Forum, including the best photo of NABC's brewer, Jesse Williams, ever viewed hereabouts.

A new arrival.

NABC's brewer Jesse Williams and wife Angie welcomed a new Williams and NABC family member on Thursday, 24 September as Clara Lynn Park (6 lbs, 6 oz, 19 in) was born.

Barflies note: Jesse does like cigars.

NABC brewing schedule for the remainder of 2009 (part two).

As the first batches brewed at NABC’s Bank Street Brewhouse near completion (if I remember correctly, we’re trying to have 15-B and Elector ready for serving by August 21), here’s a second look at what we’ll be trying to achieve in terms of brewing schedules and releases.

Most of the following originates with Jared Williamson, who has been brainstorming ways for the original garage brewery to produce seasonals and specialties. I’ve used his words and merely rearranged them. Remember that this is an outline, and subject to alteration.

However, it bears noting that one of the goals remains to establish a brewing schedule that permits a NABC Brewer’s Choice series, allowing each brewer (Jared, Jesse and Dave) to be creative and brew a batch of whatever comes of their inspiration. It happens when it happens, minds are blown, and the new creations are released one at a time.

Other series suggested by Jared:

Single Hop APA’s

Showcasing the different hops used in our main beers, with precisely the same malt bill (preferably, organic malt). Brewed so that two at a time can be released in the form of a comparison: “Nugget vs. Summit,” or “Cascade vs. Golding,” at 6% abv and 60 IBUs each.

“Foot” Themed Stouts

Thunderfoot is the pimp daddy, and so in its wake, a series of various styles of Stout and fusions of those could be brewed, all of them with “foot” in the name. They would be released one at a time throughout the year.

Session Dry Stout = Weefoot.
Coffee Stout = Morningfoot.
Sour Stout = Grumpyfoot (Roger endorses this one).
Belgian Stout = Leopold’s Foot.
Russian Imperial Stout = Tsarfoot.

Aged/Vintage:

Here are beers that have been brewed at Grant Line, but have yet to be released because they are still aging:

5th Anniversary (October 2007; 2 x ½ bbl)
Thunderfoot (February 2009; 8 x ½ bbl)
Malcolm’s Old Setters Ale (January 2009; 8 x ½ bbl)
Elsa von Horizon (June 2009; 14 x ½ bbl)

Brewing collaborations in the works:

NABC/Schlafly (St. Louis MO) Smoked APA/ConeSmoker … Tentative in terms of time frame, looking at late September/early October brewdate at the Schlafly Taproom.

NABC/Shoreline (Michigan City IN) … Brewer Sam Strupeck will be in New Albany in September, and we’ve invited him to brew a special batch of something.

NABC/Huber’s Winery (Starlight IN) … barrel aged (their wine, spirit barrels), with the beer(s) hopefully brewed by us and racked by late 2009 or early 2010.

The Propagator and the Propaganda - Viva Che!

By John Campbell

Day 3 of the brewery installation. Come in for a beer and watch it come together, that's why we made the walls out of glass, ya know.

David and Jesse connecting Che, the yeast propagator:




David and the Brewhouse:





The Stormtroopers:


Meanwhile, Josh is creating edible art, Nasty is holding up the bar, the forklift door has been installed in the new malt room, and Dave and Jesse continue piecing together the future...

"We must spread our principles, not with words but with deeds, for this is the most popular, the most potent, and the most irresistible form of propaganda." - Mikhail Bakunin

Musings on the hiring.

Okay, so we’ve hired David Pierce to join the NABC team.

You have questions. Why? Now what?

It’s important to understand that Dave brings a perfectly complementary set of professional skills to an existing brew team that includes our longtime brewers of record, Jesse Williams and Jared Williamson.

From the start, we’ve been a brewpub brewery, and as such, we’ve had the luxury of indulging a full range of creative artistry on the part of the current brewers (and Michael Borchers before them). The fact that we’ve always aimed for flexible stylistic interpretations as a means of weaving our house beers into the broader palette of the many beers on tap at the Public House means that we now have distinctive brands to deliver to a wider world. Without that, there’d be no brewing expansion plan.

Accordingly, our brewing expansion plan alters the old dynamic, but not in terms of fundamental creativity. Now, there are added challenges posed by consistency and production on a larger scale, and the efficient distribution of the finished product to our wholesalers, first in kegs, and then later, in cans.

That’s why Dave is on board. Remember that it’s a challenge for him, too, because it will be the first time he has undertaken to brew and ship someone else’s formulas. He's a pro's pro. 'Nuff said.

I’m sure that at some point in the future, Dave will be able to brew his own creative ideas, probably at the smaller Grant Line brewery, along with Jesse and Jared, as part of a brewmaster’s signature series. I can’t wait, although for now, the plan is to receive the brewery, build the brewery, and then brew our existing beers for distribution to metro Louisville and the state of Indiana.

The sooner this gets underway, the better, and the closer we’ll get to the next stages.

Does this help explain matters more clearly?

Jesse Williams on national television this morning.

CNN Headline News apparently picked it up from Louisville's WHAS-11. It's a piece on hop prices, and NABC's Jesse Williams comments.

Beer makers raise prices

Good work ... rotten topic!

Close enough to Broadway: Newark readers learn of NABC's existence.

Readers will recall that in May, NABC’s brewers traveled to Washington, DC, to participate in the first SAVOR beer and food gala.

SAVOR in DC this weekend, and NABC will be there.

It turns out that Jesse Williams scored a column inch or two of coverage. Read all the way to the bottom of the article, which is quite good.

Beer heads: Brewmakers gather to promote suds with sustenance, (Wednesday, May 28, 2008) … by John Holl, The Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey.

St. Louis Microfest wrap-up: Praise for NABC's brew crew.

Regular readers will recall that NABC’s Jesse Williams, Jared Williamson and Richard Atnip made the drive to St. Louis for last weekend’s 12th Annual St. Louis Microfest.

Back in New Albany, I received a text message from Jared at 6:10 p.m.:

40 gallons in 4 hrs. 1st out of beer.

Sounded like a success to me, and then came another text:

2 silvers: mens and womens choice – Hoptimus.

Even better. It turns out that a “fan voting” is conducted, and Hoptimus was the second favorite of males and females. Since a different beer was the “gold” in each category, that would seem to make Hoptimus the highest vote getter and overall choice of the fest goers. In this vein, the brew crew might enjoy reading this endorsement from a Beer Advocate correspondent:

… Forgot to mention that New Albanian once again stole the show. Great cherry imperial stout, Hoptimus IIPA, Kentucky Common (sour ale), CA common (grassy as can be CA common) and Imperial Pilsner. I have to take a road trip to their brewery as some point - killer quality from these guys. They got two silver metals - I'm not sure what for since they couldn't even tell me what they won them for. Long day, lots of beer, who can blame them for not knowing.

Well, 40 gallons in four hours at a couple ounces a throw would give anyone temporary amnesia. Here’s another nice comment that arrived via e-mail:

I tasted your beer again this year at the STL Microfest, you guys are excellent. You brew a "brewers" brew. Excellent, really great beers, my favorite at the festival.

My purpose in recounting the St. Louis experience is to make sure that Jesse and Jared get the credit they deserve. I realize that sometimes this isn’t the case, as the Publican has been known to attract a disproportional amount of attention and to suck all the air out of big rooms.

However, I understand that our future growth as a company is highly likely to come from the brewhouse far more so than the other things we do as a business, so kudos to the brewers. You’ll be hearing more about them in the months to come.