BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Headlines from July 2018 on the beer beat.

This blog has gone on hiatus, probably permanently, and primarily because 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, The Beer Beat, although I'm in the process of changing the column title to Beer with a Socialist. For the foreseeable future, I'll retain both labels for ease of searching.

At the end of each month I'll still collect the links right here.

Following are July (2018) ruminations, with the oldest listed first. Some of these posts are more topical than others. On occasion, there'll be references to beer in posts using "Beer with a Socialist" or "The Beer Beat" as a label, though not a title.

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

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Catch up on your reading with these links. First, pour a damn beer.

Exhausted, we bivouacked by a street pockmarked by sharrows, across from a corporate multi-tap. A squad was sent to reconnoiter. They were shaken and ashen-faced upon return: "Rows and rows of IPAs, hazy and mango and coffee-infused -- what are we to do?" The major's gaze hardened. "Drink 'em," he replied. "Drink 'em all, and let God sort it out." #secondcivilwarletters

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: On beer lists, beer-speak, and beer geeksplaining.

In retrospect, the three-ring binder beer list at the Public House was my "Dark Side of the Moon." How do you make another album after that?

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Recalling "Love on the Beach" and taking note of changing times.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: "One German pub owner is still serving at 87."

Clocking in at a mere 12 minutes, this is a gem of a brief Deutsche Welle news profile, or perhaps a mini-documentary. Surprisingly layered, little bits of the story keep emerging as Hildegard Schweinsberg works a Thursday at her pub in Neuhaus, near Schwerin on what would have been the DDR side of the border during the period of Germany's division.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: "Light Beer? Not Here," and other Public House beer list views from 1998.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Flint Michigan Tap Water? “Walt Disney knew what he was doing and I plan on making Lakeville the Walt Disney of beers.”

On the topic of buffoonery, excrement and world class douchebaggery, there's this. It may be the first time in my life that I feel sorry for Walt Disney.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Glory days in the bike saddle at the Radler Tankstelle.

Somewhere along the way in Germany or Austria I saw a pictograph of a man on a bicycle hoisting a foamy stein of beer: "Radler Tankstelle, 100 meters."

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Bell's Two Hearted Ale is an iconic American classic.

It's my recollection that we first poured Bell's Two Hearted Ale at the Public House around 2002. It was among the first regional IPAs we could get on a dependable basis at a good price point, and Centennial hops were a big deal at the time. In my world, they still are.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Pints&union beer list theory and practice.

Owner Joe Phillips' plan for Pints&union has continued to evolve since we first began brainstorming. There will be food, cocktails, wine and an old-school pub atmosphere. There won't be television. When I dropped by there yesterday, Joe had Blur and Liam Gallagher playing on the sound system, though not simultaneously.

Of course, even monks clinging to Tibetan mountainsides know that my personal contribution to Pints&union is the beer program, which is why I typically have less to say about the other aspects of the pub. Beer has been my life, and I'm thankful to Joe for the opportunity to reformat the better beer experience for another generation of pub-goers.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: When Old Mister Lew tells a story, you're advised to listen closely.

It's an American "craft" (microbrew?) history lesson from Professor Bryson, but don't panic. Think corrections, not catastrophe. The scene may seem to be in upheaval, but as Lew entertainingly points out, we've all been here before -- in the late 1990s.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Pints&union will be opening later this week.

The obscure and long-awaited regulatory incantation from the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission arrived this morning, freeing the way for the doors to Pints&union to be opened to the public at some point later this week.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Kevin Gibson's look at Pints&union in Insider Louisville KY.

As always, Kevin's reporting is impeccable, so read all about it -- and there are photos, too. Just don't ask me to tell you exactly when. When everything's ready, that's when.

Meanwhile, I'm like a kid in the damn candy store, albeit with back and knees throbbing from stocking cans and bottles today. It feels wonderful. The keg boxes are almost ready to pour; just a few more tweaks tomorrow.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: The forthcoming beer list at Pints&union (bottle and can edition).

Old-timers will notice the presence of "comfort beers," "neglected classics" and "greatest beer hits" alongside beers like Stroh's, Old Style and Little Kings. The juxtaposition is purely intentional.

Indeed, it's a more egalitarian list than I would have written at the peak of polemical fervor, with fewer local craft brews; as noted previously, in my view the revolution has succeeded in large measure, and there are numerous American craft beers being vended in downtown New Albany.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: A Pints&union preview in the News and Tribune.

Now for another pub preview, courtesy of the local newspaper. As of about 2:00 p.m. today, all the draft lines should be up and running, and a big shout-out goes to Kenny Henson of Monarch Beverage/World Class Beer for his efforts in fine-tuning the keg boxes. Joe and the rest of the team have been putting in the hours. All that remains is to tie up 1,001 loose ends and unlock the door.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: A casual soft opening for Pints&union on a frenetic Friday evening in downtown New Albany.

Pints&union cleared its first hurdle on Friday evening. It was a very soft opening, with beers and drinks and nibbles.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Against the Grain to Citra its Ass Down in Okinawa.

As such, perhaps it's to be expected that a brewery priding itself on eclecticism and dirty underwear would find a locale like Okinawa, which goes against the Japanese grain.

Good work, gentlemen.

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BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Kalin Tavern, where a passport is required to cross the barroom.

At Conde Nast Traveler, Ken Jennings writes about a tavern divided.

The Google street view above dates to 2013, affording a clean view of the Kalin Tavern on the left (note the awnings) and the border blockade running right across the street.

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The past month 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 a month's worth of them, with the blockbuster first.

THE BEER BEAT: The rumorama insists that Bluegrass Brewing Company (St. Matthews) will soon cease operations, but is a plot twist coming?

As for my sporting habits, times have changed, as have the beers that used to accompany them.

THE BEER BEAT: Football, how it used to be for me, why I seldom watch it at all -- and don't even mention those horrid beers.

My recent podcast was tremendous fun.

THE BEER BEAT: In which we talk beer on the "Flies on the Wall" podcast at Crescent Hill Radio.

For greater insight as to why people would ever stand in line for rare beers, there is this wonderful essay by Bryan Roth, otherwise known as "my kind of beer writing."

THE BEER BEAT: Rarity, beer quality, authenticity, and why it's so difficult to love the beer you're with.

Lew rocks.

THE BEER BEAT: The beer and whiskey that Lew Bryson wants to drink in 2017.

There was a roundup of Southern Indiana beer news.

THE BEER BEAT: News and views from local breweries, and an incredible Uff-da.

And, if you're not aware of the Pearl Street Taphouse, you need to be.

THE BEER BEAT: The Pearl Street Taphouse in downtown Jeffersonville.

Lew Bryson on "craft" beer's serious issues, and the looming shakeout.

Prepare yourself for a hyperbole-free reality check, courtesy of Lew Bryson.

Craft Beer’s Looming Crisis, by Lew Bryson (Daily Beast)

Here's the good news/bad news pivot, one that reinforces the point that brewers with a strong community presence and local roots have an advantage or two, but trust me, you'll want to click through and read the whole essay:

... As consumers become increasingly interested in locally-made products, there has been a rise in beer bought in brewery tasting rooms, which is much more profitable for a brand considering it cuts out several middlemen from the transaction.

So much beer is purchased there, in fact, that some people think category sales are significantly under-reported by retail sales-tracking services like IRI or Nielsen, which rely on register data from large store chains. Industry consultant David “Bump” Williams, who once ran IRI’s beer data division, thinks the amount is significant. He estimates that 20 percent or more of total craft beer sales go unreported. (He also points out that for some small breweries, meaning those that produce less than 20,000 barrels a year, direct sales are the only way their brews are available.) It’s a rapidly growing phenomenon, and one that could very well account for a percentage of the disappearing growth rate.

But even if one figures in direct brewery sales, the recent meteoric rise of craft beers can’t go on forever. If sales of the category continued at 2015’s rate of 12.8 percent, the entire U.S. beer market would be, well, completely craft in 17 years. That’s simply not going to happen.

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THE must-read for 2016, from Lew Bryson: "IPA is a playground; it’s not a prison."

Pete's Landscape of Beers (circa 1990).

Lew's remarkable rumination comes along at just the right time, when my mind is filled with plans and schemes to recapture some of the lost joy by simplifying my approach and maybe ... MAYBE ... getting back to my roots.

The counter-revolution.

At last, maybe it's here.

Enlist me in the Michael "Beer Hunter" Jackson Brigade, please.

WE CHANGED THE WORLD … FOR THIS?, by Lew Bryson (All About Beer Magazine)


... It took 30 years, but we’ve almost come full circle. Back in the ’80s, almost everywhere you went offered you a choice of light lagers, and maybe a Guinness or a Bass, and if you were lucky, a cream ale. Now most of the places I visit offer me a broad choice of IPAs, and maybe a couple of sours or saisons, and a couple of big dark ales. There may be a pilsner, if I’m lucky; it’s probably hopped to the gills.

It’s so boring! We’ve reached the point where brewers are stuffing things into IPAs to make them more interesting: grapefruit, peppers, ginger, lemons, blood oranges, flowers. One brewer had the tongue-in-cheek puckishness to describe his IPA as “beer-flavored.” I can’t decide whether I should salute or punch him in the nose ...

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Lew Bryson: "It was pretty much an article of faith that the very Beer Gods were German, with maybe a small antechamber in the pantheon for the Czechs."

The first week of March was difficult.

Seven years on the Brewers of Indiana Guild was a hard habit to break, and while my final BIG conference and annual meeting was wonderful, time before and after it spent in mourning wasn't conducive to writing about beer. Slowly, the recovery has taken hold. Day by day, you know.

I kept this article back, thinking there might be something to say, but Lew doesn't need my supplementary testimony.

I'll add only that these past two or three years has been about rediscovering my inner lager. As in so many other areas of personal interest, freeing my brain from the constant stress of beer wars-laden trench warfare is having an amazingly salutary effect.

We're visiting Tallinn, Estonia in April, with a side excursion to Finland. I've done the research and know which bar and breweries are "craft." They won't be the only ones I sample.

THE HOTTEST NEW THING: LAGERS!, by Lew Bryson (All About Beer Magazine)

 ... Why crown lager with this success in craft beer “culture,” on the craft beer “scene,” in the craft beer “niche”? Could it be lager’s smooth body, purity of flavor, or the way cold-aged lager tastes great at that natural maturation temperature? Maybe it’s the way lager is just good to drink and doesn’t crush your tastebuds with bitterness, or draw up your entire oral cavity with astringent burnt malt character, or pucker you up like a love-struck chimp with acidity and loosen your bowels with bacteria? (Don’t worry, I signed the loyalty pledge: “I, Lew Bryson, love IPAs, imperial stouts, sours and wild ales. They are the bestest.”) Could it be because we just needed another beer to crown as “the next IPA”?

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

As noted in January, Lew Bryson has returned to beer and beer blogging. Happily, he's been beating the drum about Session Beer Day, 2016.

Specifically, Lew has issued a challenge to brewers.

SESSION BEER DAY 2016 IS ON!

... If you're a brewer interested in participating, it's simple. The "session IPA" has taken over the American session beer category, when it was supposed to be a meta-category, a category that would include many different types of beer at 4.5% and less. Session beer awareness is supposed to be about increasing choices for the beer drinker...and we largely got one extra choice out of it.

Snap out of it! Take this opportunity to show off your skills and make a session-strength beer, 4.5% or less (you can do it; you can go lower!), that doesn't rely on shouting hops for all its character. We get it, brewers know how to make a light, wildly hoppy beer: EVERY brewer's doing it.

Be different! On April 7th, show us some real innovation, or some real skills to make a beautiful example of a classic session-strength beer that stands apart from the herd of 'monkey-see, monkey-do' dialed-down IPAs.

I cannot "like" this sentiment often enough. This year's Session Beer Day takes place on Thursday, April 7, and I feel a scheme coming on.

Of course, for several years at NABC, I've tried to coordinate Session Beer Day as the de facto "close" of Gravity Head. Lew was in town once for the occasion. I'm no longer in a position to make NABC's observance happen, and cannot be sure if it will. In fact, I've been shrugging so often lately that I may be compelled to break with practice and visit a chiropractor.

But I've bounced the date off Rick Stidham at Akasha Brewing Company in Louisville, who thinks he might have as many as three session beers pouring. He'd like to do something to mark the occasion. There is no firm plan (yet) apart from holding a ceremony at Akasha later in the afternoon, and yet this should be sufficient to keep the tradition alive.

As for me, I'm toying with the idea of starting before lunch and traversing downtown Louisville on foot, much like Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's Ulysses -- walking from brewery to brewery, and having a session beer at each. Most usually have at least once 4.5% choice available on draft.

I'm doing pints, and won't be driving. If I could manage this without a single "Session IPA," it would suit me just fine.

The brewery list, traveling roughly west to east, would be Falls City, Gordon Biersch, BBC 3rd Street, Against the Grain, Goodwood and Akasha. Others might be too far away to walk, but perhaps they could sell kegs to Akasha for duty on the guest taps.

I know: It's a work day, and so is Friday. However, if you're interested in joining me, let me know. I just may see you on Session Beer Day, 2016.

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Lew Bryson cuts cord, returns to blogging, has an occasional drink.

Man with a plan. And cigar.

He calls it Seen Through A Glass.

Lew Bryson's blog: beer, whiskey, other drinks, travel, eats, whatever strikes my fancy.

I chose to wait a couple of weeks before pointing in the direction of Lew's revived blog. At the beginning of the year, he explained the renaissance.

Hello Again

Beer eventually led me to realize that editing was not what I wanted to spend -- let's be frank -- the remaining years of my career doing. I want to write more, and I want to write about beer, and whiskey, and food, and travel, and even some fiction ideas I have. To do that, I had to cut the cord again...and here I am again. Blogging. Freelance. Writing.

At the merest mention of ideas in the context of beer, I'm giddy. After all, cluelessness often has encroached ...

All Flippers Go To Hell

I'm talking about beer and whiskey flippers. These are the folks who pick up rare or hyped bottles and immediately turn about and sell them at a jacked-up price for substantial profit, legally or illegally (most states don't allow the sale of alcohol beverages, even so much as one bottle, without a license). 

 ... and it's important to remember:

Craft Beer: Big Enough To Fail

Make your choice. Just remember how we got to where we are, and what we had to go through to get there. It's just beer, but...it's beer.

Lew calls it Seen Through A Glass, and you should make it a point to be reading.

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In observance of Session Beer Day, 2015.

NABC celebrated Session Beer Day early this year, but today is the official marker nationwide. Lew Bryson's Session Beer Project has a web site and is on Facebook. Also see Happy Days are Here, Again! It's Session Beer Day! at Yours for Good Fermentables. Following is a repeat of last year's column. Anyone for a pint of Ordinary?


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It is Session Beer Day. Long live session. We've come a long way to get back to first principles, and that's okay. It may be time for a beer.

There is somewhat of a digression to all of this.

Occasionally a cliché bears passing resemblance to reality, and recalling the eagerness of every politician to stump by heaping effusive praise on the genius of good, old-fashioned American workplace creativity, permit me to note that in spite of all my various and cranky complaints, this characterization is spot-on when it comes to contemporary American brewing.

Seeing as New Albion was born during the nation’s Bicentennial year, we’re now almost 40 years into the American brewing renaissance. There now are more than 3,000 working breweries in the United States, collectively producing thousands of different beers.

If there’s one approximate generalization to be made as to where these breweries have come from, and where they’re going, it probably would be this: The boundaries of previously accepted beer style have been pushed, pushed – and pushed again. Often, they have become unrecognizable.

In today’s brewing circles, creativity and extremism have too often become synonymous, with good and bad implications. On the positive side, “extreme” beers twist and expand style definitions, combining unexpected characteristics and conjuring innovative, over-the-top specialties: Cherrywood-smoked Imperial Saison? India Pale Ale with coffee? Beers aged in every sort of used barrel known to man?

All veritable child’s play, these days.

Conversely, the alcohol contents of such creations can be as extreme as the recipes, and have been known to cause blood alcohol machines to proclaim “tilt” before collapsing in a heap of fractured plastic and rusted metal. That’s why at reputable establishments, you see extreme beers served in small glasses.

It remains that throughout human history, revolution inevitably begets complicated cycles of counter-revolution, reaction and retrenchment, and many beer aficionados are joining me by turning back to what is commonly referred to as “session” beer. But credit must go where credit is due, and the prime mover in session advocacy these past few years is beer writer Lew Bryson, who defines his terms at Session Beer Project:

► 4.5% alcohol by volume or less
► flavorful enough to be interesting
► balanced enough for multiple pints
► conducive to conversation
► reasonably priced

In fact, there is a “back to the future” aspect to the revival of session beers. All the European brewing cultures from which today's brewing have drawn inspiration always featured “smaller” beers for daily consumption. Because virtually all American mass-market lagers eventually devolved to smallness, with flavor a forgotten afterthought, new age brewing arguably found its greatest success in going big, but this doesn’t change the question.

Can a beer be lower in alcohol without sacrificing flavor?

There is little doubt it can be, and metro Louisville breweries tend to have fine examples on tap. At NABC, we try to keep three session-strength ales flowing at our two locations, year-round. One of Against the Grain’s revolving style pours is Session. Apocalypse, the BBCs, Cumberland … all have beers during the year that dip below the mark and retain plenty of flavor.

On the occasion of Session Beer Day, permit me to reiterate: Having been there and done that, the very notion of session beer reanimates the pleasing imagery that drew me to beer in the first place: Pints to return to, with good conversation and perhaps a cigar (mood and weather willing); imbibed in a clean, well-lighted joint or a breezy garden; and not so strong that I lose the power of speech. Localism and session are intertwined, and go together like Best Bitter and bangers & mash.

I’ll always enjoy the higher echelons of alcohol in beer, but for me, they’ve become reserved largely for special occasions – as was the case for centuries. Meanwhile, session beer signifies coming full circle, back to a more relaxed beer-drinking ethos. The vigorous chase is for youth. Craft (and craftiness) are better suited to a more mature perspective.

At least that’s today’s rationalization, and I’m sticking to it.

Have mercy ... Lew's been waiting for the bus all day.

Not really; just 45 minutes each way.

It isn't for the purpose of name-dropping that I mention drinking a few beers with Lew Bryson yesterday afternoon.

Lew flew into Louisville with a relatively brief window of opportunity for having a drink with me. Early on, he mentioned a bus to Bank Street Brewhouse, and upon learning that BSB is closed on Monday, replied that the same bus serviced the Pizzeria & Public House.

I'm not sure what I thought he meant by bus, but I wasn't interpreting it literally, at least until I drove over to the Pizzeria & Public House to meet him, and learned that Louisville's Transit Authority of River City (TARC) does in fact run buses connecting both our locations, and do so in a roughly timely fashion. Lew got on the bus in front of the 21C Museum Hotel and got off in front of the Grant Line Road Kroger ... drank four pints of beer ... and then reversed the process.

There's something pleasingly sessionable and egalitarian about all this. Now Lew has to work (i.e., drink bourbon) for a few days, but his lesson in public transportation is much appreciated, and I must reluctantly discard my defunct 15-year-old anecdote about taking the 2.5-hour-long, one-way bus -- actually three buses with two separate half-hour layovers -- from Grant Line Road to Bluegrass Brewing Company in St. Matthews.

In 2013: Looking forward to NABC's Session Series, Session Head, and Session Beer Day.

The photo was taken at the American Distilling Institute's conference in April, held at Huber's Orchard, Winery, Vineyards and Starlight Distillery in Starlight. We dispensed beer to thirsty participants, and because I knew Lew Bryson would be there, I wasn't about to miss a chance to have session-strength Community Dark (NABC has been making it for ten years, now) on hand. What you see in front is the cold plate cooler, and that's Lew to the right, moving toward the taps ... as is his habit in such situations.

Note that Session Beer Day is scheduled for Sunday, April 7, 2013. NABC will celebrate SBD at Bank Street Brewhouse with our own beers, and then on Monday, there'll be some of our beers as well as guests on tap at the Pizzeria & Public House for what we're calling Session Head, a "smaller" follow-up to the traditionally "big" Gravity Head ... which begins on Friday, February 22, and will be winding down by the first week of April. Mark your calendars now, and check back for updates next year.

Lew Bryson's ADI conference coverage.

My reasons for attending the American Distilling Institute's annual conference (April 1 - 4, 2012) included the gathering's close proximity to home, a visit by a friend, a desire to take a few days off work, and a measure of simple curiosity about craft distilling. I found it fascinating, although in truth, much of what intrigued me was less about pure distilling theory and practice than those areas of distillation that overlap with beer and brewing.

Most obviously, before alcohol can be concentrated by distillation, it must be fermented from a mash, and this is the point of considerable convergence.

Consequently, a high point for me was a panel discussion featuring three brewers who also distill, and without going into great detail, each of them offered thoughts on certain "traditional" distilling practices (mashing, fermentation) from the perspective of the contemporary generation of craft brewers, and how old-timey distillers could learn from New Age brewers. I'm sure these thoughts would constitute heresy in some quarters, and as such, I was thrilled to hear them. Throughout human history, heresy has been the most useful precondition for revolution. I might become a spirits drinker yet.

As previously noted here, writer Lew Bryson was in town for the conference, and spirits are his game as much as beer. For far better ADI confab coverage than I can muster, following are links to Lew's thoughts at John Hansell's Whisky Advocate Blog.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Sticking a toe in the (distilled) water at the ADI annual conference.

Lew Bryson's in town for the American Distilling Institute's annual conference. The ADI gig runs through Wednesday at Huber's Orchard, Winery, Vineyards and Starlight Distillery, and ironically, after Lew returns home, NABC will be having much fun with Session Beer Day on Saturday, April 7.

My friend Jared Austin from The Big Easy came up to attend the conference, and as Lew explains in this posting at Seen Through A Glass, we three coincided at Bank Street Brewhouse on a beautiful Sunday afternoon: Run-up to ADI: Mecklenburg Gardens, and Louisville beers.

Lew gave us a ride to the Brown Hotel for ADI registration, and he continues the story at the Whisky Advocate Blog, where this week he'll continue to file reports on the conference. It's always such a pleasure to see Lew, and it was quite the scene outside the English Grill at the Brown, with three big guys drinking and laughing (prior to becoming a quartet when New Holland's Fred Bueltmann sat down on the adjacent upholstery).

NABC's Richard Atnip will be pouring beers for attendees tomorrow (and perhaps lunch on Wednesday) at the Huber Plantation Hall. I'm enjoying a couple of semi-vacation days (daze) and will provide reports if the mood strikes.

Speaking of radical insurgencies, Session Beer Day is Saturday, April 7.

David Pierce brought this to my attention this evening, and I can't think of a craft beer concept that appeals to me more at the present time. Props as always go to writer Lew Bryson, who has been pushing this session consciousness notion for a while now. NABC will take part in this exercise, and our Extraordinary (Ordinary Bitter) will be ready for drinking by the 7th, but you'll need to give us a few days to come up with details.  

Session Beer Day, April 7!

I suggested to the members of the small (but rapidly growing) Session Beer Project page on Facebook that we should make April 5th (4.5) or April 7th (Little Repeal Day, when 4.0% ABV beer became legal before repeal of the 18th Amendment) our day, Session Beer Day. We could ask for session beers at our favorite bars, and brewpubs, and suchlike, invite people to try them, gin up plenty of social media whoopee, and all dat. 

NABC Smoked Abzug ... later in 2012.

One of the major themes of my year in beer was a growing preference for session-strength pints.

"Session" is a topic that has been discussed here many times in the past, and I always like to follow the trail backwards in time to Lew Bryson's pioneering advocacy: The Session Beer Project.

Hence, the gorgeous specimen pictured above: NABC Smoked Abzug. I hasten to add that currently, the only place on the planet where this beer is on tap is the keg box in my home garage, so don't get any ideas.

Former NABC brewer Jared Williamson originally formulated Abzug as a low-gravity lager (California Common yeast) with a short maturation curve; it was our first attempt to produce a session-strength golden lager for serving at our two on-premise locations. We've since started using Bavarian yeast to brew Bat Out of Helles, which will be the inheritor of the Abzug notion.

Later, Jared came up with the idea of lightly "smoking" his Abzug, thereby creating a lower gravity version of something resembling Bamberg's Spezial. The last keg of it is in the garage, and with around nine months of down time, the liquid is now a brilliant "bright" amber, and as MASH's late and lamented Colonel Potter might have said, there aren't enough O's in smOOth to describe it. The Weyermann smoked malt is beginning to fade in intensity, but it's still present. The flavor is clean and delicious, and at less than 4% abv, you can have a few without hitting the floor.

Look for the next batch of Smoked Abzug in October of 2012. It will be available on draft at the Pizzeria & Public House, Bank Street Brewhouse, my garage, and selected Cavalier Distributing accounts in Indiana that opt for NABC's forthcoming "session tap" program. As always, stay tuned.

Glad you enjoyed the Wet Knob, Lew.

Lew Bryson flew into Louisville for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, and visited NABC first thing.

Kentucky Bourbon Festival Day 1

Sorry I missed you, Lew. I haven't known whether I'm coming or going for quite some time.