The 12 Days of BrewLou are under way.

I spent some time on Friday night with Bailey Loosemore, who works for the Louisville Courier-Journal, and a couple of her friends. We drank beer and talked for a long while.

Bailey is in the middle of an admirable fact-finding journey.

12 Days of BrewLou: Reporter seeks craft beer

 ... I'm going to do the difficult job of drinking for you guys, so that the next time you want to grab a local brew, you know where to go and what you might like when you get there. On Monday, I'll embark on a nine-day journey during which, as you can guess, I visit nine breweries in Louisville and Southern Indiana. Then, I'll post stories about the different breweries online daily, along with looks at a few nearby cities' craft beer scenes and other bits of information. Most of the content will also make its way to our Feb. 12 issue of Velocity.

You can find all the links to her stops in a central location: Louisville Brew

If memory serves, NABC is up on Monday, February 9.

Coomes: "C-J’s star ratings are an offense to serious restaurants."

Steve's point is well-taken, and my point in passing it along is for you, the beer enthusiast, to apply the same variety of skepticism to the beer ratings that guide your purchases.

I might add that in a strict Louisville-centric context, Steve might be guilty of piling on. As much as I cherish the writing of the Courier-Journal's restaurant critic Marty Rosen, whom I consider the local gold standard of erudition, the newspaper's overall influence and reach continue to wane. Who actually is reading the paper and seeing the stars?

Stars and Gripes: C-J’s star ratings are an offense to serious restaurants, by Steve Coomes (Insider Louisville)

Really? Proof and Asiatique are only one star better than a grilled cheese shop and a bar?

“New independent businesses are coming in and that’s what’s moving New Albany forward. We’ve all grown together and it’s great."

There was a nice description of our 25th anniversary celebration in the Monday morning CJ.

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New Albanian Brewing Company celebrates 25 years with a festival, by Jenna Esarey (Special to the Courier-Journal)

The New Albanian Brewing Company threw itself a birthday party on Sunday, inviting the community to celebrate its 25 years in business with a festival on the river in New Albany.

Dubbed 25 Years of Beer and Loathing, the event featured live music from noon to dusk, a kids’ activity area, food from local restaurants and beers from the New Albanian Brewing Company.

“We’re celebrating 25 years as a business,” said New Albanian co-owner Roger Baylor. The company started in 1987 with Sportstime Pizza, which now operates under the name NABC Pizzeria and Public House.

The business expanded in 2009 with the opening of the Bank Street Brewhouse in downtown New Albany, featuring a restaurant as well as the brewery.

Both restaurant locations were closed for the day to allow employees to enjoy the party as well. “Everyone who can is scheduled for a one-hour shift in the beer tent,” Baylor said. “Other than that, we want them to just enjoy the party.”

Baylor said he enjoys supporting the community. “New Albany is growing,” he said. “New independent businesses are coming in and that’s what’s moving New Albany forward. We’ve all grown together and it’s great.”

The event also served as a fundraiser, with proceeds from beer sales being split between Rauch Inc., the Isabel Jade Pickhardt Fund and New Albany First.

Employees of Rauch Inc. oversaw the kids’ area, overseeing a duck pond, arts and crafts and applying temporary tattoos.

“Roger’s very community-minded,” Rauch work services coordinator Frank Kreps said at the event. “We had to look beyond state funding and Roger just stepped up to help.”

Lisa Mascio-Thompson brought her children, Lucas, 7, and Leena, 4, who were working on crafts. “I’m here to support local business and the New Albanian,” she said.

“And ride my scooter at the skate park!” injected Lucas.

The event’s theme, Beer and Loathing, is an homage to Louisville-native Hunter S. Thompson’s novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” “We’re all fans of Hunter S. Thompson,” said Baylor. “Plus, we’re like a rock band. We all fight with each other behind the scenes, but when the show starts we all work together.”

A number of New Albanian craft-brewed beers, including root beer, were available along with a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar, a Sunday staple at the Bank Street Brewhouse. The River City Winery also offered wines and Sangria.

Food was provided by Charlestown Pizza Company (owned by former employees of the New Albanian Brewing Company) and Feast BBQ, a new restaurant in downtown New Albany.

Baylor said he expected a big crowd despite the heat. “If a Facebook event response is any indication, we had over 400 responses,” he said. “I expect we’ll see at least 1,000 people. If this works out, we might do it again.”

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.

Reduced in print.

On-line said 3 and 1/2. Print said 3. As it turns out, the higher score was a misprint.

3 1/2 stars for NABC Bank Street Brewhouse, says the Courier-Journal.

Busy NABC weekend ahead, highlighted by a firkin of Dry Knob.

It just might be an insane weekend at Bank Street Brewhouse, and I’m not complaining.

Earlier in the week, we started running our first-ever ads at the Louisville Restaurants Forum. Then we learned that we had been reviewed in the Louisville Courier-Journal. The review was on-line yesterday, and is in this morning's print edition. Then Food & Dining magazine came out, featuring a cover story about New Albany's nouveau dining scene and a cover photo by Dan Dry of Chef Josh's pesto lasagna. Finally, there’s the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Previously I told you about the plan for Super Bowl Sunday at Bank Street Brewhouse. We’re giving Chef Josh part of the day off so he can watch his beloved Colts, and he’s so excited about the offer that he’s letting Steve and Amy use his kitchen to prepare Asian Wings, Pork BQ and Scotch Eggs from 3:00 p.m. to game’s end.

NABC’s brew crew didn’t want to be left out, so Jared has delivered a firkin of Dry Knob to BSB, where it will be tapped and served by gravity pour from the bar top on Sunday at the special price of $3.00 … while it lasts.

Dry Knob is an American-style Pale Ale, and a variant of our Wet Knob Hop Harvest Ale. The difference is the use of dried hops from Abstonia Farms in Floyds Knobs, as opposed to the freshly picked “wet” hops used late last summer.

For more information, flash back to this posting: NABC Wet Knob Hop Harvest Ale: Early release date is Tuesday, September 15.

3 1/2 stars for NABC Bank Street Brewhouse, says the Courier-Journal.

We knew the Bank Street Brewhouse restaurant review was coming to the Saturday edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal, but we didn't know it would be posted on-line at Metromix a full day in advance.

The 3 1/2 star review begins with a description of downtown New Albany, then and now, and I wouldn't be human if I didn't say that it smells like vindication to me.

It's more than just a beer joint, by Marty Rosen.

All of a sudden, New Albany seems to have found its future. A sparkling new YMCA facility, long a centerpiece of the city’s development plans, is drawing throngs of people. And a downtown dining scene that was once best known for housing the diminutive burger joint Little Chef and the inexpensive enormity of the salt-laden meals at the old Southside Inn, has become a bona fide dining district, with enough diversity and quality to lure folks from all over the region.

Congratulations to Chef Lehman, GM Powell, staff and brewers. We're still not there yet, but we're getting closer each day. On-premise business has steadily improved, even without the outdoor seating that's so important to the business plan.

Our goal was 100 off-premise draft beer accounts after six months of draft beer distribution, and we're just about on time with it. You can find NABC beer at numerous establishments in Louisville and Southern Indiana, as well as in Munster, Indianapolis, Muncie, Zionsville, Madison and Evansville, among other Hoosier outposts.

We're hoping for a crazy weekend. Here's the link to Kylene Lloyd's BSB photo gallery in Metromix.

C-J Dish handoff.

Here is a weekend FYI: With Steve Coomes off to Mojo, wordpress.com/food-blogging/">Dana McMahan is now the author of Dish, the C-J's weekly compendium of food and drink news and notes. Today's topics include the phenomenon of local restaurants on Twitter, including Bank Street Brewhouse.

Swan Dive lauded in today's C-J.

The Swan Dive is reviewed by Marty Rosen in today's Courier-Journal.

These days, The Swan Dive has an underground cachet that lures troglodytic hipsters with Tuesday night old-timey jam sessions, concerts of experimental jazz and rock, the most eclectic recorded soundtrack in the city, a shuffleboard game (free of charge!) and a beer list that includes Hopslam and NABC's Conesmoker on tap, and bottles that veer from PBR to Ommegang Three Philosophers.

The Swan Dive's short menu is strictly vegetarian (with vegan adaptations), and largely based on products made by Field Roast Grain Meat Co., which specializes in artisanal faux-meat products.

Congratulations to the Swan Dive for recognition of its uniqueness in vegetarian/vegan cuisine, and a fine beer list, too.

NABC Pizzeria & Pub a "pizza pick" in the Courier-Journal.

Nice words from Marty Rosen in Saturday's Louisville Courier-Journal: Four pizza picks that are sure to please.

NABC Pizzeria and Pub

The NABC Pizzeria and Pub, a component of the New Albanian Brewing Company, boasts a legendary beer list that draws connoisseurs from all over the country. There's nary a mass-market lager to be found, but if your thirsts are artisanal, there are hundreds of ways to quench it.

Also included is the Charlestown Pizza Company, which fully deserves the recognition.

I appreciate Marty's help with the ongoing process of rebranding, although if you still wish to call our Grant Line components by their Rich O's and Sportstime names, please feel free. One of my resolutions for 2010 is to be more consistent with my written references to NABC Pizzeria & Pub. We'll see how it goes.

C-J previews Bastille Day dinner at the Bank Street Brewhouse (Tuesday, July 14).

In each Saturday's Courier-Journal, Steve Coomes gathers local food and restaurant news, including a brief preview of Bastille Day at the Bank Street Brewhouse this coming Tuesday, July 14:

Brewhouse serving Bastille Day menu

Bank Street Brewhouse (415 Bank St, New Albany, Ind.) is serving up a special Bastille Day menu paired with several French beers Tuesday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. The pub will offer a five-course menu centered on simple French classics prepared by chef Josh Lehman.

The meal begins with gougeres (cheese-filled pastry), followed by a choice of poached egg salad, vichyssoise or country-style pâte. Entrees include a choice of cassoulet, bouillabaisse or quiche Lorraine, followed by an assortment of cheeses. For dessert, guests can choose chocolate mousse or crème brûlée.

Each guest will receive a 750-milliliter bottle of a French-style beer, and co-owner Roger Baylor hopes guests will share tastes with each other.

"I hope people will do their own flights. It'll make it more communal than having me speaking during the meal like I do at beer dinners."

Price is $55 in advance, $60 at the door (one 750 ml beer and service both included).

Call (812) 725-9585 or e-mail.

FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION:

Bastille Day menu and matching Bieres de Garde at the Bank Street Brewhouse on Tuesday, July 14.

Vegetarian options will be available on Bastille Day at the Bank Street Brewhouse.

Is Velocity next? We can only hope.

It looks as though the handwriting may be on the wall for Velocity, which only a couple years back was the Courier-Journal's big ticket attempt to kneecap the Louisville Eccentric Observer.

Velocity's congenital avoidance of meaningful content isn't necessarily an excuse for it to die an agonizing and painful death, even if it's my best reason for the same. After all, these are the people who did light beer reviews for the clueless. I've never forgiven them for pandering like that, even if a couple of writers were eventually found who showed an understanding of craft beer.

The point to me is that embarrassing meaninglessness is so readily available these days, and from so many different electronic and computerized medias, that there's no reason for the target demographic to actually grab a hard copy of the rag -- and that's where the crucial advertisements are located.

But we'll see. Perhaps Velocity will survive the latest Gannett cuts to yawn, pander and be gratuitous another day.

Hard Hits at Gannett in Cincy, by Rick Redding (The 'Ville Voice blog).

While we’re waiting for word about layoffs at the Courier-Journal, Gannett’s operation in Cincinnati is being hit hard. The 10-person staff at CiN Weekly, the weekly entertainment paper (Velocity equivalent) was let go, as was the Enquirer’s editorial page editor.

The weekly is apparently being re-branded as MetroMix, a move already made in other Gannett markets, including Indianapolis and Nashville. Officially, Gannett is calling the new Cincy rag “the premier printed snapshot of all things entertainment that younger adults need to plan their free time.”

In other words, “the best we can do without any staff members to, you know, actually write stuff.”

This cheerful sentence is from CityBeat, a Cincy website following the layoffs:

“Gannett already has made that change in the Indianapolis and Nashville markets, replacing local publications with one standard weekly that uses copy produced from various corporate sites nationwide.”

The story notes that staff members have been placing MetroMix stickers on CiN Weekly distribution boxes. In all, 100 jobs are expected to be lost in Cincinnati.

Charlestown Pizza Company praised in today's C-J.

The last time we visited Charlestown Pizza Company roughly two weeks ago, I was tempted to have a season's last draft Bell's HopSlam, but refrained, leaving the liquid to be consumed by the Courier's free-lance reviewer ... who, in turn, gave Shawn and TJ great coverage.

All roads lead to Charlestown pizza; Town Square spot unpretentious, hip, by Marty Rosen (Courier-Journal).

Nah, it had nothing whatsoever to do with me. Kudos to the CPC for the missionary work in Clark County.

Bank Street Brewhouse in today's C-J.

Good press for the business in the morning C-J: Long-awaited Bank Street Brewhouse opens in New Albany (by Steve Coomes).

When Steve, a veteran free-lancer, visited the Brewhouse last Sunday, we were chatting about beer and he revealed a forthcoming trip to Italy to write about a pizza competition. I told him that Italian microbreweries are red hot, and then in the days since he did more research and found one near his destination. Now I'm envious that he'll get there before I have the chance. Italian beercycling, anyone?

Here's the link to a Bank Street discussion at the restaurant forum: First Visit: NABC Bank Street Brewhouse.

From all of us at NABC Bank Street Brewhouse: Thanks for coming in the past week. Next week you should be seeing the evening food menu phased into place, as well as a special involving cask-conditioned Thunderfoot on the hand pull and elegantly styles duck on the plate in front of it. Cheers!

Keg Liquors cops excellent C-J exposure.

It’s difficult to be an objective about press coverage when (a) I get so much of it and have for years, and (b) Todd Antz is the newer kid on the block even if he’s a relentless self-promotional genius … but seriously, Todd and Keg Liquors absolutely deserve wider renown of the sort prefaced by freelancer Marty Rosen’s weekend Courier-Journal profile.

Keg Liquors is King of the Beers

I’ve said this numerous times, and will again: In spite of the complete absence of time to make the changes necessary, Todd’s mounting success at good beer in the context of the package beer game has completely altered the premises that I followed in constructing the pub’s bottled beer list all those years ago.

There remains no compelling reason to stock as many bottles of what we stock now on an everyday basis. That paradigm has irrevocably changed, and we’ve been slow to adapt for a variety of reasons, most of them owing to being crazily busy in other areas (a good thing) and struck numb and dumb by inertia (not as good a thing). Todd’s in the position now to introduce product and conduct experiments in consumer preference with bottled beer in the way that we still do with draft. He and other package store operators have the entry-level segment covered, too.

As far as on-premise bottled choices go, we need to take the game to another level. I have some ideas. What I don’t have is time … but stay tuned. An long overdue makeover definitely is in the offing. In the meantime, it's great to know that two of the Louisville metro area's prime go-to beer spots are located in Indiana. Congrats to Todd and the Keg for the good words.

Publican in the Courier-Journal.

Nice article by Amanda Arnold in the Courier-Journal on Monday. I've been promoted to "community newsmaker."

Man shares knowledge of brewing; Business plans fall expansion.

Two or three times a week, Dave Siltz visits the "living room" area of the New Albanian Brewing Co., popularly known as Rich O's, to enjoy a pint of microbrewed beer in the company of friends.

Just one thing: Who the hell is Dave Siltz?

(I promised him I'd write it that way)

But seriously: Amanda put a lot of diligent work into the article, and interviewed me at length during one session (it may have taken me two pints to get through it), followed by several e-mail follow-ups.

Good work!

Bank Street Brewhouse in the Scene.

The Louisville Courier-Journal included a mention of the Bank Street Brewhouse project in Saturday's Scene publication. The author is Steve Coomes, with whom I had a delightful conversation last week.

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A new New Albanian taproom in October

Roger Baylor has a terrific problem on his hands. As one of three owners of The New Albanian Brewing Co. Pub & Pizzeria (formerly known as Rich O's and Sportstime Pizza), he's faced with business so good that his location at 3312 Plaza Drive in New Albany, Ind., is bursting at the seams.

"We literally have no room left to grow, so we knew we had to do something about it," Baylor said.

That something will come in the form of the New Albanian Brewing Co. Bank Street Brewhouse (415 Bank St.), a brewing and distribution center fronted by a taproom set to open in October in the city's reawakening downtown. (The building was built in 1919 and formerly housed a Rainbow Bread bakery.)
The taproom will seat 50 inside and 30 outside in a beer garden. Long-term plans call for a rooftop beer garden seating 150.

The increased brewing capacity will launch keg sales to select bars and restaurants in Louisville, Indianapolis and Bloomington, Ind. Brews sold at the taproom will reflect that being produced for keg sales, but Baylor said "new one-off beers" also will be brewed and served there.

Unlike Rich O's, which has a broad, pizza-centered menu, the Brewhouse will serve a limited menu that's simpler to execute and reflective of the fare sold at the Belgian cafes Baylor enjoyed on visits to Europe.

"(Rich O's) got to be so famous doing others' beers that it wasn't always easy to showcase our own beers, which we want to do now," he said. "That's also part of why we want to do less food. We want our beer to be the main focus, like it is in a Belgian cafe."

Private beer tastings the subject of C-J article.

Free lancer Marty Rosen, who is a regular contributor to the Louisville Courier-Journal and writes about many topics, among them food and drink, was the guest of longtime Public House regular Terry Cummins during a private beer tasting in early November.

Terry had purchased the beer tasting at a silent auction. It has long been my custom to donate such private tastings, usually for a party of eight, in lieu of cash, ordinary gift certificates or other items (t-shirts, etc.) It costs my business the same in terms of beer samples and my time, but it generates more money for the charity or service club if it’s auctioned. Everyone wins.

I’m happy that Marty enjoyed it, because he followed up with this article in Saturday’s newspaper: Tastings brew beer fans' curiosity.

Give the beer-lover in your life a 12 pack of exotic brews, and he or she will drink happily for a few days (more or less).

Give that same beer-lover an informative beer tasting and he or she will remember it for years to come.

Concurrent with the tasting that Marty attended, I was in the process of deciding to make a limited number of such private beer tastings available for purchase as gifts during the holiday season. Coincidentally, Marty asked me if I ever did such a thing, and with the answer being tentatively affirmative, the offer made it into the article. Consequently, we've made the transition from tentative to actual.

Obviously, with the single biggest component being my time, and the second most important factor being availability of space to conduct the tasting, I need two weeks advance notice, and recommend that tastings occur Monday through Thursday at the Public House. Weekends simply are too busy. The idea as always is to begin with a sample of familiar beer (read: golden), then riff on seven or eight variations, accompanied by what I hope is entertaining and educational commentary.

As of today, I’ve fielded three inquiries. We’ll see how the experiment works out.

Bluegrass Brewing Company reviewed in Saturday's C-J.

Bluegrass Brewing Company (Shelbyville Road brewpub, not the Main & Clay micro) was reviewed in last Saturday’s Louisville Courier-Journal:

Bluegrass Brewing Company: Beer's world class; food, not so much, by Marty Rosen (Special to The Courier-Journal).

Only two stars? Marty’s thoughts prompted a discussion at the Louisville Restaurants Forum after host Robin Garr differed with the C-J free lancer’s take on BBC:

CJ on BBC: Five yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.

Throughout BBC’s 14-year history, there have been frequent changes in direction in the kitchen, and it seems to this writer that in recent years matters have settled into a comfortable pub grub groove – neither high cuisine nor Rally’s, but somewhere in the middle. Know that I have a deep respect for Marty’s skills and erudition, and note only that what is true in beer judging applies in this instance as well: One rates the beer based on what it is trying to be rather than what you want it to be (or wish it was).

Recognition from the Courier-Journal.

My recent shameless press release about the annual RateBeer beer bar rankings generated a fine piece in the Louisville Courier-Journal:

Go Rich O's!; World-class beer bar is in our backyard, By Sarah Fritschner.

As always, all due props to Sarah for a job well done.