Headlines from April 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 find them there in reverse chronological order via the helpful all-purpose tag, The Beer Beat.

However, at the end of each month I'll collect the links right here. Following are April's (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 "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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THE BEER BEAT: "Bock brings the Germans rushing to the beer garden."

Doppelbock is the perfect example of a seasonal beer style redolent of history and faraway places, and yet deemed insufficiently sexy for narcissistic, hop-laden, shoe-gazing geeks.

No bitterness in this soul, mind you.

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THE BEER BEAT: Mad Paddle Brewery is coming to Madison, and there's a New Albany connection.

Having tickled the taste buds, let's have a glance to the northeast. If you ask me, Madison has always deserved a good brewery.

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THE BEER BEAT: Fest of Ale returns on June 2, so please allow me to revive an idea for pre-fest fun next year.

(New Albany Craft Beer Week) didn't come together in 2017 and probably won't in 2018, but if Andrew Nicholson and Kelly Winslow (especially these two) are reading ... there's always 2019. I'd be happy to give you both the rundown.

Meanwhile, 2018 will be the third year for Fest of Ale at the Riverfront Amphitheater. Gear up and get ready.

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THE BEER BEAT: This just might be the Pour Fool's greatest rant: "Open Letter to The Bud Sell-Outs: Cowboy Up, Whiners."

"There is one old saw that the 'owners' of these former craft breweries should take to heart and if any of you have never heard it, allow me ... 'You Made Your Bed, Now Lie In It.' "

Ladies and gentleman, give it up for Steve Foolbody (The Pour Fool).

It's the best summary yet offered, as truthfully attesting to the phenomenon of Trojan Zombie Afterlife Breweries and their former owners. Here's a relevant non-brewing history lesson.

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THE BEER BEAT: Pints for Parkinson's returns with Maibock, so let's have a look at Gordon Biersch, day drinking and TARC.

Spurred by the groundbreaking commuter research conducted by my friend Jeff, who works in downtown Louisville KY -- and with a wife who does, too -- I have belatedly grasped that the #71 bus eastbound from State and Elm in New Albany (a short walk from my house) travels all the way to Jeffersonville on roughly an hourly basis during the day, stopping a mere bloc

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THE BEER BEAT: Everybody wants to rule the world -- maybe "craft" beer will, too.

This is exactly what the world of beer commentary is sorely lacking: Beer with a Socialist. I'm grateful to Jonathan for the idea, and will owe him a beer of three is this goes anyplace.

Now, give it up for Lew Bryson and another thought-provoking (and fun) column at The Daily Beast.

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THE BEER BEAT: Photographing traditional Irish storefronts for posterity, like the Railway Bar.

The loss of storefronts in Ireland is a lamentable cultural atrocity. It isn't restricted to pubs, but of course I'm enraptured by one of the pubs pictured in the article.

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THE BEER BEAT: This humble plinth could be the spot where we memorialize the myriad victims of Prohibition.

It is imperative for the future health and well-being of the municipality that we embrace historical consciousness, hence my contention that the victims of the savage and deranged social experiment known as Prohibition -- surely America's second-worst idea ever, albeit well behind human slavery in terms of ramifications -- be memorialized, preferably adjacent to a watering hole that reminds us of what the heinous teetotalers tried to take away.

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THE BEER BEAT: Speakeasies here, speakeasies there, and not an original thought to be found anywhere.

It's far easier to be "magical" when your family has profited immensely from LEGAL liquor sales, the budget is unlimited, and you're not scraping for crumbs to implement good ideas -- but money can buy neither love nor an exemption from imminent prosecution for inexcusably pretentious word abuse.

The CJ's writer somehow keeps a straight face, this being a skill I never learned.

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THE BEER BEAT: "Putting the taproom first and building the rest of your business around an own-premise model gives a brewery unprecedented control, insight, and flexibility."

History is endlessly fascinating for a variety of reasons, among them the uncanny way that what goes around, comes around. In today, out tomorrow -- and destined to return when conditions change and the dialectic of trendiness (or purely efficient reasoning) ordains.

This whole craft brewing revolution began very locally. You trundled down the street with a metaphorical pitcher, had it filled with beer, and hoped to make it back home without drinking it all -- or, the way it was done back in pre-Prohibition times.

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LIVE TO EAT on THE BEER BEAT: A tribute to the late Rocky's Sub Pub and a question: What's happening at Jeffersonville's "restaurant row"?

It was announced today that Rocky's Sub Pub, on the riverfront in Jeffersonville, suddenly closed. Danielle Grady's newspaper coverage is linked below, but first, a short piece I wrote for LEO back in 2009, when Rocky's debuted its beefed-up tap system. Ironically, now both Rocky's and JeffBoat are gone.

Good times at the BoneYard Grill in Madison, Indiana.

Madison, Indiana, population roughly 12,000, is a split personality kind of place.

Downtown is built horizontally on flatlands by the Ohio River, surrounded by hills. Although you can see newer homes atop some of these hills, the effect is that of a hidden gem, and it feels like an open air museum.

In 2006, the majority of Madison's downtown area was designated the largest contiguous National Historic Landmark in the United States—133 blocks of the downtown area is known as the Madison Historic Landmark District.

Conversely, past the hills where the uplands begin -- the hilltops -- there's a whole other Madison. It's the newer part along the highway, built out during the past three or four decades, where the chain stores and big boxes are. The historic downtown is invisible from here, apart from wayfinding signage directing visitors to it.

My business in Madison tends to take me into the heart of downtown, where civic fests like this weekend's RiverRoots are held, and where the Thomas Family Winery is located. I seldom wander up onto the hilltop, but yesterday there was a RiverRoots pre-party at an establishment called BoneYard Grill, located on Clifty Drive (State Road 62). Blake and I were promoting NABC beers, and The Tillers were playing music.

Just as people used to say when visiting the Pizzeria & Public House for the first time, BoneYard's location is decidedly nondescript, in a commercial, slightly-bigger-than-strip-mall building. But inside is a pleasing, family-friendly sports bar atmosphere.

I was impressed with the joint, which is a ground floor indie operation.

The specialty of the house are chicken wings, grilled and not fried. BoneYard has creative sauce options for the wings. Later in the evening, I order jalapeno poppers, assuming them to be the sports bar standard, deep-fried artery busters, but BoneYard's version used fresh peppers, cream cheese and a sprinkling of bacon; tasty, and not entirely unhealthy.

BoneYard has a bottled beer list with a few choice imports and American craft beers, and last night, two Indiana beers were on tap: Barley Island Sheet Metal and Quaff On (formerly Big Woods) Hare Trigger IPA. I had one of each. Staff was energetic and helpful. Overall, it was a wonderful time.

I don't issue recommendations without genuinely believing in what's I'm writing, and even then, I don't always get around to remembering. This time, I wanted to make sure I gave BoneYard a tip of the cap, both because of the quality of my experience, and the fact that it's good for me to be displaced from my preferred comfort zones and explore other neighborhoods. In the future, I'll still revisit my downtown Madison haunts, including the aforementioned Thomas Winery, Red Pepper Deli; Madison Coffee & Tea and 605 Grill.

But now I have a place to go up on the hilltop.

Updates on RiverRoots in Madison, Indiana, on May 16 and 17.

Once again, NABC will be vending beer at Madison's RiverRoots music and folk arts festival (May 16 & 17). Details are at NABC's web site; follow the links below. Note that in 2014, there'll be a sprinkling of beer-themed events in Madison during the week prior to the festival, including the pre-party:

BoneYard Grill, NABC & the Tillers: RiverRoots pre-party in Madison on May 15

As for the festival itself, I've grown very fond of it even if we seldom hear any music while working. Don Clapham, Nick Ellis and their better-beer-loving friends in Madison continue to fight the good fight with respect to the Indiana-brewed localism at RiverRoots. After eight years, you'd assume that the folk/craft branding is solid, but of course there always will be those advocating mass-market sponsorship lucre.

Don and Nick always make a patient case, and the sales figures bear them out. In 2014, the Brewers of Indiana Guild is helping sponsor the craft beer tent at RiverRoots, where for two days, a wonderful selection of Indiana-brewed beers from NABC, Upland, Sun King, Power House and Great Crescent will be available to fest goers.

May 16 & 17 is RiverRoots 2014 in Madison IN, with music, folk arts and Indiana craft beer

Mobreki Brewery in the Trolley Barn; Madison, Indiana.

I'm told that the Sakka Blue sushi restaurant in Madison, Indiana is closed, and the Facebook page confirms it: "Due to problems associated with staffing a specialty restaurant with qualified personnel, Sakka Blue is closed."

Too bad. Until advised otherwise, I assume the other businesses in the Trolley Barn remain open: Just Brew It (homebrewing) and Mobreki Brewery. There is an Untappd listing at Mobreki on January 2, and that's a good sign.

Periodically someone will ask me about Mobreki, and for whatever reason, I've not gotten to know the people involved or the brewery all that well. As a director on the board of the Brewers of Indiana Guild, it's inexcusable, although my feeble defense is that Madison and the Thomas Family Winery are synonymous in my mind, and when in town, invariably I become rooted to a spot near Steve's cider.

Hopefully that will change, and I can make time for Mobreki. Also, NABC's always happy to help if anything is needed. If you know them, please let them know.

With RiverRoots drawing near, here's the NABC beer list for the fest.

It’s almost time for RiverRoots, the annual music and folk arts festival on the banks of the Ohio in historic Madison, Indiana.

It takes place on Friday and Saturday nights, May 17 and 18, and for the eighth year running (actually, since the fest’s inception), NABC will be on hand to share beer vending duties with craft-brewing Hoosier friends: NABC’s lineup at RiverRoots 2013.

New name, same great weekend in Madison, Indiana: RiverRoots festival runs May-18-20, with Indiana craft beer.

For the seventh year in a row, NABC is delighted to occupy the beer vending stations at the RiverRoots Music and Folk Arts Festival in Madison, Indiana, formerly known as the Ohio River Valley Folk Festival.

The festival kicks off on Friday, May 18, at 5: 00 p.m., resumes on Saturday the 19th at 11:00 a.m., and concludes with a Sunday (May 20) session that begins at 12:30 p.m.

Musical headliners this year include The Band of Heathens (Friday), Hayes Carll (Saturday) and The Black Lillies (Sunday). Over the Rhine also will perform on Saturday night. Complete listings are at the web site, with more information available at the RiverRoots page at Facebook.

As we have since the festival's inception, NABC will share beer vending duties with our friends from Upland Brewing Company (Bloomington IN). There'll also be draft beer from Great Crescent Brewing in Aurora and Madison's own Mobreki Brewing, as well as the first-ever appearance by Sun King out of Indianapolis. Currently we're all huddling to formulate a beer lineup, which I will post when decided.

There's also a first annual "RiverRoots Brew-Off" homebrewing competition on Sunday afternoon. It's open to all home-brewers, and the deadline for entries is May 14, so you are sitting on some IPA (the featured style), you still have time to be a part of it. Complete competition information is here.

Calendar check: River Roots (formerly Ohio River Valley Folk Fest), May 18, 19 and 20, 2012.

Along with our friends from Upland Brewing in Bloomington, NABC has been pouring beers at Madison's wonderful late spring musical and folk arts event since its inception, and we hope to return in 2012. As opposed to so many other similarly styled show, Madison's edition always has embraced craft beer. Last year, Great Crescent from Aurora joined the fun, and in the future, I'm sure the new Mobreki Brewing in Madison itself will be producing enough beer to sell some down by the river.

The name has changed for 2012, to a far shorter and less tongue-tying River Roots. More at Facebook: RiverRoots Music & Folk Arts Festival - (ORV Folk Festival)

2012 River Roots Line-Up has been announced!

Friday, May 18, 2012
6pm Carolyn Martin (Texas Swing)
8pm The Band of Heathens
10pm Searson

Saturday, May 19, 2012
1pm Joe Crookston w/ Peter Glanville
3pm Roosevelt Dime
5pm Charlie Parr
7pm Over The Rhine
9pm Hayes Carll

Sunday, May 20, 2012 (Times may change)
12:30pm Appalatin
1:45pm Michael Kelsey
3pm Bobbie Lancaster & Mill Branch String Theory
4:30pm The Black Lillies

Yet another fine day in Madison, Indiana.

Meet the BrewMouse.

Foot traffic was steady throughout the day.

Main Street was closed, and the soups, stews and chili were diverse and good.

My helper.

The homebrewing side of the ledger was represented with a Kentucky Common.

Madison's own Mobreki Brewing.

The BrewMouse originator, Rita Kohn.

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It was a beautiful day Saturday for the occasion of the Soup, Stew, Chili and Brew in Madison, Indiana. The missus assisted me in dispensing Steamboat Common and Community Dark samples inside a building adjacent to the food tastings out in the street. We poured the first shift, so to speak, and then upon Great Crescent Brewery's arrival (they were NABC's collaborators in the Steamboat Common project), we yielded the floor and made the usual stop at Thomas Family Winery for scrumpy and Scrabble before returning home via the Charlestown Pizza Company.

It also was my first chance to sample the wares of Mobreki Brewing Company, Madison's first brewer of the contemporary era. They're just beginning, so stay tuned. All in all, it was a long and satisfying road trip, and for those metro Louisvillians reading, take note that Madison's only 40 or so miles away.

Here's the Steamboat Common formulation.

On Saturday (October 15), I'll be in Madison, Indiana at the Soup, Stew, Chili and Brew, where NABC will unveil "Steamboat Common," brewed collaboratively with our fellow Hoosier brewers at Great Crescent (Aurora) and Main Street (Evansville). For more information and links, check here:

Whole lotta steamboats goin' on, this weekend and next.

Ben Minton provides the Steamboat Common formulation, as originally planned by Jared Williamson and Dan Valas.

89% Rahr 2-Row Malt
6% Crisp Brown Malt
4% Weyermann Rauchmalt
1% Sorghum (6 Lbs added near end of boil)

Hops:
2 additions of US Goldings, Total: 6.6lbs

Stats:
O.G. 1.068
F.G. 1.012
ABV: 7.5%
IBUs: 33.2

NABC is all over the map this coming weekend (May 20, 21 & 22).

It’s that time of year, folks. Calendars get crowded, feet begin hurting, sweat pours down in buckets, and livers cry out in primal agony. Festival season is here. We bitch about it, but rest assured, we love every craft-beer-soaked-moment.

In metro Louisville, Derby Festival serves as one seasonal bookend, although it’s usually the third weekend of May when festival solicitations really start to flow. 2011 is no exception, so here’s a quick guide to where we’ll be serving NABC craft beer this coming weekend. We're splitting squads, calling up the reserves, and trying to make beer available when and where we can.

Friday, May 20

Madison IN: Opening night for the 6th Annual Ohio River Valley Folk Festival in Madison, Indiana. Gates open at 5:00 p.m., and musical headliners this year include The Greencards, David Bromberg Quartet and Carrie Newcomer. Once again, we’ll share beer vending duties with our friends from Upland Brewing Company (Bloomington IN). On Saturday, we’ll be joined by Dan and the crew from Great Crescent Brewing in Aurora.

Louisville KY: The 3rd Annual Louisville Loves Mountains block party will take place on Longest Avenue in the Highlands (by Heine Brother’s Coffee and Carmichael’s Bookstore). The event benefits Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, and celebrates Kentucky’s mountain beauty and heritage. Wendell Berry is this year’s special guest speaker. NABC’s Rosa L. Stumblebus (our draft truck) will be on hand with Tafel and Elector, and the crew from BBC (Main & Clay) will also be pouring during the event.

Saturday, May 21

Madison IN: The Ohio River Valley Folk festival starts at 11:00 a.m. and continues until around 10:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 22

Madison IN: The Ohio River Valley Folk festival starts at 1:30 p.m. and continues until about 7:00 p.m.

Louisville KY: The 3rd Annual Buy Local 1st Fair is from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Water Tower off River Road. The fair is sponsored by the Louisville Visual Arts Association, in conjunction with Grasshoppers Distribution and the Louisville Independent Business Alliance. NABC will be there with Rosa, and we expect other local brewers to attend, too. ValuMarket is the beer tent sponsor, and fair attendees will receive a coupon good for a free empty growler suitable for filling at ValuMarket's growler station.

Greenville IN: Capriole Spring Open House is at the beautiful farmstead from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. This year, the theme is “Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!,” with goat cheeses, condiments and accoutrements alongside a sampling of NABC beers poured by the Publican. It costs $10 person and $5 for children under 12, and I highly recommend you visit the web site for details and/or call for further information.

Is that enough to kick off summer?

NABC Bob's Old 15-B Porter at Ribberfest in Madison, this weekend.

I'm told that again this year, there'll be NABC on tap for Ribberfest in Madison, Indiana. Ribberfest, a celebration of BBQ, blues and balloons, runs Friday and Saturday, August 20 and 21.

On Friday, Richard will be delivering kegs of Bob's Old 15-B, and while a medium-bodied Porter might strike some as a tad much for summertime, it speaks to two important considerations.

First, for as long as we've been taking beer to Madison for special events like Ribberfest, Bob's Old 15-B always has been a steady seller irrespective of the weather. Craft aficionados in Madison enjoy a rich, solid dark ale.

Second, Porter is a fine match with barbecue, so long as the beer has the brawn to stand up to the meat and sauce. My favorite taste sensation in this vein comes when smoked pork (sans sauce) and a robust (unsmoked) Porter meet. The Porter becomes smoked, and the meat becomes sauced. A deep concept, but enjoyable for gluttons like me.

As always, we thank the folks in Madison and are delighted to provide beer for the weekend.