Headlines from July 2017 on THE BEER BEAT.

1987 vintage.

Previously, I've explained several reasons why this blog has gone on hiatus, adding that my thoughts about beer will be posted alongside my utterances about everything else, over yonder at NA Confidential.

You'll find them there via the helpful all-purpose tag, The Beer Beat.

However, whenever the urge strikes -- I seem to have settled on monthly -- I'll collect a few of these links right here. Following are July's ruminations, with the oldest listed first. Some are more topical than others, and I'm past the point of caring about it.

Thanks for reading, if belatedly.

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THE BEER BEAT: Are barstools even necessary? There ARE alternatives, you know.

As David Wondrich explains, more templates of barroom designer than we ever realize actually derive from top-down bureaucratic standards inherited in the aftermath of Prohibition, at times abetted with Hollywood's regimented narrative.

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: Changing an empty keg the Soviet way.

Here is one of the very first sights I saw in Leningrad on the morning of July 2, 1987.

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THE BEER BEAT: Dan Canon and the welcome return of progressive thinking at NABC.

Most importantly of all, welcome back to the real participatory local world, NABC. I missed your political consciousness these past two years. It was something I'd taken for granted. Maybe it will survive without me, after all.

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THE BEER BEAT: Dollars and cents remain the most rational arguments against AB InBev.

There'll always be exceptions, but life is about the everyday. In the main, as a consumer, I'd like to know exactly where my money is going. Whenever possible, I'd like to see my money directed to indies.

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THE BEER BEAT: "Why Brexit could mean a pricier pint of Guinness."

It's worth remembering that the distance from Dublin to Belfast is a scant hundred miles, less than the drive from New Albany to Indianapolis.

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: The finest restorative Pilsner Urquell ever, upon arrival in Prague.

I limped to the long, imposing counter where a brawny, mustachioed man stood next to a pair of matching taps, both pouring the exact same nectar, and with a wheeled cart filled with clean mugs. Mustering my courage, I flashed four fingers and muttered, “Pivo, prosim,” having miraculously recalled the proper words without stealing a glance at the guidebook buried somewhere in my day pack.

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30 years today on THE BEER BEAT: The Automat Koruna, one of my favorite pubs (?) in the world.

You told the cashier what you wanted and paid, to be given a receipt, then waited in a customarily long line, handing the receipt to one of the white-smocked beer pourers. The reward was a cool half-liter (or more) of golden, pilsner-style Pražan beer, brewed a few miles away in Holešovice district of Prague.

You consumed your Pražan and also ate while standing at a stainless steel table. There may have been chairs at the Automat Koruna, but if so, I can’t remember them, at any rate, I didn’t ever sit. Crowds were a constant, and stand-up space sometimes at a premium.

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: Worshipful pilgrimage to the Pilsner Urquell birthplace shrine.

We caught a train from Prague to Plzeň, got there well before noon, and reconnoitered. From the station, the Pilsner Urquell brewery was easy to see and smell, although we knew to inquire at the official state-run Čedok travel agency (actually established in 1920, prior to communism), which surely would be located somewhere in the center of the city.

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: Meeting the gang at the legendary Imbiss by Gleis 16 at the Hauptbahnhof in Munich.

July 16, 17 and 18 are holy days in the pantheon of my beer travels, for it was on those three days in 1987 that four good friends from Hoosierland came together in Munich. I was joined by Bob Gunn, Barrie Ottersbach and my cousin Don Barry for three nights of Bavarian bacchanalia.

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: Munich's incredible Mathäser Bierstadt, symbol of a lost era.

For example, “beer halls” in the sense of the Hofbräuhaus generally do not exist in matching scale outside the city of Munich. Moreover, in 1987 a beer hall even larger than the Hofbräuhaus was our home away from home for two glorious evenings: Mathäser Bierstadt, which was tied to Löwenbräu.

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: Friday nights and Saturday mornings, Munich-style.

It was Don who famously rose, grinned broadly, and disappeared. Later when asked, he insisted that his parting had been effusive and memorable, a valedictory oration surely among the most eloquent ever uttered in such an honorable establishment.

I'm here to tell you that he never said a word.

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THE BEER BEAT: I guess if NABC isn't celebrating its 30th birthday, then I will, with a look back at the 25th.

Yesterday (July 22) was the 5th anniversary of the New Albanian Brewing Company's 25th anniversary, which means the business entity variously known as Sportstime Pizza, Rich O’s Public House, the New Albanian Brewing Company (later, adding Bank Street Brewhouse, now dubbed NABC Cafe & Brewhouse) has celebrated its 30th birthday.

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: A ferry ride from France to Ireland, with the help of Super Valstar and Guinness.

The magic moment possibly occurred at lunch in Versailles while Bob was still traveling with us, or somewhere amid the Ottersbach/Baylor excursion to Pointe du Hoc on Saturday, but I'm thinking it likely came in Cherbourg on Sunday afternoon. Of course, I'm referring to the time we drank deeply of the Super Valstar, or as it read on the label, "the big blonde."

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: Stouts galore in Cork, Kinsale and the Hibernian Bar, but in Ballinspittle, not so much.

The great thing about Cork is that it had not one, but two of its own classic Irish Dry Stouts: Murphy's and Beamish. Sadly, they've long since ceased to be independent, but add the ubiquity of draft Guinness, and the city was a stout-lover's dream.

One bar we found had all three on tap at once. By contrast, there may have been two Guinness taps in all of Louisville KY at the time.

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How Rockhound Brewing's smoked hop pale ale and the Super Bowl in the year 2000 connect in my cranium.

The last time we visited Madison was 2014, and since then, several new breweries have started operations. One of them is Rockhound Brewing, located on Park Street, just a ten-minute walk from our Airbnb. It's sleek and modern, housed in the ground floor of a newer mixed-use building. Rockhound was rocking on Thursday night.

Prior to departure, I'd seen a reference on Facebook about a new smoked beer release at Rockhound called Campfire Stories, and resolved to try it. For once, I made no effort to research the beer any further; just order it, and drink.

At first, I found the results a bit odd. Not bad, just uncommon -- hops in the background and smoky nose, but something vaguely phenolic in the background flavor. At this point intrigued, I asked the bartender. She explained that Campfire Stories was a Pale Ale, with the hops smoked rather than the malt.

Only then did it hit me.

On January 30, 2000, a date verifiable only because it was Super Bowl Sunday (the Rams over the Titans), the late Matt Gould and Kevin Richards came to my garage to homebrew an idea we'd long discussed: Smoked Hop Pale Ale.

Unusually, this was my idea. One night at the bar, I drank a Schlenkerla Rauchbier, then without rinsing the glass (how often did THAT happen?) poured BBC American Pale Ale into it. I was drinking a hoppy ale and smelling smoke, hence the "eureka!" moment, comparable to the old commercials in which peanut butter accidentally met chocolate to form the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Consequently, Matt bought whole leaf hops, and Kevin joined him in smoking them over wood that wasn't beech, though the exact type escapes my memory. Hickory? Mesquite?

My then-wife was a homebrewer, so we had most of the equipment already assembled, which actually may have belonged to the FOSSILS homebrewing club. Don't ask for details. It was 16 years ago, and these days, it's a challenge remembering what I had for lunch yesterday.

Still, I know we brewed, and I know we drank lots and lots of "guest" beers while ducking in and out of the garage to watch the game, which came down to the final play. At some point a few weeks later, we tried the beer. It was rough around the edges, though better than I expected, and it had this slightly phenolic flavor ...

By the following year, Cumberland Brews was going full-tilt, and Matt was the brewer there. He brewed the second batch of smoked hop ale at Cumberland as a seasonal specialty, and if memory serves, repeated it in 2002. By 2003, NABC's starter brewing system was on-line, and at some point Michael Borchers created our house version, called ConeSmoker, but with a twist. Smoked malt was used, as smoking the hops seemed too variable.  

That's a chunk of Kentuckiana beer history to emanate from a single pint of Campfire Stories at Rockhound in Madison, and that's what I like about the wider world of beer.

Free and unfettered association.

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NABC all-female ownership: An admirable goal, but 100% minus 33% does not equal 100%.

It's important for NABC to keep on keeping on, and I appreciate David Kahl's article.

However, there's a small factual problem with one section of it, and it has the effect of ruining the otherwise positive vibe, at least for me.

5 Things You Didn’t Know About New Albanian Brewing Company, by David Kahl (Indiana on Tap)

NABC is 100% owned by women

NABC underwent a change of ownership lately (well, really, a change of shareholdings) when Roger Baylor left the business to run for mayor of New Albany. As he departs, the sister team of Amy Baylor and Kate Lewison assume 100% control of the company. Beer, of course, is gender neutral.

In fact, there has been no change of shareholdings.

As of today, I own 33% of the two NABC incorporations, just as I have from their inception. I've been removed as corporate officer of these entities, but have not yet been remunerated, and until this occurs, it's inaccurate to suggest that the companies are 100% female-owned -- even if I support this ultimate goal, and I do support it.

It's a buy-out ... not a donate-out, and I've contacted Indiana on Tap requesting a correction. To Mr. Kahl, my apologies. I'm sorry you were misled.

By the way, John Mahorney designered the NABC logo. Tony Beard's done it all since then, but John's designer has stood the test of time.

For more, go here: The Independent.

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New Albany bests the per capita average of Americans-to-their-breweries.

Last September, the Brewers Association revealed an important milestone: 4,000 active breweries, reckoned to be the first time there have been 4,000 breweries in America since just after the Civil War.

U.S. PASSES 4,000 BREWERIES, by Bart Watson (Brewers Association; published on September 28, 2015)

 ... What it does not mean is that we’ve reached a saturation point. Most of the new entrants continue to be small and local, operating in neighborhoods or towns. What it means to be a brewery is shifting, back toward an era when breweries were largely local, and operated as a neighborhood bar or restaurant.

How many neighborhoods in the country could still stand to gain from a high-quality brewpub or micro taproom? While a return to the per capita ratio of 1873 seems unlikely (that would mean more than 30,000 breweries), the resurgence of American brewing is far from over.

Unlikely? Heck, we can do that.

In 1873, the US population was around 43,000,000. That same year, the number of American breweries was 4,131, with the per capita ratio being one brewery for every 10,400 Americans.

Rounding off New Albany's 2016 population at 37,000 and dividing by three (NABC, Donum Dei and Floyd County Brewing), we find our city's current ratio at one brewery for every 12,333 inhabitants -- quite close to the 1873 numbers.

However, if we allow for the stand-alone brewery at each NABC location, the ratio changes to one actual brewing system for every 9,288 citizens.

Boom.

See how far we've come? New Albany has gone all the way back to 1873 and beyond, in a very positive way, so as the pundits say: Support your local brewer.

NABC has been in business for a while, but Donum Dei and Floyd County Brewing are relatively new. Check 'em out during New Albany Craft Beer Week.

Donum Dei Brewery

3211 Grant Line Road,

New Albany, IN 47150

(502) 541-2950

www.donumdeibrewery.com

Floyd County Brewing Company

129 West Main Street,

New Albany, IN 47150

(470) 588-2337

www.floydcountybrewing.com

New Albanian Bank Street Brewhouse

415 Bank Street,

New Albany, IN 47150

(812) 944-2577

www.newalbanian.com

New Albanian Pizzeria and Public House

3312 Plaza Drive,

New Albany, IN 47150

(812) 944-2577

www.newalbanian.com

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Riverfront permits, carry-out growlers and Roger's status as lightning rod for esoteric regulatorydom.

Is anyone noticing a pattern?

2013: The Floyd County Health Department decides temporary food permits should apply to draft beer pours, and is proven mistaken.

PourGate 2013: It took two years, but this new law silences Dr. Tom Harris and the Floyd County Health Department.

2014: Indiana's requirement for weenies in the freezer (food service requirement) comes under scrutiny, and is amended.

Another legislative win: Effective July 1, revised food requirements for Indiana brewery taprooms.

2015: Decades later, Indiana's riverfront development three-way permits suddenly become incompatible with carry-out sales from small breweries.

No wonder they want to be rid of me.

Bangert: Hidden law mean goodbye to LBC growlers?, by Dave Bangert (Lafayette Journal & Courier)

And then one day, just like that, Greg Emig found out his Lafayette Brewing Co. wasn’t supposed to be filling 64-ounce growlers for carryout of Eighty-Five, Star City Lager or any of the other fresh beer produced at the brew pub on Main Street.

Last fall, word started getting around among the Brewers of Indiana Guild that there was a glitch in state law that forbids carryout of any alcohol under special liquor licenses set up in economic development zones.

And now, after years of being tucked away in Indiana Code, the law was being enforced by the state’s Alcohol and Tobacco Commission ...

 ... The story started in October, about the time of Harvest Homecoming festival in the southern Indiana city of New Albany.

Profuse public thanks go to Senator Ron Alting and Representative Ed Clere for their diligent efforts to make necessary repairs to these and other strange statutory divergences. After all, the ATC doesn't write these laws; it merely enforces them.

The riverfront three-way permits referenced here obviously were not intended to be incompatible with small brewing in Indiana; it's all about the wording, and the likelihood is that the words will be fixed during the coming legislative session.

As always, stay tuned.

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I lost the election. I may need to get a job, or something.

The election was Tuesday, November 3, and I lost somewhat resoundingly. Okay, I got only 7%, but at the same time, more than 36,000 people lived in New Albany this year and didn't run for mayor, so I'm serene.

Put up or shut up? Rest assured I won't be shutting up.

I knew all along it would be hard to break through the "same old same old." However, I'm satisfied that my goals were met, apart from the distraction winning. We competed in spite of having very little money, and I put together a platform that was coherent and detailed. The campaign had substance and gravitas. No one else touched the issues the way I did. It was a learning and a growing experience, even at the advanced age of 55.

In the aftermath, here's my political reality: ON THE AVENUES: Confusion, exile, ignobility and resistance.

The big question now: What's next in terms of my career in beer?

I'm not sure. My leave of absence from NABC to run for mayor has concluded, and during the political process, my partners and I decided that they'd be buying me out of the business. We've not concluded these negotiations, so that's the first step.

The truth of the matter is that after eight months away from the daily beer business grind, I'm refreshed, reinvented, encouraged and interested in pursuing future options. Just know that insofar as NABC is concerned, the die is cast.

From games of chance in which the outcome is determined by the throwing of dice or a single die. Popularized by its use by Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon to begin a civil war in the Roman Republic, indicating the commission of an irreversible act, whence also cross the Rubicon.

I'm an owner of NABC until I'm not an owner. Let's hope this settlement comes sooner rather than later, but be aware that legalities can be extensive. Any involvement I have with NABC in the short term is likely to be casual. As far as I'm concerned, I'm a free agent as of now, and very excited about piecing together a few revenue streams.

Wish me luck, and your ideas are appreciated. Thanks to all my friends in the craft beer cosmos who've been so very supportive of my quixotic political stab in the dark. To know me well is to know it's something I had to do, and may do again.  

Until then ... back to blogging.

David Pierce has returned to BBC St. Matthews, and Josh Hill is now head brewer at Bank Street Brewhouse.

The transitions continue at NABC with David Pierce's departure, completing the circle back to Bluegrass Brewing Company in Louisville (St. Matthews). David opened the BBC brewery in 1993.

Josh Hill becomes the brewer of record at Bank Street Brewhouse, while Ben Minton continues to man the mash paddle at the Pizzeria & Public House. They both know what they're doing, having learned from the best.

Roger (that's me) is running for mayor of New Albany and trying to finish his latest Food & Dining column submission for Mr. White. As for these changes of late, baseball aficionados will understand: I'm an Oakland A's fan, and In Beane We Trust. Personnel moves are part of the business.

As for me, I could write a book. Maybe I will. The past two weeks have been crazily cosmic: Kate's and Amy's family business is going back to being just that. Josh has returned to NABC, and David to BBC. Meanwhile, I'm up on the heath with Lear, studying a soaked road map. An election in November will help determine my destiny. Not to mention our former longtime bartender Stephen Powell, who has reinvented street food in downtown New Albany.

The weird thing about it is this: If you don't know me personally, you probably think I'm a pessimist, solely because I'm better at channeling bile than defining affection. But a cynic is a closet optimist, and I think it's all going to turn out well for everyone involved, and for the company itself.

Renewal fever: Catch it!

More yawns as "New Albanian beer co-founder to depart."

"But Roger -- you, using religion as an analogy?"

It's been a strange past couple of days, so why not? I may be stepping away, but until all the documents are signed (which might take months), I'm not going anywhere, and so it's a bit weird to be eulogized before I'm dead.

Though flattering, too.

An ex-brewery owner? A future mayor? 30 years later, there's another fork in the road, and I'm pumped.

If I'm not elected mayor of New Albany, then I'll need to get a job doing something. Free-lance punditry doesn't pay well, although it suits my temperament. We'll have to wait and see.

New Albanian beer co-founder to depart, by Bailey Loosemore (Courier-Journal)

"Good beer's a religion. The business part just gets in the way."

The statement is a shot of criticism at the current state of the craft beer industry by longtime supporter and New Albany brewery co-owner Roger Baylor, who said it can seem nowadays to be more about looks than taste.

It's also Baylor's parting words as he permanently steps away from the New Albanian Brewing Company.

This week, Baylor announced he is in negotiations to sell his portion of the company to his New Albanian partners — ex-wife Amy Baylor and her sister, Katie Lewison — who started operating the business together at the former Rich O's Public House in 1992 ...

An ex-brewery owner? A future mayor? 30 years later, there's another fork in the road, and I'm pumped.

Thirty years ago, I closed my eyes wide shut and jumped -- not so sure where or even if I'd land, but firm in the realization that I needed to do something to change my life.

The PC: Euro ’85, Part 15 … The traveler at 55, and a strange interlude.

I packed a gym bag, converted my life's savings into traveler's checks, bought a plane ticket and a rail pass, and went to Europe for three months.

It doesn't sound like much, and in the cosmic scheme of things, it wasn't. Millions of human beings have done the same, in different ways in different times. I'm just a speck, but it's the only speck I have, and I needed to relaunch the whole process of figuring out exactly who I was, because back then, the mechanism had stalled.

I was fortunate, and the plan worked. Europe made me what I am today, or more accurately, my stubborn determination that Europe would make me what I became actually bore fruit. It has been one hell of a ride, with only a handful of mostly negligible regrets.

Three decades later, it's time for another jump, and another relaunch. It's been time for quite a while. The public end of this process began yesterday morning with the publication of an article by Kevin Gibson at Insider Louisville: After a quarter century, Roger Baylor will move on from New Albanian Brewing Company. 

As usual, Kevin got it right.

... Roger Baylor, well known for his long career in beer and brewing, is now running for mayor of New Albany. If he wins, that will be his new focus. If not, well, he’ll look for another path to follow. Either way, his position as the public face of New Albanian has come to an end. He already had announced he would step away if he won the election — instead, he’s moving on ahead of the decision. It was simply time, he says.

Regarding his growing involvement in local politics over the last few years, Baylor tells Insider, “It seems to be what I’ve been interested in for a while now and seems to be what I spend a lot of time on. That might actually tell me something about where my head is.”

And while he still enjoys beer and brewing, it’s become more of a hobby-level interest, in part because of the popularity of what is now termed “craft beer.”

This is why folks should always spend months, and perhaps even years, reading between the lines to decipher cryptic hints. The private side of this evolving decision has been cogitating for a very long period. True, the devil's always in the details, timetables are inexact, and numerous stories might yet be written about how we got here, but there are three main bullet points that matter to me right now:

I want to be mayor of  New Albany, because this city desperately needs challenging from someone like me, and it's our time.

If not mayor, then I'm looking forward to a "solo" career as yet uncharted; NABC has been and will continue to be, so don't worry.

I am quite serene about these and other developments.

Thanks to everyone expressing support yesterday, today and in the weeks to come. If not for that first leap back in 1985, I'd have gotten to know precious few of you, and be all the poorer for the omission.

The following was published last week at Potable Curmudgeon. I may even have intended it as prelude. The 1985 travel series will continue in fits and starts, as I have the opportunity to write.

Stay tuned, because I didn't say anything about not writing.

Brewery badass Josh Hill returns to NABC.

He said so on Facebook.

Reading between lines, it appears Josh will be in sales. I've been on leave of absence to campaign for mayor of New Albany as an independent candidate, and as the good Sgt. Schultz would say, "I know nothing."

(Except that I'm a tremendous fan of Josh Hill, and delighted to see him back on duty.)

Donum Dei Brewery and free-range, homebrewer-sourced Porter.

There are few genuinely new ideas, just new generations not previously exposed to them, which is to say that the homebrewing community always has had a level of input into the brewing revolution.

And a town can't have too many Porters, so I'll have to try Rick's when there's the chance.

NABC first brewed a Porter in late 2002. It was called The Black Hand, and was David and Beth Howard’s winning Robust Porter recipe at the 10th annual FOSSILS homebrewed porter competition, held earlier in the year.

In 2003, we did it again. Bob Capshew’s recipe won the competition, and permanently altered the course of NABC’s subsequent Porter production, serving henceforth as the everyday basis for Bob's Old 15-B.

Craft brewers seek public input for new brews, by Bailey Loosemore (Courier-Journal)

New Albany's newest head brewer doesn't share his community's affinity for porters.

But with so many people requesting one be added to Donum Dei Brewing's menu, owner Richard Otey said he couldn't let down the steady base of regulars he's built in the past two months. So he made a decision that's becoming more common in the craft brewing and distilling industries: He used a local homebrewer's recipe.

Diary: On EFC and leaves of absence.

You win some, you lose some... and then there's that little-known third category.
-- Al Gore

It is a curious limbo I'm occupying at present.

On February 26, my leave of absence from NABC began. As my right knee informs me this morning, I am in fact running for mayor (actually, standing for seven hours yesterday, in campaign mode).

These three months away from the hyperbolic "craft" beer scrum seems to be providing much needed perspective, which can't be usefully applied to anything at work because I'm not working.

Meanwhile, I spend mornings reading about TIF zones and sewer utility edicts. They're where my head is, and where my heart is following. As my musician pal Roz always said, "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

As I contemplate what all of this means, it occurs to me that several NABC customers have gone out of their way lately to let me know how much they appreciate the Earth Friends concept as inserted into Bank Street Brewhouse. Thanks for that.

I'm the first to admit that in the very beginning, I didn't grasp it -- but seriously, why not something different when it comes to food and beer? I've enjoyed the food I've had at EFC, and of course David Pierce's beers are exemplary. It's a different crowd, and that's the point. Some day, there'll be money to complete the beer garden and make improvements. Until then, NABC excels at survival, often in spite of ourselves (and this assessment includes me).

That's all.

Insider Louisville's business briefing

Earth Friends Cafe re-emerges in New Albany: The team here at IL HQ had a rough go of things after Earth Friends Cafe closed its super-convenient-to-us East Market location last year. Now, the restaurant has re-emerged as the in-houser at Bank Street Brewhouse in New Albany (formerly the exclusive environs of Taco Punk). EFC, as it’s known, is running a lunch menu and Saturday/Sunday brunch, and is about to launch dinner wares, including black bean burgers, falafel burgers and flatbreads. Nom nom.

NABC’s beers for the 5th Annual Bloomington Craft Beer Festival (April 11).

Tomorrow's festival in Bloomington features 53 (all-Indiana) breweries, mead, wine and the following lineup from NABC.

Pins:
Ancient Rage with Styrian Golding dry hops
Action APA with Mosaic dry hops
Hoptimus-a-Rita with Citra and Mosaic dry hops and bitter orange peel

Sixth Barrels:
Oaktimus
Thunderfoot
Barrel-Aged Bonfire of the Valkyries (Bonfire 2013 aged in a River City Winery Colonel’s Legacy [a big red wine aged in a bourbon barrel] barrel)
Hacksaw Jim Dunkel

50 Liters:
Houndmouth
Black and Blue Grass

More information here: NABC’s beers for the 5th Annual Bloomington Craft Beer Festival

Media notice: Roger A. Baylor will take a leave of absence from NABC to run for mayor of New Albany.

Media notice: Roger A. Baylor will take a leave of absence from NABC to run for mayor of New Albany.

Two months ago, I utilized the bully pulpit afforded me by my weekly blog column to announce that in 2015, I’d be running for mayor of New Albany as an independent.

ON THE AVENUES: To the third floor -- but first, we throw the rascals out.

My rationale isn't overly complicated. I’m running for mayor because a city in transition like New Albany desperately needs progressive ideas like those espoused by people like me, from all walks of life, who routinely have been marginalized or ignored by the same old game, played the same old way, by the same old, tired political suspects.

It’s a big undertaking for any candidate. One must complete various forms and gather the necessary signatures, and then organize a whole campaign from scratch. All along, it has been my intention to begin the campaign in earnest come March 2 ... and we're right on schedule.

Consequently, the first of many transitions on along the path to come begins today. Effective immediately, I’m taking a leave of absence from the New Albanian Brewing Company (NABC), so as to devote my full attention to the campaign for mayor.

Of course, I’ll honor all previous commitments, but from this point the day-to-day is in the capable hands of my business partners, Kate Lewison and Amy Baylor, and our fine staff.

www.newalbanian.com

As many readers may already know, I own 33% of NABC’s two incorporations. When the November election is over and I’ve been elected to the office of mayor, I’ll act immediately to sell my shares to my two business partners, according to the terms of our buy-sell agreement.

Which is to say, I’m all in. I’m very serious about running for mayor -- and winning. Let the fun begin.

Questions? Just ask.

502-468-9710 (mobile)
roger@newalbanian.com

Fringe Fest 2014 and other upcoming NABC events.

I've vowed of late to keep NABC business off the blog, but in terms of mixed metaphors, exceptions are the spice of life. Events season is mercifully winding down, but first, a capstone of sorts.

New Albany's annual Harvest Homecoming downtown takeover begins this Saturday with the annual parade. For various reasons, the Curmudgeons are unable to host a party at their residence this year, so instead, we'll be at Bank Street Brewhouse sifting the usual floating dross for unanticipated nuggets of wisdom.

Personally, I quite enjoy playing annoying mosquito to Harvest Homecoming's orange-clad 800-lb gorilla. In terms of my business, we simplify matters and seek to have as much fun as possible amid the absurdity. Consequently, there'll be Fringe Fest at Bank Street Brewhouse.

NABC’S 7th Annual Fringe Fest at Bank Street Brewhouse is Oct 9 – 12

Gallery: All 7 of Tony’s poster for Fringe Fest, 2008 – 2014

The coming weekend brings an event that was unexpected when first announced, and now strikes me as very interesting.

NABC and other regional beers at the inaugural Louder Than Life Festival

Why not craft beer with the likes of Judas Priest, Korn and Kid Rock? NABC is joined by BBC, Falls City, Alltech and West Sixth. Collectively, these breweries represent choice ... what a concept. The remainder of the October calendar also has been posted:

NABC CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS FOR OCTOBER … 2014

Like numerous other breweries, NABC can't always afford marketing grandiosity, so props to RCD for a nice tout,

It’s the NABC-wrapped Ford Transit Connect Van from River City Distributing

That's all I have for now.

NABC and Against the Grain frequently pinned, if not twinned.

It may have been 2011 or 2012 when I concluded that NABC needed to be on Pinterest, and so I registered. Then I reverted to my Luddite proclivities and forgot all about it, although fortunately others in the company didn't. And so we join Against the Grain as sole "top 150 most pinned" representatives from our respective states. I suppose this is good, so thanks to all those doing the actual pinning.

The 150 Most Popular U.S. Microbreweries on Pinterest, by Laura Vitto (Mashable)

America loves its beer, and for good reason. In cities across the country, independent breweries are crafting their own unique blends and serving it up to local customers.

With nearly 3,000 breweries in the U.S. total, craft breweries make up 98 percent of them. There were 2,768 craft breweries in the U.S. by the end of 2013. Pinterest celebrated the best with a list of the top-pinned microbreweries from across the country.

The Diary of Our Own Jimmy Bracken: No beer houses in sight, but we remain dauntless.

New Albany probably wouldn't considered the ideal "craft" beer market, although proximity to Louisville certainly figures into any such reckoning.

On Sunday, May 25, we sold 17 kegs of NABC beer at Boomtown, and probably 4 or 5 more at Bank Street Brewhouse. The Grand went through 9 during the Houndmouth show. That's somewhere around 30 kegs in a day, albeit a quite special day.

The thing that struck me about Boomtown is this: In the main, it was not a "beer geek" kind of crowd. They were there for the music, and maybe for the Flea Off market stalls. They had a choice; our compatriots at Irish Exit were selling Lite and Pabst. And yet we did very well indeed.

Midweek, with Boomtown in the rear view mirror until next year, I learned that a second Greater Kentucky wholesale beer distributor was not interested in our products. I don't contest the reasoning, i.e., they have a full and cluttered "book" comprised of numerous beers from numerous breweries, many of them located hundreds of miles away. Left unspoken (though patently obvious) is the point that after all, this is what the consumer base wants.

One of the consumer bases, at least.

In short, it's the consumer base NOT represented at Boomtown, where there were few self-identified beer geeks to be found, and yet the better beer flowed freely.

To reiterate, I don't contest the wholesaler's reasoning. I merely point to a disconnect, one that I've no clue how to remedy. In Indiana, we can self-distribute. In Kentucky, we are obliged to use an intermediary, of which there are relatively few, numerically, and this is is frustrating but fine -- for so long as one of them agrees to partner with us.

When they don't, it's just plain frustrating.

The most bizarre part of all this is geographical. We cannot get beer to Lexington, Kentucky, because we can't find a wholesaler. But wholesalers in Texas, Missouri and Massachusetts have expressed interest. When you'd like to be local/regional but cannot, owing to the leaden weight of the three-tier distribution system, then do you shrug and join the parade by shipping far, far away?

I posted the following on Facebook, and for the record, repeat it here. I can't say there are answers these days, only questions. The bizarre part of all this is that

Several of you have asked; here's the answer: NABC would love to be selling beer in Kentucky outside Jefferson County, but we can't seem to find a wholesaler. The first one died. We divorced the second one. Recent matchmaking has been rebuffed. I'm considering a Kickstarter bid to relocate NABC a couple thousand miles away, thus making us sexy and fashionable for local markets here; but of course that's impractical. In the end, all we have is great beer. I'm quite happy with that. Thanks to those of you who both get it, and GET it.

"Big Four Burgers joins forces with NABC for Friday evening food at Bank Street Brewhouse."

The owner of Big Four Burgers + Beer in Jeffersonville is Matt McMahan, who operates Irish Exit in New Albany. He already had a food trailer under construction before the recent kitchen suspension at Bank Street Brewhouse, and the timing's perfect for both of us. The obvious next step is to cover Saturday during summer by a similar arrangement with food vendors. The BSB kitchen remains operational, and is licensed, so options exist there, too.

During the two weeks that have followed perestroika at BSB, feedback has been interestingly generational. Generally speaking, the younger generation seems happier with the notion of kaleidoscopic and variable food options, and my own cohort a tad grumpier. I'm viewing the situation as one in which a tremendous number of options to use the BSB space now have come into being, as opposed to a previous state of being in which almost every decision we made had to be taken against a backdrop of what was best for the kitchen. Had we been making money hand over fist ... but I digress.

Let's see how this burger, beer and music idea works out, beginning May 30, then go from there. The details are here: Big Four Burgers joins forces with NABC for Friday evening food at Bank Street Brewhouse

The Diary of Our Own Jimmy Bracken: "Oh, Mr. Putty tat. Don't you wike me anymore?"

I harbor no illusions when it comes to the give-and-take of discourse. If you hold strong views and have the ability to state them coherently, there'll be disagreements, and you'll make enemies. It's all part of the game. At times, the other guy musters the better argument, and that's just fine.

Then there are those "WTF" times when you're advised to smile and walk away, because the primary thrust of the argument being directed against you is that you're literate.

Don't hold your breath expecting me to apologize for being literate. It won't happen.

Yesterday was one such time for shrugging. To make a long story very short, a frequent critic returned to one of his favorite subjective themes: NABC brews sub-standard and boring beers. His objective evidence? That'd be the fact that ... that ... well, that in his opinion they're sub-standard and boring.

I can't speak to the absence of objectivity now choking beer enthusiasm like so many invasive weeds. We've somehow raised an entire generation that wishes to pose as a priestly caste, although without the first notion of objectivity apart from that of Kolsch being "bad" only because it isn't IPA. The noteworthy aspect of yesterday's discussion was that it was about localism in beer, digressing relatively quickly owing to the usual beer narcissist's knee-jerk objection: BUT YOU CAN'T FORCE ME TO DRINK BAD BEER.

Wouldn't think of it, although it depends on what the meaning of "geek" is. Let's move on to the keynote speaker. He wrote:

I wish NABC would be a force in the local beer community, but it just seems to fall to memory of what it was. Instead of competing with a force such as AtG, it seems Roger just wants to complain about the people in long drawn out sentences as if they are the problem and not what is going into the bottles.

It's an utterly fascinating sentence, this: "Instead of competing with a force such as AtG."

We need to be a force, and they need to be a force. Of course, force isn't defined. As I've noted previously, reducing the better beer world to the rote screenplay of a WWE bout is indicative of something, and perhaps many things ... though not better beer.

It seems to me that we're in the business of competing for consumers, not against each other, and the wonderful thing about consumers is that they come in all sizes, shapes, colors and levels of interest. Accordingly, there are markets for beer of a similarly diverse range in terms of variety.

It's why I like session beers, and why we at NABC are tying to keep four of them tap all of the time. We do it because people are drinking them, and as capitalists, we then are compelled to make more. That's really the purpose of the exercise.

One way to look at this might be that given AtG's customary single (and invariably solid) session beer, we've already "competed" with them and won. Personally, it's nonsense and I don't agree -- because there isn't any competition, between us. We do different things in route to a common purpose. What interests NABC at present is widening the scope of better beer, not just for the self-possessed cognoscenti, but for ordinary people who develop an interest in better beer and are ignored by the likes of my correspondent.

I could go on, but it's futile. Maybe if there is time, I can log in at RateBeerComments.com and hammer the bejesus out of his.

Drinkin' NABC with the Beer Whisperer.

Here's a four-pack of Beer Whisperer. Enjoy.

Elector






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