2015 Update: "The Story of Bonfire of the Valkyries."

I'm kinda sorta on leave of absence to conduct a campaign for mayor of New Albany, but that doesn't mean I must refrain from joining in the propaganda effort. Bonfire is out now. 

Those of us still prone to reading books in a tactile sense, turning pages without electronic assistance, probably remember “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” a novel by Tom Wolfe. It first was serialized in Rolling Stone magazine, and then published in its entirety in 1987. The novel is set in raucous New York City during the 1980s, and when later released as a motion picture, bore a highly descriptive marketing tagline:

“An outrageous story about greed, lust and vanity in America.”

Bonfire of the Valkyries, a seasonal release from the New Albanian Brewing Company, is brewed far from the Big Apple’s cosmopolitan tumult, in the quaint Ohio River town called New Albany, which celebrated its bicentennial in 2013 by purposefully ignoring the bulk of its contested and caterwauling civic history – to such an extent that the real 200-year birthday milestone doesn’t actually come around until 2017.

Accordingly, Bonfire of the Valkyries is a satisfying beer about mythology, pyromania and forgetfulness.

More importantly, Bonfire of the Valkyries is NABC’s annual and respectful springtime nod to our brewing forbearers in New Albany. From the mid-1800s, most of these were transplanted Germans with names like Reising, Buchheit and Nadorff, who brought with them from the old country a taste for then-revolutionary lager beers.

Did some of them recall more archaic fermented delicacies, perhaps black, smoky and strong concoctions pulled from icy cellars deep in the Franconian countryside? We can only guess, but it seems entirely possible, and we’re eager and able to close the historical circle by making their beer dreams into reality.

According to NABC’s informal house style guidelines, Bonfire of the Valkyries is considered an Imperial Smoked Black Lager. At 8% abv, it is almost double the alcoholic potency of standard Black Lager, as codified by the “official” Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) playbook. Moreover, there is a healthy percentage of Weyermann Rauch (smoked) malt from Bamberg, Germany.

Bonfire of the Valkyries is full-bodied and clean, with medium but assertive smokiness. In the sovereign territory of New Albania, it’s the ideal accompaniment to smoked meats (especially when it’s been a good year for deer hunting), oysters, cabbage soup, kielbasa, sauerkraut and freshwater trout, although to be honest, we’re purely guessing about the trout. While there is no known instance of someone pairing Bonfire with river catfish or carp, we’re open to the possibility.

You roast them, and we’ll toast them.

Conversely, as we’ve been known to do in New Albania, you might just enjoy a few glasses of Bonfire of the Valkyries while burning away the long hours until Ragnarök, the forthcoming, epic struggle that will make Wolfe’s milieu look like a serene late evening walk in New Albania’s famous Rent Boy Park.

22-oz bombers of Bonfire of the Valkyries are available in Indiana and metropolitan Louisville on the Kentucky side of the Ohio. A limited amount of draft has been allocated, and of course, it can be enjoyed in all forms at NABC’s two New Albanian locations.

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Bonfire of the Valkyries

Imperial Smoked Black Lager

ABV: 8%

IBU: 10 (or 20; who remembers?)

Color: Very brown to pre-black.

Flavor: Full bodied, with strong, clean dark lager malt character and ample smokiness.

Compare to: Bonfire is an utterly unique Imperial Smoked Black Lager, but it compares with Smoked Porters from Alaskan, Stone, etc.

Description: We start with German-style Black Lager, brew it to a higher than normal strength, and use a proportion of beechwood-smoked barley malt. Bonfire demands: “Give me bacon.”

Recipe Suggestion: Begin by ordering carry-out from your favorite barbecue purveyor (ours are Feast BBQ on West Main Street and Shawn’s Southern BBQ, both in New Albany), remembering to keep the sauce on the side; what you need is a plate of delicious smoked meat. Decant Bonfire of the Valkyries from a growler or bomber bottle into whatever clean glass is available. Get down to business; we’ll come back later to check on your progress.

Video review of NABC Bonfire of the Valkyries.

Here's an accurate, concise video review of NABC's Bonfire of the Valkyries at LouisvilleBeer.com:

60 Second Beer Review: NABC Bonfire of the Valkyries (Video)

NABC Bonfire of the Valkyries is out and about.

NABC’s signature Black Lager is on tap at both Bank Street Brewhouse and the Pizzeria & Public House for consumption in-house, or carry-out sales in growlers and bottles. The first 22-oz bomber shipments have gone out to wholesalers in Indiana and Kentucky. A very limited amount of draft will be made available to outside accounts.

Bonfire of the Valkyries is NABC's full-bodied and clean Black Lager with medium smokiness. It is the ideal accompaniment to all smoked meats, oysters on the half shell, cabbage soup, kielbasa and freshwater trout. Or, just have a few glasses while you’re burning away the hours until Ragnarok. It won't last long, so get some.

2011 bomber labels for Bonfire of the Valkyries and Solidarity.

Solidarity is approved. In 2011, there'll be only one Bonfire, at the "Imperial" strength. Look for these on shelves soon. If I knew exactly when, I'd say so.

Here's what NABC plans to take to the Great Taste of the Midwest.

Following is what I've submitted on behalf of NABC to the Great Taste of the Midwest for inclusion in this year's program. The festival takes place on August 14 in Madison, Wisconsin, and is a must-visit at some point in your beer drinking career. This year, we're being placed close by The Livery, Schlafly and O'Fallon so as to enable a "collaboration corner" and feature cooperative projects brewed during the past year.

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NABC Beer Descriptions, for the Great Taste of the Midwest 2010 official program

(Includes both descriptions and details about NABC collaboration beer placements. *Recipe notes provided for collaborations brewed at NABC)

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At the NABC station, C02 pour:

Elector, Elsa von Horizon, Hoptimus, Thunderfoot

Cask-conditioned NABC (pin at the NABC station; tapping time TBA):

2008 Port-aged Bonfire of the Valkyries

Cask-conditioned NABC (firkins at the real ale tent):

Beak’s Best and Community Dark

Collaboration(s) casks, to be tapped at Collaboration Corner, not the real ale tent:

*NABC/The Livery Oaked Le Douche Mentale & Scotch pin conditioned Le Douche Mentale

Malts: Castle Pale, Castle Biscuit, Simpsons Medium Crystal

Hops: Wet Fuggles, Nugget, Fuggle, Cascade

ABV: 8.5%

IBU: 75

*NABC/O’Fallon/Schlafly C2 Smoked Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Malts: Castle Pale, Weyermann Rauchmalz, Castle Biscuit, Briess Smoked, Castle Aromatic, Castle Special B Mash hops: Mt. Hood, Crystal Kettle hops: Magnum, Celeia Yeast: Belgian Chouffe O.G. 1.097 or 24.3 Plato ABV: 10.4% IBU: 35 Color: 14.8

Collaboration Notes:
The Livery also debuts its 5th anniversary beer, Imperial Dark IPA (NABC’s Jared Williamson helped brew it) at its station, and O' Fallon debuts C3, the third collaboration series beer with O’Fallon’s, NABC and Schlafly, at its station.

Main NABC beer descriptions

Beak’s Best

Malts: Simpsons Golden Promise, Simpsons Medium Crystal, Castle (Belgian) Aromatic and Special B

Hops: Double hopped with Cascade pellets, finished through hop-back with whole cone Cascades

Yeast: House London

OG: 1.059 or 14.75 degree Plato

ABV: 5.3%

IBU: 35

Color: 10.3 degree Lovibond SRM

American bitter & soul liniment
NABC’s session-strength American Bitter is named in honor of globetrotting historian and educator Don "Beak" Barry, and in 2003 it was the winner of the "Louisville Magazine Best Of" award for Louisville area microbrews. Like its namesake, Beak’s is fond of traveling (albeit in kegs), lending itself to refreshing contemplation.
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Bonfire of the Valkyries

Malts: Weyermanns Rauchmalz, Simpsons Black, Castle Aromatic, Castle Special B

Hops: Czech Zatec (Saaz)

Yeast: Common Lager

OG: 1083

ABV: 8.5%

IBU: 5.1

Color: 46.2 SRM

Burning away the hours 'til Ragnarok
Although it’s probably somewhere in the German brewing playbook, we couldn’t find the rule prohibiting the higher-gravity crossing of Black Lager with Smoked Lager, so we brew Bonfire each year in autumn and let it age until release just before Christmas. For the Great Taste, Bonfire has been aged in JW Lees ’08 Port pin.

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Community Dark

Malts: Special Pale, Dark Crystal and Chocolate malts

Hops: Double hopped with EK Golding

Yeast: House London

OG: 1.046 or 11.5 degree Plato

ABV: 3.7%

IBU: 12.5

Color: 25 degree Lovibond SRM

Inside is what counts
Inspired by traditional English Mild, the style that fueled the workers who made the Industrial Revolution, Community Dark is revolutionary in its own way: Dark-colored but light-bodied, and a session ale suitable for New Albany’s emerging downtown renaissance.

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Elector

Malts: Special Pale and Simpsons Medium Crystal

Hops: Triple hopped with Chinook pellets, finished through hop-back with whole cone Cascades

Yeast: House London

OG: 1.074 or 18.5 degree Plato

ABV: 7.5%

IBU: 62

Color: 11.9 degree Lovibond SRM

Makes democracy pointless
Excessive hopping rendered moot the original modest plan to brew a traditional winter warmer, but the resulting hybrid was delicious and redefines the Imperial Red style category. The first batch of Elector was brewed on Election Day, 2002, a mere two years after the nation’s electors (most recently) made democracy pointless, and we persist in thinking that an Elector in hand is worth two Bushes in retirement, any election day, any old time at all.

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Elsa Von Horizon

Malts: German Pilsner, German Munich

Hops: Hallertauer Mittelfruh, Tettnang

Yeast: Common Lager

OG: 1.100

ABV: 10%

IBU: 80

Color: 5.4 SRM

Bekämpfen sie und ich beiße sie
It is deceptively simple. A Pilsner rich in noble continental hops is brewed to the strength of Maibock and beyond, and then even more noble hops are added to the recipe for balance and bite. Not even the Germans try it, and we consider this shyness as implicit encouragement to innovate. Elsa is a proud member of NABC’s Brewers’ Best Friend Series, along with Malcolm and Jasmine. They’re assertive, loyal specialties named for our brewers’ canine chums.

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Hoptimus

Malts: Special Pale

Adjunct: Pure, free-range sucrose

Hops: 4 additions of high alpha Nugget, 1 late addition of Cascade, finished through hop-back with whole cone Cascades

Yeast: House London

OG: 1.097 or 24.25 degree Plato

ABV: 10.7%

IBU: 100

Color: 6.9 degree Lovibond SRM

Made of sterner stuff
“Vicariously” is for rank amateurs and subpar international lagers, because Hoptimus lives vivaciously through itself, and is best consumed in the prime of youth, when its bold hop character is at its snarkiest and most blatantly unrepentant. Hoptimus has been named “the beer most likely to be preferred by the most interesting man in the world, if he really were the most interesting man in the world, but he isn’t” by Publicans Monthly magazine.

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Thunderfoot

Malts: Special Pale, Simpson's Roasted Barley, Simpson's Dark Crystal, Flaked Oats

Adjunct: Pure free-range sucrose

Hops: Quad-hopped with Northern Brewer and Willamette

Special treatment: Dried tart cherries fall into the hopback, and medium-toast American oak chips and dried Bing cherries go into each keg for aging. One year later: In your glass.

Yeast: House London

OG: 1.106 or 25.2 degree Plato

ABV: 12%

IBU: 84

Color: 72.7 degree Lovibond SRM

Ultimate urban renewal
There can be no doubt that Thunderfoot actively renounces the art of the gentle tweak, the mild revision, and the imperceptible hint. Rather, Thunderfoot advocates palatal renewal the old-fashioned way – complete, irresistible and certain. 20 months old; brewed January, 2009.

NABC seasonal brews: Bonfire of the Valkyries, Naughty Claus & Solidarity.

Each year during Saturnalia, which is NABC’s draft beer festival and a leering bow to the pagan roots of the holidays, we release two of our own creations: Bonfire of the Valkyries (Smoked Black Lager) and Naughty Claus (Spiced Ale). This year, there’s a bonus selection made possible by the additional brewing capacity downtown: Solidarity (Baltic Porter).

Saturnalia begins on Friday, December 4, so here’s an update on NABC’s listed contributions.

Solidarity, which might be considered a Saturnalia pre-release, is on tap now. It was ready to drink, and we saw no sense in holding it.

Bonfire will be ready for pouring in about three weeks, just before Christmas. Naughty Claus has undergone its yearly recipe modification (see below), and will be released around the 10th of December.

The 2009 batches of Bonfire and Naughty Claus were brewed by Jared Williamson at the Garage Brewery (Pizzeria & Public House).

Meanwhile, David Pierce honed the original Michael Borchers formulation of Solidarity, which also was previously brewed by Jared and Jesse Williams, and he joined with Jesse in putting a batch through the new Bank Street system.

I sampled Solidarity last week as accompaniment to Chef Josh Lehman’s Pastrami sandwich, and the combo is dynamite.

Here are the specs:

Bonfire of the Valkyries 09
Burning away the hours 'til Ragnarok
Although it’s probably there somewhere in the German brewing playbook, we couldn’t find the rule prohibiting the crossing of Black Lager with Smoked Lager, so we brew Bonfire each year in autumn and let it age until release during Saturnalia, just before Christmas.

Malts: Weyermann Rauch Malz, Simpsons Black, Castle Aromatic, Castle Special B

Hops: Magnum (Bitter, Flavor, Aroma)

Yeast: Garage Brewery Frisco Lager

ABV: 7.2%

IBU: 10

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Naughty Claus 09
Santa needs daze off, too
A rich, full-bodied holiday spiced seasonal that changes wardrobe a bit each year as we experiment with festive additives.

Malts: Simpsons Golden Promise, Rahr 2-row, Weyermanns Vienna, Castle, Biscuit, Castle Aromatic

Adjuncts: Belgian Candi Sugar (Dark), Molasses

Hops: Summit

Spices: Fresh Ginger Root, Cinnamon Sticks, Rose Hips

Yeast: Bank Street London

OG: 1074

ABV: 7%

IBU: 9

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Solidarity
Solidarity or Death
In the 1080’s, the Solidarity trade union movement in Poland sought and achieved an end to the official Communist Party’s hegemony over the workers’ movement. We tip our hats to the activists with Solidarity, a robust reminder of Baltic foresight in activism and strong beer.

Malts: Simpson Golden Promise, Special Pale, Simpson Aromatic, CaraPils, Simpson Dark Crystal, Simpson Chocolate, Simpson Black

Hops: German Perle, two additions (one at each end of the boil)

Yeast: Garage Brewery Frisco Lager

Color: 26 degree SRM (or, almost black)

ABV: 8.5%

IBU: 18