Teaser: Ultimate Parade Renewal on October 1 when ThunderFoot bombers go on sale at NABC.

Saturday, October 1 is Harvest Homecoming Parade day in New Albany. It's also the day we've chosen to release ThunderFoot 22-oz bomber bottles for carry-out purchase by the general public. ThunderFoot bombers will be available all day on the 1st (only!) at both NABC locations, and if there's any left over, Southern Indiana commercial accounts get the next stab, then our friends at Cavalier Distributing Inc.

Tony's label and graphics for Yakima Rye India Pale Ale.

And all due thanks to Jared Williamson, who now walks to work at Schlafly, for developing Yakima. We have big plans for this one.

NABC bomber bottle labels to date, as designed by Tony Beard.

Note that the labels depicted aren't necessarily the same ones granted approval by the TTB. Just enjoy the artwork, and don't sweat the details.

Bottling Naughty Girl at Bank Street Brewhouse on Thursday, June 16.

Meheen Merlin Meets Elector, Chapter 1.

Thanks to Jeremy Kennedy, Josh Hill, Eric Gray and David Pierce for defying the heat and bottling Elector.

The Meheen in the box.

Thanks to the Meheen Merlin, which arrived today, your chances of getting NABC bombers sooner, rather than later, just exponentially increased.

NABC bombers in today's Courier-Journal.

I'll have more to say about the bottling project very soon. Until then, enjoy Marty's fine piece on NABC's bombers.

In Search of Good Food: Cheers to New Albanian's big bottles of beer, by Marty Rosen (Special to The Courier-Journal).

It takes a big bottle to contain a big beer. And big beers have been a hallmark of the New Albanian Brewing Co. since owner Roger Baylor and his crew first started playing with grain, hops, water and yeast. So it's not surprising that when NABC started bottling beers, it would bring out the big guns and put them in the 22-ounce bottles called bombers.

More on bottles and the "J" team.

Photos of the crew can be viewed here: Bottles up, by Kevin McGloshen (News and Tribune). As you can see, there's nothing much automated (or glamorous) about small-time bottling.

Meet the workers: Josh Hill you probably already know, and perhaps recently designated brewery tech Jeremy Kennedy, too; Jesse Jacobsen has been doing some part-time "intern" work assisting Jared Williamson at the original NABC brewhouse.

Thanks to their labors, we're getting bottles out the door.

NABC Bottle Release Party at Keg Liquors this Thursday, March 31.

From the web site of the 44th best beer retailer in the world comes this notice of NABC's bottle release celebration this coming Thursday evening.

New Albanian Bottle Release Party ... March 31st, 2011

Join us on March 31st from 5 - 8 PM as we welcome our friends from New Albanian Brewing Company and help them launch their newly bottled beer. Bottles of Elector, Hoptimus and Elsa von Horizon will be available for sale, and discounted for the day of the event. Chef Josh Lehman from the New Albanian Bank Street Brewhouse will be creating some different appetizers for the event, and New Albanian personnel will be on hand to celebrate this great event.

Evolution.

NABC artwork by Tony Beard.

Resting today.

First, a very fast Gravity Head XIII.5 lineupdate: 3F Behemoth and Dogfish 120 Minute gone, special bonus Sierra Nevada Hoptimum and listed BBC Chocolate Wheatwine on.

Yesterday NABC bottled its first round of Elector. Thanks to everyone who came and helped. The case total for the first day was 74 (12 x 22 oz), which David Pierce says isn't bad for a bunch of first-timers. My knees and back agree with this assessment. Office Hours Barleywines last night helped ease the pain.

I'm announcing this first bottling run because I'm proud to get the ball rolling. Please do NOT ask me when they'll be appearing on store shelves. Just give us a few days to formulate a strategy.

Thanks for your patience!

See, the labels prove it.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Pierce. More to follow.

New Albanian Brewing Company to begin bottling in 22-oz “bomber” bottles.

(The "official" press release)

For the first time since 1935, commercially brewed beer will be bottled in New Albany in February, when the New Albanian Brewing Company begins packaging selected beers in 22-oz bottles ("bombers," in the argot of the biz).

NABC soon will commence bottling operations at its Bank Street Brewhouse location at 415 Bank Street in downtown New Albany.

The last known instance of commercially-licensed beer being brewed and bottled in New Albany was immediately after the repeal of Prohibition, when the Southern Indiana Ice & Brewing Company (also known as Ackerman’s) occupied the former Paul Reising premises from 1933 through 1935. A Holiday Inn Express now stands at the site.

NABC’s decision to package beer in bombers (22 ounce – 650 ml) reflects our preference for the communal utility of the size. Bombers contain two or more servings of beer, ideal for sharing among friends.

While craft canning was the original aim, bottling at our scale and size is more economically feasible in the short term. NABC intends to re-examine canning in the future, after bottling helps us gain experience in packaging.

NABC’s mint-condition, three-head bottle filler, designed for use at a Brew-on-Premise facility, was purchased from HDP of Canada. Reflecting NABC’s longtime brewing ethos, bomber bottling will be artisanal and small scale, but sufficient to expand availability to package stores and on-premise establishments lacking draft systems.

Federal label approval has been granted for Elector (Imperial Red), Elsa von Horizon (Imperial Pilsner) and Hoptimus (Imperial India Pale Ale).

Tony Beard's bomber label design for Elector.

Tony Beard's bomber label design for Elsa Von Horizon.

Tony Beard's bomber label design for Hoptimus.

Others will follow, and broadly speaking, NABC’s higher gravity ales and lagers will be the brands bottled in bombers. Of course, draft growlers of all our currently available beers still can be purchased at NABC’s two New Albany locations (Pizzeria & Public House Monday – Saturday; Bank Street Brewhouse Tuesday -- Sunday).

Initial bottle distribution will be in Floyd and Clark Counties (NABC self-distribution) and Jefferson County, Kentucky (River City Distributing). As bottling ramps up, availability will extend to the remainder of Indiana via Cavalier Distributing in Indianapolis.

For further information, contact me:

Roger A. Baylor, Carnival Barker
New Albanian Brewing Company
Public House & Pizzeria
Bank Street Brewhouse
Cell: 502-468-9710
New Albany, Indiana
roger@newalbanian.com

NABC label ink at beernews.com

It's the great Internet news source where I go to view labels and read press releases from breweries across the country, and perhaps NABC's inaugural appearance there: http://beernews.org

New Albanian bottles to debut later this winter

(New Albanian, IN) – Look for some new bottles in the Hoosier State coming early next year ...