Haggis Laddie is back -- even if its primary reason for being is not.

In late January, I learned that the 2012 Celts on the River concert would be held not in New Albany, a city that had given the concert's organizers metaphorical refuge, a physical riverfront home and extensive help in nurturing the fledgling event for three years running, but in downtown Jeffersonville.

Evidently the concert was poached by Jeffersonville officials after the Celts committee organizer saw no compelling reason to inform New Albany that a bidding war was underway, seeing as to do so would have allowed for a matching counter-offer.

But worry not, New Albany's loss will be Jeffersonville's, too, once the Celtic carpetbaggers flee to Otisco, New Amsterdam or Birdseye at some point in the future, given that there seems to be no sentiment for them to be hosted anywhere in Louisville, from whence most of them hail. Therein lies an interesting story from the archives, but not just yet.

In the absence of regular communications between the organizers and NABC, which in retrospect was a predictable indicator of prospective divorce, we'd already placed Haggis Laddie Celtic Red on the production schedule to be ready for pouring at the concert in June. That's because we've been brewing it for the main purpose of being the event's "official" beer.

Yes, we might have made an adjustment in the schedule once we learned that the carpetbagging committee had flown the coop, but I wanted to ensure that all of it would be gone BEFORE the new concert date of September 8 ... all of which is to say, NABC Haggis Laddie Celtic Red now is on tap at the Pizzeria & Public House, and kegs are ready for tapping at Bank Street Brewhouse. Enjoy them, because we're not brewing any more batches this year.

The art of NABC's Haggis Laddie Celtic Red.

The name is a pun based on our friend Roz Tate's alter ego, Haggis Daddy, and the Dry Stout we used to brew by that name. Tony Beard did the art, and it is Jared Williamson's recipe, a spot-on nailing of the classic Irish Red, center of the target, and it's going to move quickly on Saturday if the temps reach the mid-90's as predicted.

NABC Haggis Laddie Celtic Red for the "Celts on the River" concert this Saturday (June 12).

NABC Haggis Laddie Celtic Red for the "Celts on the River" concert this Saturday (June 12).

Last year's inaugural "Celts on the River" concert was held at New Albany's riverfront amphitheater in mid-August. We'd just started brewing at Bank Street Brewhouse, and Jared Williamson somehow managed to squeeze a brand new formulation into the brewing schedule at NABC's original garage brewery at the Pizzeria & Public House.

It was called Haggis Laddie Celtic Red, and intended as our annual seasonal in honor of the Celtic festival and concert, for which NABC is the exclusive beer vendor. The show was moved to June 12 for this (and I believe) successive years, as previewed in my LEO column last week: "Mug Shots" today in LEO: "Celts invade New Albany."

Haggis Laddie Celtic Red has been brewed a second time, this year under slightly less stressful conditions. Here's the recipe:

Haggis Laddie Celtic Red
Malts: Two row, 80L Crystal, Cara-Pils, Wheat Malt, Black Patent

Hops: Northern Brewer

Yeast: House London Ale

ABV: 5%
IBU: 17

The first keg of this year's Haggis Laddie Celtic Red will be tapped Friday, June 11, at Covered Bridge golf course's bar for the Charity Golf Scramble, a prelude to the concert on Saturday. NABC also is sponsoring a hole, and will have samples available there during the scramble itself.

Haggis Laddie then will go on tap at both NABC locations on Saturday, June 12, and of course will be featured at the amphitheater for the show from 2:00 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Check back for updates throughout the coming days as we prepare for a big weekend in New Albany.

Celts on the River concert in New Albany is Saturday, June 12.

NABC is the official beer sponsor, and will be on hand for all the music in addition to hosting the after-party at Bank Street Brewhouse. Look for the second annual release of Haggis Laddie Celtic Red, timed to coincide with the golf scramble at Covered Bridge on Friday, June 11th, and on tap for the weekend at both NABC locations as well as the Riverfront Amphitheater.

My LEO column on June 2, as well as my Tribune column on June 10, will be devoted to the Celtic celebration. Until then, there are further details at the Kentuckiana Celtic Fest's web site.

Of yeast and NABC brewing locations, with Haggis Laddie and Tafel thoughts included.

In general daily terms, beers brewed by NABC fall into three categories epending on the type of yeast used: London, California Common (for lagers) and Belgian Saison.

Broadly speaking, now that the 15bbl/30bbl Bank Street Brewhouse is up and running, the London yeast primarily will be employed downtown to brew the core portfolio of ales for distribution: Beak’s, Elector, 15-B and Hoptimus.

Lagers (Mt. Lee, Kaiser, Abzug, et al) and Belgians (Tunnel Vision, Tafel, Saisons) will be brewed at the original 4bbl/8bbl garage brewhouse off Grant Line Road.

Expect there to be exceptions, as the new yeast propagator at BSB makes it possible to grow any yeast efficiently and quickly and use it at either location, but on a day to day basis, the preceding constitutes the game plan.

Dave Pierce and Jesse Williams work at BSB, and Jared Williamson is at Grant Line. These are their primary workplaces, but there’ll be much movement between the sites, as well as the opportunity for fun and creativity once the routine is established. Until then -- and it will take some time -- we're trying to nail down schedules and rotations.

Today is the first BSB brew day of two (plus Saturday) designed so that we can have a fermenter filled with Hoptimus by the end of the day tomorrow. 15-barrel batches of Beak’s and Elector were brewed Wednesday and yesterday, and a like sized batch of 15-B comes Sunday. We’ll have 75 barrels of ale in the process of fermenting by Monday, and if this doesn’t seem like much, consider that the previous yearly high of brewing at Grant Line was just beneath 500 barrels.

Jared will be improving on that 500 bbl figure at Grant Line this year, and two of his garage brewery selections currently are on draft at Bank Street: Haggis Laddie Celtic Red and Tafel.

I mention the former with slight trepidation, as it’s Friday and the sole keg we have to sample has already been on tap for four days. It’s intended as standard, quaffing Irish-style red ale (London house yeast) and was brewed specifically for the upcoming Kentuckiana Celtic Fest on New Albany’s riverfront on August 22, hence the “Celtic” designation. A keg was surreptitiously tapped at BSB to gather customer feedback, which has been good so far. We doubt that it will become a staple, although it is hoped that the Celtic Fest will return next year, and if so, I’m sure we’ll do it again then.

The Tafel, which is on tap at both NABC locations, was for formulated by Dave as an exercise in (a) low gravity brewing for the session beer series, and (b) as a way to keep the Saison yeast working until there’s time for Jared to brew more Belgians along these lines. The word “tafel” means “table” in the Dutch, Flemish and German languages, and so it is table beer, unapologetically so. It is of characteristic Belgian flavor, quite mild with fruity spiciness, and suitable for more than one.

Here are a few of Jared’s comments, which illustrate what we learned about the yeast along the way to Tafel.

The Saison yeast worked very slowly on the Tafel, nearly 3 weeks, but I started fermentation near 72 degrees and then turned it up to 80 to finish. The Tunnel Vision I brewed last week began at 78 degrees and is already at 1020 and still rocking. If I can consistently get the results attained this week we can hold off (a different Belgian yeast strain) until higher gravity Belgians need a stronger strain later in the fall. I have several beers in the works to try with the Saison in the coming weeks/months.