Sun King special tapping (and can) at Gospel Bird on Thursday, June 2.

Gospel Bird (Main Street) is teaming with Sun King Brewing Company to add a second event to the lineup for New Albany Craft Beer Week.

When Gospel Bird opens for dinner service at 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, Sun King's representative Julius Gagne will be on hand to give away an undisclosed number of Fest of Ale tickets and tap three Sun King drafts. Also, a special selection from the Sun King seasonal series will be available in cans.

Here they are:

ON TAP

Sunlight Cream Ale
ABV: 5.3% IBU: 20
Sunlight Cream Ale celebrates American brewing tradition by balancing smooth malt complexity with a crisp, clean finish. Sunlight was the winner of the Gold Medal in the Golden or Blonde Ale category at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival®, and the Silver Medal at the 2010 World Beer Cup in the Golden or Blonde Ale category.

Fistful Of Hops "Green" Seasonal IPA
ABV: 6.4% IBU: 75
Fistful of Hops is our quarterly IPA series, where we balance an ever-changing "Fistful of Hops" - a new variety for every season - against a consistent malt base. Our Spring 2016 release features Centennial, Mosaic, and El Dorado hops, for balanced citrus and tropical fruit flavor.

Hot Rod Lincoln Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout (King's Reserve Series)
ABV: 10.0%
IBU: 70
Hot Rod Lincoln integrates the gingerbread and dark brown sugar flavors of our Timmie Russian-Style Imperial Stout with flavors of tart cherry, dark chocolate, and oak.

AND CANS OF

Alrye'd Alrye'd Alrye'd Imperial Session Rye IPA
ABV: 6.5% IBU: 64
Alrye'd Alrye'd Alrye'd is a Rye IPA brewed with Crystal hops from Michigan for a pronounced dankness, citrusy bright character, and an agreeable spiciness that plays well with its rye malt base.

About Sun King Brewing Company:

Sun King Brewing Company is an Indianapolis-based craft brewery with a focus on continually creating traditional seasonal and unique specialty beer. Sun King rolled our first keg of beer out of the door in July 2009 and since that time has grown into one of Indiana’s largest and most award-winning breweries, with multiple medals at the Great American Beer Festival® and the World Beer Cup®.

Sun King remains dedicated to Fresh • Local • Beer through exclusively Indiana based distribution and continued growth, with a commitment to community development throughout the state.

Sun King beer can be enjoyed at over 1,000 fine bars/restaurants and liquor stores throughout Indiana, at our downtown brewery at 135 N. College Ave. Indianapolis, or at our Small Batch Brewery and Tasting Room at 7848 E. 96th Street in Fishers, Indiana.

---

New Albany Craft Beer Week Calendar, 2016

Sunday, May 29
Boomtown Ball & Festival
A New Albanian Brewing Company beer and others will be available for purchase.

Tuesday, May 31
Beer dinner at Gospel Bird with Falls City Beer (details TBA)

Wednesday, June 1
Surf & Turf Tap Takeover (Sierra Nevada and The Exchange)

Thursday, June 2
Monty PINT-thon Night at Floyd County Brewing Company

Thursday, June 2
Gospel Bird Welcomes Sun King Brewing Company 

Saturday, June 4
Keg Liquors Fest of Ale
100+ Breweries, 7 Craft Beer Distributors, 8 Fine Wine Distributors, over 250 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity raffle and more.

Saturday, June 4
The official Keg Liquors Fest of Ale after party will take place at The Exchange pub + kitchen.


__

Boomtown Ball & Festival returns.

First, an event preview. Boomtown Ball & Festival kicks off New Albany Craft Beer Week on Sunday, May 29.

Boomtown Returns on May 29th!

"We’re very excited about our third year hosting the Boomtown Ball & Festival," stated Mayor Jeff M. Gahan. "One new addition to the festival this year will be the Classical 90.5 Instrument Drive for New Albany-Floyd County schools. The Instrument Drive is a great way to expose young kids in our community to the wonderful world of art and music. I want to invite everyone to come help us kick-off the summer event season in New Albany."

This event will be held on Market St. in downtown New Albany on Sunday, May 29th. The City of New Albany has again enlisted the support of Flea Off Market to assist with the booth component of the festival. Flea Off Market is a unique outdoor bazaar that will feature both regional and local New Albany vendors offering records, books, antiques, vintage items, fine arts & crafts, and more!

Food and drink will be vended within the Boomtown enclosure, and of course many downtown New Albany establishments will be open on Sunday, May 29 -- before, during and after the

Boomtown is synonymous with Houndmouth. During the first two Boomtown Ball festivals, the band was involved.

In 2014, the band played a special show  at The Grand.

Houndmouth brings it on home for the Boomtown Ball

In 2015, Houndmouth curated the performers.

BAND BUZZ: Houndmouth to present encore Boomtown Ball & Festival in New Albany

We're told that while the band won't have a direct part in this year's Boomtown Ball, there may be another encore in 2017. Only time will tell.

---

New Albany Craft Beer Week Calendar, 2016

Sunday, May 29
Boomtown Ball & Festival
New Albanian Brewing Company and other beers will be available for purchase.

Tuesday, May 31
Beer dinner at Gospel Bird with Falls City Beer (details TBA)

Wednesday, June 1
Surf & Turf Tap Takeover (Sierra Nevada and The Exchange)

Thursday, June 2
Monty PINT-thon Night at Floyd County Brewing Company

Saturday, June 4
Keg Liquors Fest of Ale
100+ Breweries, 7 Craft Beer Distributors, 8 Fine Wine Distributors, over 250 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity raffle and more.

Saturday, June 4
The official Keg Liquors Fest of Ale after party will take place at The Exchange pub + kitchen.


__

1st notice: Fall City/Gospel Bird beer dinner will be on Tuesday, May 31.

There are no details yet, but we expect to hear more next week. It's happening, so put it on the calendar, and you'll know more when we do.

Falls City Beer: "In 1905 a group of bartenders and grocery store owners had had enough with being forced to buy, serve, and sell beer produced by a local beer monopoly. So they got together and created Falls City Beer. At that moment of rebellion and independence, Louisville’s first craft beer was born. Falls City Beer is once again, regionally, leading the way with a variety of well-balanced, highly-drinkable, and innovative craft beers that include traditional styles, bold new flavors and non-traditional ingredients."

Gospel Bird: "Gospel Bird is a full-service restaurant in southern Indiana focusing on the cuisine of the south and regional flavors." Read the Courier-Journal review:

"Gospel Bird’s chicken is a don’t-miss, can’t-go-wrong choice, but on our visit there were no wrong turn choices. Now and then, biting into the fried chicken will spurt juices that dribble down your chin. Dab with a napkin or forget your manners just long enough to relish the unfancy-schmancy, well-seasoned, crispy fried chicken. Pair it with a side of flavor-walloped chorizo baked beans."

---

New Albany Craft Beer Week Calendar, 2016

Sunday, May 29
Boomtown Ball & Festival
New Albanian Brewing Company’s Houndmouth Ale will be available for purchase.

Tuesday, May 31
Beer dinner at Gospel Bird with Falls City Beer (details TBA)

Wednesday, June 1
Surf & Turf Tap Takeover (Sierra Nevada and The Exchange)

Thursday, June 2
Monty PINT-thon Night at Floyd County Brewing Company

Saturday, June 4
Keg Liquors Fest of Ale
100+ Breweries, 7 Craft Beer Distributors, 8 Fine Wine Distributors, over 250 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity raffle and more.

Saturday, June 4
The official Keg Liquors Fest of Ale after party will take place at The Exchange pub + kitchen.


__

12 packs of Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp Across America beers are now available at both Keg Liquors locations.

Yesterday we learned that on Wednesday, June 1, The Exchange pub + kitchen will be teaming with Sierra Nevada Brewing Company for a Surf & Turf Tap Takeover.

It's all part of New Albany Craft Beer Week, recognizing the great things that happen when America's craft beer scene meets New Albany's independent restaurants and bars.

What's most intriguing about the Surf & Turf Tap Takeover is the opportunity to enjoy draft versions of six Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America collaboration beers. 

We partnered with 6 regional brewing teams to create an incredible collaboration: 31 brewers together making 6 different beers for a one-time-only variety pack.

BCAA Family Values Imperial Brown Ale with Cocoa
BCAA West Latitude Session Rye with Hibiscus
BCAA Stout of the Union Robust Stout
BCAA Moxee-Moron Imperial Session IPA
BCAA Sweet Sunny South Southern Table Beer
BCAA Pat-Rye-Ot Revolutionary Pale Ale

As of 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, both locations of Keg Liquors have these variety packs in stock (12 x 12oz bottles; two each of six styles).

Supplies are limited, so if you want to get a sneak preview, now's the time ... and don't forget that the 11th Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale takes place in New Albany on Saturday, June 4.

Keg Liquors (New Albany)
4304 Charlestown Road
New Albany, IN 47150
Telephone: 812.948.0444

Hours of Operation:
Monday - Thursday 10am to 10PM
Friday - Saturday 10am to 11PM
Closed on Sunday

Keg Liquors (Clarksville)
617 East Lewis and Clark Pkwy
Clarksville, IN 47129
Telephone: 812.283.3988

Hours of Operation:
Monday - Thursday 9:30 AM to Midnight
Friday - Saturday 9:30 AM to 1AM
Closed on Sunday

About The Keg
Keg Liquors has been family owned and operated by two generations and has been serving the Kentuckiana area since 1970.

Our focus is on specialty items, such as craft and imported beers, boutique wines, specialty liquors. We are not a big box store, nor do we pretend to be. What we can offer you are honest pricing, great service and knowledge you just won't find in most other places.

---

New Albany Craft Beer Week Calendar, 2016

Sunday, May 29
Boomtown Ball & Festival
New Albanian Brewing Company’s Houndmouth Ale will be available for purchase.

Tuesday, May 31
Beer dinner at Gospel Bird with Falls City Beer (details TBA)

Wednesday, June 1
Surf & Turf Tap Takeover (Sierra Nevada and The Exchange)

Thursday, June 2
Monty PINT-thon Night at Floyd County Brewing Company

Saturday, June 4
Keg Liquors Fest of Ale
100+ Breweries, 7 Craft Beer Distributors, 8 Fine Wine Distributors, over 250 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity raffle and more.

Saturday, June 4
The official Keg Liquors Fest of Ale after party will take place at The Exchange pub + kitchen.


__

The Exchange's Surf & Turf Tap Takeover with Sierra Nevada on Wednesday, June 1.

On Wednesday, June 1, The Exchange pub + kitchen will be teaming with Sierra Nevada Brewing Company for a Surf & Turf Tap Takeover.

It's all part of New Albany Craft Beer Week, recognizing the great things that happen when America's craft beer scene meets New Albany's independent restaurants and bars.

Housed in a historic Italianate style building constructed in 1875, The Exchange pub + kitchen is owner Ian Hall’s take on a warm and casual neighborhood gastropub, with rotating seasonal menus sourced locally and an innovative bar program.

Since 1980, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company has been in the forefront of the American, craft beer revolution. Now brewing at locations in both California and North Carolina, Sierra Nevada is the 7th-largest brewing company in the United States, and remains fully independent.

There'll be ten Sierra Nevada  beers pouring at The Exchange pub + kitchen on June 1, with a chance to taste selections from the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America collaboration series.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America is a celebration, a collaboration and a fine excuse to hold festivals across the country in 2016. There are sampler packs of the six BCAA collaboration beers in bottles, but The Exchange will have them on tap.

BCAA Family Values Imperial Brown Ale with Cocoa
BCAA West Latitude Session Rye with Hibiscus
BCAA Stout of the Union Robust Stout
BCAA Moxee-Moron Imperial Session IPA
BCAA Sweet Sunny South Southern Table Beer
BCAA Pat-Rye-Ot Revolutionary Pale Ale

In addition, there'll be four other Sierra Nevada draft favorites pouring.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada Otra Vez (Gose)
Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner
Sierra Nevada Barrel Aged Narwhal Imperial Stout

Chef Matt Weirich and his culinary team at The Exchange will be featuring evening dining specials for pairing with these Sierra Nevada beers, including:

Surf
Soft Shell Crab with Fried Prosciutto, Avocado Mousse, Cayenne Cream, Crostini

Turf
Pork Tenderloin, Braised Rhubarb, Goat Cheese Stuffed Squash Blossom

Sweet
Key Lime Mousse, Graham, Raspberry

---

New Albany Craft Beer Week Calendar, 2016

Sunday, May 29
Boomtown Ball & Festival
New Albanian Brewing Company’s Houndmouth Ale will be available for purchase.

Tuesday, May 31
Beer dinner at Gospel Bird with Falls City Beer (details TBA)

Wednesday, June 1
Surf & Turf Tap Takeover (Sierra Nevada and The Exchange)

Thursday, June 2
Monty PINT-thon Night at Floyd County Brewing Company

Saturday, June 4
Keg Liquors Fest of Ale
100+ Breweries, 7 Craft Beer Distributors, 8 Fine Wine Distributors, over 250 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity raffle and more.

Saturday, June 4
The official Keg Liquors Fest of Ale after party will take place at The Exchange pub + kitchen.

___

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

__

New Albany Craft Beer Week: It's a celebration of small, independent and traditional in brewing, and the community.

New Albany Craft Beer Week: It's a celebration of small, independent and traditional in brewing, and the community.

In recent years, New Albany’s new generation of food and drink establishments has played a major role in putting the “boom” back into our town.

So, earlier in the year when Keg Liquors announced it would be relocating its popular Fest of Ale to New Albany’s Riverfront Amphitheater on Saturday, June 4, it offered the perfect opportunity to celebrate the continuing rise of craft beer in New Albany.

After all, Keg Liquors is the top-rated bottle shop for beer in the whole the state of Indiana, according to RateBeer.

And, craft beer has come to be a staple offering at the majority of New Albany’s food and drink establishments.

Accordingly, the New Albany Restaurant and Bar Association (NARBA) is delighted to announce a new promotion aimed at reinforcing the economic, cultural and flavorful contributions of America’s craft brewers.

It’s New Albany Craft Beer Week, running from Sunday, May 29 through Saturday, June 4.

Many such beer weeks are honored in America. They vary in size and scope, and range across districts, cities and states, but there is relative uniformity in the concept.

The idea is to educate and disseminate craft beer consciousness, with an ulterior motive of letting consumers know more about places that serve it, and the people who make it all possible.

Anchoring New Albany Craft Beer Week on either side is the city of New Albany’s Boomtown Ball & Festival on Sunday, May 29, and Keg Liquors Fest of Ale on Saturday, June 4.

New Albany’s independent restaurants and pubs are encouraged to schedule tastings, beer dinners and special releases during the period of May 29 through June 4.

Known events at press time are listed below; others will appear as they’re announced on the New Albany Craft Beer Week blog: http://nacraftbeerweek.blogspot.com/

For some craft beer background, according to the Brewers Association, “An American craft brewer is small, independent and traditional.”

• Craft brewers are small brewers.
• The hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation. Craft brewers interpret historic styles with unique twists and develop new styles that have no precedent.
• Craft beer is generally made with traditional ingredients like malted barley; interesting and sometimes non-traditional ingredients are often added for distinctiveness.
• Craft brewers tend to be very involved in their communities through philanthropy, product donations, volunteerism and sponsorship of events.
• Craft brewers have distinctive, individualistic approaches to connecting with their customers.
• Craft brewers maintain integrity by what they brew and their general independence, free from a substantial interest by a non-craft brewer.
• The majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a craft brewer.

With three operational brewing companies (Donum Dei Brewery, Floyd County Brewing and the New Albanian Brewing Company), New Albany now has more breweries than at any time since 1907 – and not to forget our friends at River City Winery, one of Indiana’s few urban wineries.

Throughout New Albany, and especially downtown, great craft beer selections have become the norm. Eateries like Big Four Burgers, Dragon King’s Daughter, The Exchange and Feast BBQ (to name just four) always have ample craft beer selections drawn from Indiana (120+ breweries), Kentucky (21+) and America (4,000) as a whole.

New Albany’s new generation of restaurants and bars is independent, unique and locally focused. Not coincidentally, these are the characteristics that define America’s craft beer revolution.

Come down, have some fun – and always remember to drink responsibly.

Cheers!

---

New Albany Craft Beer Week Calendar, 2016 (Revised 05/21/2016)

Sunday, May 29
Boomtown Ball & Festival
New Albanian Brewing Company’s Houndmouth Ale will be available for purchase.

Tuesday, May 31
Beer dinner at Gospel Bird with Falls City Beer (details TBA)

Wednesday, June 1
Surf & Turf Tap Takeover (Sierra Nevada and The Exchange)

Thursday, June 2
Monty PINT-thon Night at Floyd County Brewing Company

Saturday, June 4
Keg Liquors Fest of Ale
100+ Breweries, 7 Craft Beer Distributors, 8 Fine Wine Distributors, over 250 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity raffle and more.

Saturday, June 4
The official Keg Liquors Fest of Ale after party will take place at The Exchange pub + kitchen.

__