Headlines from December 2017 on THE BEER BEAT.

Previously, I've explained 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 December's ruminations, with the oldest listed first.

Some of these posts are more topical than others. On occasion, there'll be references to beer in posts using "The Beer Beat" as a label, though not a title. I hope this isn't overly confusing.

Thanks for reading, if belatedly.

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THE BEER BEAT: The pervasive fog of Hoosier regulatory wars.

The overarching topic of conversation was the ever-expanding intersection of beverage alcohol production, agriculture and tourism. Examples of places where these pursuits come together are farmers markets, special events and fests, and the floor plan of Huber's.

What is the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission's stance on regulating these activities -- and what will it be tomorrow? Those are the questions.

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THE BEER BEAT: What a beer guy like me can learn from Master Sommeliers like Brett Davis and Scott Harper.

The world of wine generally remains mysterious to me, and I aim to keep it that way. Hit or miss, wine remains fun; I know too much about beer to revert to amateur status, so grasping the basics about wine suits me just fine.

The educational opportunities are welcomed whenever they materialize, but I don't always seek them out.

For the past decade and a half, Brett Davis and Scott Harper have represented the other side of this wine appreciation spectrum. They're the Louisville KY area's Master Sommeliers, which is a very big deal, indeed.

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THE BEER BEAT: Praljak, Yugoslavia's civil war, the brewery in Sarajevo and the bridge in Mostar.

Let's begin with the brewery in Sarajevo, which dates from 1864 and remains in operation today. I drank the typical golden lager beer back in '87, although remembering exactly what it tasted like is another matter entirely.

Significantly, it would be difficult for any brewery anywhere to continue brewing without predictable supplies of barley and hops, but since old-school breweries were built in proximity to their water sources, the wells kept functioning -- and helped keep people alive.

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THE BEER BEAT: This iconic (and ironic) photo of Dan Canon and Rosa L. Stumblebus.

In spite of the many reasons that seeing this photo might annoy me, only one of which pertains to the candidate himself, I can't convey my pleasure in seeing it continually pop up during coverage of Dan Canon's congressional campaign.

The photo dates to Canon's campaign kickoff party in July at the downtown NABC location, whatever it's being referred to these days.

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THE BEER BEAT: The La Chasse-Dauntless beer dinner menu is released, Porter versus Stout, and other beery odds and ends.

We haven't had many chilly days this fall and early winter, but about a month ago stouts and porters started tasting good.

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MATCHing ensembles of cigars, bourbon, beer and cigars at Match Cigar Bar in New Albany.

Perhaps an introduction is in order, because I have the distinct impression many of my readers aren't aware of Match Cigar Bar's second location at 147 East Main in New Albany.

(Sad note -- Match New Albany closed at the end of December. The Jeffersonville location remains open)

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THE BEER BEAT: Sunday sermonizing about the arduous path to pints, and union.

During my time as a beer revolutionary, I often asked myself what would happen when the revolution began devouring itself -- and if this isn't a perfect analogy, the question might better be stated this way: What's to be done when the beer world gets crazy, and I can't make sense of it any longer?

Obviously, this is the juncture when one goes back to the mattresses and the basics ... the simple pleasures, the timeless virtues, and the bedrock foundations.

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THE BEER BEAT: The Bechdel Test, and what 1980s lesbians can teach us about beer.

It's best just to read what Emma Inch has to say about what 1980s lesbians can teach us about beer, with a minimum of commentary on my part, but a brief diversion to signpost the Bechdel Test.

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THE BEER BEAT: Beer and the Christmas Truce, France, 1914.

"The two barrels of beer were drunk, and the German officer was right: if it was possible for a man to have drunk the two barrels himself he would have bursted before he had got drunk. French beer was rotten stuff."

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THE BEER BEAT: Of seminars, books and beer: Louisville KY brewing history with Kevin Gibson.

Another friend, Bob, phoned last night. During the conversation he mentioned his membership in Rotary; bizarrely, I awakened this morning to a confusing mishmash of Kevin Gibson, Rotary and Louisville KY Beer (those eight ales yesterday may have been a contributing factor) until it dawned on me that I'd previously combined these elements in a blog post -- last year, maybe?

Um, nope. It was July 16, 2015, when I connected dots to a review of Kevin's beer book which I'd contributed to Food & Dining the preceding year.

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THE BEER BEAT: Saying goodbye to 2017 with an assortment of links.

Looking ahead, the fifth anniversary presentation of Tailspin Ale Fest 2018 on February 17 draws ever nearer. We'll be in Portugal, crawling from one port lodge to the next in Vila Nova de Gaia (be still, my throbbing heart), but if you'll be around for Tailspin and want to attend, it's time to start planning.

I'm guessing that NABC's Gravity Head will follow on Friday, February 23, but as Liam Gallagher once sang, it's nothing to do with me.


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NABC to pour Progressive Pints at city's Live @ Five events (Fridays this summer).

(The poster has nothing whatever to do with Live @ Five, but it reminds us of Wisconsin's recall election today, and it will annoy elected Republicans, as well as this foodie stalker dude named Steve H)

Last Friday (June 1) saw the inaugural edition of New Albany's summertime Friday concert series opener, Live @ Five. It was an encouraging beginning.

This week on Friday, June 8, the series continues with Smokin' Joe, and at the same location: A temporary downtown venue formed by closing a section of Market Street (including the State Street intersection). The party runs from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and once again, the city encourages parking in the city's parking garage at the corner of State and Market, or at the foot of Pearl Street in the lot by the levee. Of course, street parking is nearby, as well.

The next two Fridays (June 15 and 22nd), Live @ Five will shift to a different location: The 400 block of Bank Street and adjacent parking lots behind the Carnegie Center will be combined to create the party space. Most readers know this area as comprising the street and territories directly adjacent to NABC's Bank Street Brewhouse at 415 Pearl.

Naturally, Bank Street Brewhouse will be open for business as usual, serving food and beer, during the two Friday evenings when Live @ Five is taking place next door. However, it won't be possible to combine the two licensed premises or take beers back and forth between them.

Fortunately, NABC's Rosa L. Stumblebus draft truck will be vending NABC beers at these Live @ Five events. To access NABC's approved parking lots during the time when Bank Street is shut off, just use the alley between Bank and Pearl (from Elm eastbound, and Spring westbound).

At this time, I believe NABC will have Rosa at hand for pouring beer at all of the Live @ Five gigs, which will run through August. It is likely that these will remain  primarily on Friday, but they might be rotated to other days of the week, and they will be moved from place to place downtown.

The city's Live @ Five press release and video are here, and following are two scenes from June 1.

Actually, "piss brew" always is in the can of the Lite beer holder.

As a mildly opinionated sort, I’ve long since made peace with the fact that not everyone can be expected to agree with me -- even though they should.

Fortunately, differences of opinion in the wider world of beer seldom escalate to thermonuclear modes of response, although to be sure, it has happened before. It is in the realm of local affairs – politics, neighborhoods, law enforcement and the like – that the contestants can get testy, and do.

Of course, Internet discourse (is it really?) has a habit of elevating otherwise innocuous levels of human dysfunction to those on a par with Pol Pot and Joe Stalin. That’s because anonymity is the greatest single enabler of cowardice yet to be devised by the mind of man, and the Internet is the ideal way of distributing the contagion.

For every courageous pamphleteer or whistle-blower, there are 1,000 craven character assassins waging bilious Jihad against whomever and whatever annoys them.

You can easily imagine how much of this dullness is directed toward threatening figures like me in a place like New Albany. After all, I'm an atheist who has traveled some, and even read a book once. Here in Nawbany, I’m variously accused of imposing progress on poor little God-fearing white folks, and simultaneously standing in its way.

I’m not sure how that's possible, and yet I'm regularly reminded by people wearing hoods that no one really wants NABC's beer, and the business is bankrupt (when not funneling money from corrupt politicians to pay the electrical bills), and I'm a "drunkist" who fleeces little old ladies to keep a sinking ship afloat. These people know more about my company than I do. It's stunning,

My recent favorite is when an anonymous Internet commentator was driving past Bank Street Brewhouse and saw only two people seated at the bar, leading to the conclusion that NABC must be failing. Of course, the troglodyte in question drove past the bar after closing time, and the previous night did the best business of the year to date; no matter, he or she saw it, and context makes no difference when spiteful agitprop is the goal.

Such an individual wouldn’t want lies told about him or her, but attacking someone else somehow makes it right, especially when you can hide while tossing brickbats.

My biggest regret when it comes to anonymity is that I'm forever denied the pleasure of telling them to %$#@ off to their faces. Here’s another recent exchange, troglodyte in italics, my response following.

Have you seen the old nasty looking bread truck that advertises piss brew that is parked for weeks at the corner of bank and spring?

"You have a few correct words, but they're placed in the wrong order.

"Nasty is the nickname of a bartender I know.

"The truck in question was never used for bread.

"However, once upon a time it was indeed used for piss brew, i.e., Miller Lite. It was owned by a Miller distributorship. We cured it of piss brew by adaptively reusing it for craft beer, and the rest of it is history -- and a dullard's anonymity."

Reva and Rosa at Celts on the River, June 12, 2010.

Rosa is making the rounds.

A quick random note: John's taking Rosa L. Stumblebus, NABC's draft truck, around to several accounts in Louisville. She was parked in front of the Mid City Mall last Saturday for the Valumarket beer fest, and will be in front of the Irish Rover tonight as we conduct Community Dark/Mild Class.

NABC's lineup for Brew at the Zoo this Saturday.

The annual Brew at the Zoo takes place this Saturday, August 29, and as always, complete information for attending and buying tickets can be gleaned from the Louisville Zoo’s web page.

NABC will have Rosa L. Stumblebus (our newly refurbished draft truck) on hand for its Louisville debut, and we’ll be offering the requisite 2-ounce samples of these NABC brews:

Beak's Best (American Bitter)
Elector (Imperial Red)
Bob's Old 15-B (Porter)
Elsa Von Horizon (Imperial Pilsner)
Phoenix Kentucky Komon (old Louisville sour ale)

That's a great lineup, but there's more: There’ll also be separate, timed tappings of these two sought-after specialties.

Malcolm’s Old Setters Ale
Hoptimus

When will these two faves start pouring? The only way to know is to go, so we'll see you at the Zoo this Saturday.