Now you know: Good Hoosier beer is being brewed locally in places you might not expect.

The words I heard most often on Saturday that meant the most to me went something like this:

“I’ve never heard of any of these breweries.”

Yes, and that was the whole point.

Now you know that good beer is being brewed locally in Needmore (Salt Creek), Aurora (Great Crescent), Columbus (Power House) and Nashville (Big Woods), and also that good local beer is being brewed in Bloomington at an establishment (Cutters) differing from our longtime friends at Upland and Bloomington Brewing Company.

And cider and mead from New Day, and still more cider courtesy of Starlight.

In fact, to me the whole exercise on Saturday was about making friends and providing information, and as such, the Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase was a huge success. We also sold quite a lot of 10-oz portions, and so by a financial point of view, it panned out for NABC, too.

It wasn’t until the cold plates were pouring and the line of beer enthusiasts was beginning to form that it occurred to me: We had no hop bombs.

Granted, Hoptimus and Elector were available at the Bank Street Brewhouse dining room bar as always, but outside in the Reading Room for the craft showcase we’d managed ten different beers (5 house, 5 guests) composed of ten different styles (from Wit to Bourbon Barrel Stout) with nary an IPA among them.

And only a handful of visitors commented. Most were perfectly eager to try something new, and they came back for multiple portions. Depletions seemed to be about equal among the kegs, so there were no clear “winners,” and it wouldn’t matter if there were.

Thanks again to those who ventured out. It was a festive day, and times like that renew my confidence in what the craft beer movement’s all about.

Beer list for the Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase on Saturday, September 22.

In addition to the following, which will be pouring "outside" the Bank Street Brewhouse dining room, another dozen NABC beers will be on tap inside, along with the usual wines and liquors.

Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase on Saturday, September 22.

GUEST BEERS

Big Woods Busted Knuckle Ale
Nashville IN
7.5% ABV
27 IBU

Cutters Monon Wheat Ale
Bloomington IN
5.4% ABV

Great Crescent Coconut Porter
Aurora IN
5.6% ABV
32 IBU

Power House Diesel Oil Stout
Columbus IN
6.6% ABV
33 IBU

Salt Creek Colonel Klink Altbier
Needmore (Bedford) IN
4.7% ABV

BONUS NABC TAPS

Black & Blue Grass
Belgian Spiced Ale
6.5% ABV
18 IBU

Bourbon Daddy
10th Anniversary Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout (Bourbon Barrel Aged)
9.5% ABV
18 IBU

Hoosier Daddy
Crimson & Cream Ale
7% ABV
50 IBU

Strassen Bräu
Marzen/Oktoberfest
% ABV

Tunnel Vision
Royal Wallonian Ale
9.5% ABV
20 IBU

CIDERS

Aeppeltreow Barn Swallow Cider
Burlington WI
5.8% ABV

Aeppeltreow Kinglet Bitter Cider
Burlington WI
6% ABV

New Day Johnny Chapman Cider
Elwood/Indianapolis IN
7% ABV

MEAD

New Day Washington’s Folly Mead
Elwood/Indianapolis IN
8% ABV

We weren’t able to make the wine component of the day work quite the way I intended, and so apologies to Grateful Goat, River City and Turtle Run.

However, we will have wine.

Huber Cabernet Sauvignon
Starlight IN

Oliver Pinot Grigio
Bloomington IN

A busy fest day in downtown New Albany on Saturday, September 22. Here's the overview with links.

On Saturday, September 22, there will be quite a lot happening on, or near, the 400 block of Bank Street in downtown New Albany. It's part Louisville Craft Beer Week event, and part civic. With bourbon, too.

Indie craft consciousness in downtown New Albany on Saturday, September 22.

Let's tackle these events in approximate chronological order.

Updated plan for the Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase on Saturday, September 22.

New Albany First's 1st Annual Indie Fest is Saturday, September 22.

Menu and details for the Willett Bourbon Dinner at Bank Street Brewhouse on Saturday, September 22.

Indie craft consciousness in downtown New Albany on Saturday, September 22.

(Previously published at NA Confidential)

NABC’s contribution to the festivities of Louisville Craft Beer Week surely will strike some observers as atypical.

That’s because “typical” in craft beer is in desperate need of redefinition, and tilting at windmills like these is what gets me out of bed in the morning.

On Saturday, September 22, we’ll be breaking in Bank Street Brewhouse’s recently approved, (yet far from completed) former patio, called the WCTU Reading Room, and our new “biergarten,” known as Lloyd’s Landing. We’ll be pouring local and regional beers, ciders, meads and even some wines. We’ll be acting as the de facto adult beverage annex to the first-ever New Albany Indie Fest, and just for the fun of it, hosting a Kentucky bourbon tasting and dinner.

I’m calling it the Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase, but I might have simplified matters by omitting the word “beer.” It’s the main component, but not the only one. My ideological motivation is two-fold.

To make a point about what I view as overlapping circles of interest, from local to metro, from regional to national, and all the way to international.

To allow the people closest to me to experience tastes of what can be done by local producers and purveyors, not just of beer, but also of other libations that fuel my personal world.

I’ve always counseled event organizers to begin by tailoring their planned gatherings to those potential attendees closest in proximity, and only then widening the scope to entice those from a distance.

A good example is the renowned institution of the Beer Dinner. It has been my experience that the marvels of the “visiting” beer team alone generally will not sell the required number of seats. Rather, the regulars who already enjoy a chef’s menu and regimen invariably compose the biggest bloc of diners, and if they have a particular interest in the brewery or beers being paired, it serves to enhance a spark previously lit.

In like fashion, I want our Showcase event to be about this extended community, and to help explain the aspects of “buying local” that I personally believe are the most important: Shifting one’s personal discretionary spending from multinational to local, and while doing so, visualizing the way these circles touch.

Aeppeltroew ciders are made in Wisconsin, not Indiana. However, Starlight Distributors (owned by old friends) is located just up the Knobs from here. Indiana cideries and meaderies, like New Day, use local apples and honey whenever practicable. Regional winemakers buy grapes and juice from other places, but increasingly source their grapes from local and regional vineyards. Admittedly, barley isn’t grown hereabouts, although it could be. Someday, it might, especially after we conquer the next five percent.

And I want you to know that when you’re in Aurora, Bedford, Bloomington, Columbus or Nashville, there are breweries waiting to serve you (if you’re 21, of course) … that cider can be dry, and craft meads can be as variously costumed as craft beers … and that today’s Indiana wineries don’t restrict themselves to the sadly apocryphal sweet Manischewitz clones.

On Saturday, in addition to what I’m describing here, there’ll be booths, food, children’s activities and music out on Bank Street, courtesy of New Albany First and its Indie Fest.

There’ll also be all of downtown New Albany for roaming, and I wish you would roam it, because even though downtown always will be a work on progress and much remains to be done, more work’s already been done during the past five years than the quarter-century before – and this work has been undertaken almost exclusively by independent, small, local businesses.

These businesses are the real showcase on September 22. I’m choosing beer, cider, mead and wine to make my point about me, my business, and all the other indies. You can choose another platform, but the most important thing is the simplest: Make a choice.

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Now, back to Louisville Craft Beer Week. The third edition begins this Friday, September 21, and runs through the 29th. At last count, more than 61 events had been registered, and there’ll be a special pull-out section detailing them to be found in Wednesday’s edition of LEO Weekly.

Online, my friends at LouisvilleBeer.com is your conduit for LCBW events. Here’s the description of LCBW, 2012.

Louisville Craft Beer Week is a distinctively local celebration that seeks to educate and to raise awareness of the American Craft Beer Revolution at the local level, to showcase the incredible variety, dynamism, and expanding market presence of Craft Beer in Louisville, and to promote independent local establishments.

Louisville Craft Beer Week is a collaborative local mission. American Craft Brewing has re-established old traditions and created entirely new ones, and is closely tied to emerging ‘buy local’ principles. Local Craft Brewers are partners in the economic sense, perpetuating success by making the pie larger, and keeping money in our community.

Louisville Craft Beer Week is economic development. Craft Beer’s demographic is increasingly dynamic, but traditional patterns remain unchanged: youthful, college educated, well-traveled and affluent. The Internet is filled with urban revitalization success stories with a brewery as part of the scene, beginning with Governor John Hickenlooper’s Wynkoop Brewery in Lo-Do (Denver) in the 1980’s.

Louisville Craft Beer Week is all of us – brewers, wholesalers, package retailers, pubs, bars, and restaurants – but most importantly, Louisville Craft Beer Week is you – craft beer lovers living, working and playing right here in our city. Your patronage and enthusiasm makes it happen for all of us, and we thank you.

When you’re out and about during Louisville Craft Beer Week, always drink responsibly and whatever you do, don’t drive drunk.

Updated plan for the Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase on Saturday, September 22.

The Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase is what we're calling NABC's Louisville Craft Beer Event on Saturday, September 22. The fundamental idea is to feature Southern Indiana craft beers, as well as craft ciders, meads and wines. In a few instances, we've looked past Southern Indiana in sourcing, but all the beer, ciders, meads and wine on hand will be from independent, artisanal producers.

The showcase will take place at Lloyd’s Landing, Bank Street Brewhouse’s new beer garden at 415 Bank Street, which currently is under conception and construction, but usable. Participating breweries, cideries, meaderies and wineries are selecting one or two examples of their craft, which will be available on a "cash bar" basis as full-size pours. There is no admission fee. The day is intended to be educational and informal, and in addition to the showcase, there'll be the 1st Annual New Albany Indie Fest. The Indie Fest will feature local artists, food and exhibitors, and the music stage will be positioned opposite Lloyd's Landing, providing day-long serenades.

Distilled spirits will also be on hand: Menu and details for the Willett Bourbon Tasting and Bourbon Dinner at Bank Street Brewhouse on Saturday, September 22. Bank Street Brewhouse will be open for dining on the 22nd, subject to available seats.

Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase ... with Special Guests: Cider, Mead and Wine

A Louisville Craft Beer Week event, held concurrently with the New Albany Indiefest

Saturday, September 22
11:00 a.m. – ???
415 Bank Street (grounds of Bank Street Brewhouse)
Parking: There are surface lots aplenty within a short walking distance, and the city's parking garage at the corner of State and Market does not charge on weekends

BREWERIES
Big Woods Brewing Company (Nashville)
Cutters Brewing Company (Bloomington)
Great Crescent Brewery (Aurora)
New Albanian Brewing Company (New Albany)
Power House Brewing Company (Columbus IN)
Sand Creek Brewery (Bedford IN)

CIDERIES/MEADERIES
New Day Meadery (Indianapolis IN)

WHOLESALERS
Starlight Distributing (featuring Wisconsin-made ciders)

WINERIES
Grateful Goat Vineyard & Winery (Palmyra)
River City Winery (New Albany)
Turtle Run Winery (Corydon)
There also may be wines from Huber, Oliver or others

New Albany First's 1st Annual Indie Fest is Saturday, September 22.

The 1st Annual New Albany Indie Fest will take place on Saturday, September 22, from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on the 400 block of Bank Street, which will be closed to traffic from Spring to Elm all day long.

There'll be exhibits, food, music and children’s activities. The event is open to all ages, with the Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase, held at the adjacent Bank Street Brewhouse, operating as the de facto "beer garden" for Indie Fest.

Indie Fest will be open to all ages. The music stage will be located on Bank Street, opposite Lloyd’s Landing. The event is sponsored by New Albany First, the city's only Independent Business Alliance, existing solely to support and promote independent business owners and to educate community members about the importance of buying locally in New Albany and Floyd County.

Also, be aware of Willett Bourbon Tasting and Bourbon Dinner at Bank Street Brewhouse, on the same date. There'll probably be a Billow cigar smoking opportunity, too, and I'll update this post when it is finalized.

Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase at Indiefest, September 22.

Here's the first call for the Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase, which is what I'm calling NABC's contribution to New Albany's inaugural Indiefest on Saturday, September 22. Indiefest will feature local artists, food, exhibitors and music throughout the day.

It's also NABC's contribution to Louisville Craft Beer Week. The fundamental idea is to feature (mostly) Southern Indiana craft beers, as well as craft ciders, meads and wines.

It will be a "cash bar" event, with full pours and samples available. I've posted Indiefest information separately, accessible here.

Southern Indiana Craft Beer Showcase … with Special Guests: Wine, Cider and Mead

A Louisville Craft Beer Week event, held concurrently with the New Albany Indiefest

Saturday, September 22
2:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
400 block of Bank Street (opposite Bank Street Brewhouse)

BREWERIES
Big Woods Brewing Company (Nashville)
Cutters Brewing Company (Bloomington)
Great Crescent Brewery (Aurora)
New Albanian Brewing Company (New Albany)
Power House Brewing Company (Columbus IN)

CIDERIES
Thomas Family Winery (Madison; perhaps wines, too)

MEADERIES
New Day Meadery (Indianapolis; ciders, too)

WHOLESALERS
Starlight Distributing (featuring English ciders)

WINERIES
Grateful Goat (Palmyra)
River City Winery (New Albany)

Also, I am hoping to arrange a reservation-only bourbon tasting with Crossroad Vintners. If this happens, it will be held at Bank Street Brewhouse at the north patio/seating area. As always, stay tuned.