Visits to West Sixth and Blue Stallion while philosophizing in Lexington, Kentucky.

Multiple kudos to Peter Fosl, Professor of Philosophy at Transylvania University, who came up with a first-rate idea for me to come to Lexington on a brilliant spring Thursday and speak with philosophy majors over lunch at the school cafeteria. That's because I'm a Bachelor of Arts degree holder with a major in philosophy (IU Southeast, 1982).

The missus joined me for the road trip, and a great time was had by all.

When the cafeteria shut down, Diana and I had two hours to ourselves, and so we took a 15-minute walk to West Sixth Brewing, where we enjoyed a plethora of beers (Berliner Weisse, Smoked Porter, Hefeweizen and Dunkel, all deadly accurate) and snacks from Smithtown Seafood, located in the same building.

Then it was off to a humanities faculty reception (thanks, Mr. and Mrs Furlong) where I conducted an impromptu beer sampling for those in attendance, with NABC bombers and local Lexington brews from West Sixth, Alltech and Country Boy.

Peter dropped us off at Blue Stallion, where first a Rauchbier and then a Marzen completed the day, in the company of numerous students playing trivia, and a superlative food truck: Rolling Oven, making wood-fired pizza and Italian sandwiches.

Blue Stallion inspired reflections of a modern oddity: Having locally-brewed lagers at a brewpub filled with kids half my age, who are listening to the same music we were hearing at Knobs field keg parties back in 1976. Strange. Do we really need the James Gang any longer?

Stuffed to the point of tick-like, we walked back to our room at the classy Gratz Park Inn and collapsed. Earlier in the day, we'd chatted about the late Christopher Hitchens, who visited Transylvania University in 2004, and stayed at the same hotel. Now, finally, I have something in common with Hitchens, who is one of my favorite writers.

Obviously, we missed a few worthy beer places, but after all, it was a "working" trip, and there'll be other times. Thanks to everyone at Transylvania for a fine day and a nice break from the routine.

Magic Ass Hat runs amok as Goose Island drinkers yawn.

For those still somehow naively believing that sources and ownership stakes don't matter as long as the beer stokes his or her self-serving narcissism, or that "big beer" is NOT malign by the necessity of its very nature, please check out the West Sixth and Magic Hat sixes and nines lawsuit imbroglio and learn something from it.

‘You’d think we could settle this over a beer’: Multinational sues West Sixth microbrewery over trademark, by Michael Tierney (Insider Louisville)

We have serious David versus Goliath on our hands.

Magic Hat IP and Independent Brewers Corp. have filed a federal lawsuit against West Sixth Brewing Co., based in Lexington.

Better yet, just stick a Magic Hat #9 logo on that fellow's posterior (above), and it's my reaction in a nutshell.

This story's all over the Internetz, and deservedly so. About all I can add is that we probably need to get used to it: A no-longer-craft corporate poseur almost surely prompted by an AB-InBev wholesaler hiding on the grassy knoll gleefully piddles on a genuine local/regional craft producer (West Sixth), confident in the knowledge that the target audience for Magic Hat is utterly oblivious to the concerns of craft beer consciousness as we know them.

I was asked yesterday whether being non-craft means Magic Hat must lose legal protection s enjoyed by all Americans. Of course not. What they inevitably lose of their own accord in the absence of ethical craft consciousness is an equitable sense of grace -- but that's what all corporate chains lack.

Now it's our brave new world, and Magic Ass Hat is just an unwelcome part of it.

And my solution?

That's easy: Polemics. Read and repeat. And drink some West Sixth to show some solidarity against the vandals.

Is West Sixth IPA is Kentucky’s best beer? Insider Louisville says "yes."

As a whole, it's a solid overview of the local brewing scene, with emphasis on the state of Kentucky's rapidly evolving craft beer presence.

Why 2012 is the Year of the Beer, and why West Sixth IPA is Kentucky’s best, by Michael Tierney (Insider Louisville)

Put down your gin-and-tonics gents, and grab yourself an IPA, because micro-brew beer drinking was the biggest, yet subtle, trend in Louisville this wonderful year we have to call 2012.

Tierney's choice for "beer of the year" is West Sixth Brewing Company (Lexington) IPA, and he does a good job of explaining why cans in the contemporary era are not an off-putting development.

The Lexington based brewing company has doubled its brewing capacity in less than a year. West Sixth IPA went out in kegs and cans last April, and the demand curve has risen faster than a rocket to the moon.

Why?

Simply, it’s all in the taste.

West Sixth is a refreshing IPA, with a blend of flavor, a wonderful color and a pleasing aroma.

It’s like the beer danced with the fruit of the rainforest, then decided to marry off and settle in a nice 12 oz. aluminum can.

It really is to die for.

It would be churlish of me to quibble with the choice, because West Sixth's IPA is quite good. However, I can hint ever so gently that the prose styling is, well, a wee bit gushy and reads like ad copy.

But that's why I'm a curmudgeon, isn't it?