Headlines from August 2017 on THE BEER BEAT.

Previously, I've explained several reasons 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 August's ruminations, with the oldest listed first. Some are more topical than others, and I'm past the point of caring about it.

Thanks for reading, if belatedly.

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THE BEER BEAT: The Moon Under Water -- so, how does Orwell's perfect pub look today?

A survey in the United Kingdom has undertaken to compare Orwell's angle with the rigors of modernity, and to update it. I think the 1940s ideal remains valid in a number of core objectives, which might be summarized by ambiguity: a "perfect" pub has to be a special one.

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: Visiting the Carlsberg brewery just prior to the Altercation in Copenhagen.

Kim was at work on Wednesday, and I knew the way to Carlsberg, so there was no doubt that Barrie's limited amount of time on the ground in Copenhagen would include a brewery tour. It wasn't necessary to twist his arm.

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30 years ago today on THE BEER BEAT: Elephant, Mouse, wonderful friends and a Titanic Struggle.

This story has been told, blogged and altogether beaten to death on a dozen occasions at various blog portals, though never before with photographic evidence.

As part and parcel of my ongoing commitment to taste and decency, I'll be sparing readers the more graphic photos, which include bodies slumped in unsuspecting doorways, phallic Lenin busts and other testaments to the oddly redemptive power of Elephant Beer.

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THE BEER BEAT: Read about my "Beer Night" at Mesa next Wednesday (August 23) with Chef Ruben Freibert's appetizers.

For me, this tasting feels like my first solo gig after leaving the band, and as such, it's potentially liberating. NABC tastings eventually became necessarily restricted to our own beers, rather than the world's, and while NABC's house beers were good, it's nice to contemplate events ranging a bit farther afield. If this one goes well, hopefully there'll be more.

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THE BEER BEAT: Scofflaw Brewing flies the bird as AB InBev shareholders watch with preda-masturbatory glee.

Now, Scofflaw's friends and foes alike at last find common cause to unite, rejecting the newborn mockrobrew to find the next greatest Northeastern IPA, and lofting those middle fingers in the precise direction this most honest of all personal salutes always should have been pointed.

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THE BEER BEAT: Schansberg explains Sunday and Indiana's lingering sales restrictions: "Support for restrictions is driven by greenbacks more than blue laws."

I've decided to post this link on Saturday so you'll have time to read it before Sunday, when you can readily purchase cold beer to go at your local brewery, but not at a liquor store or a grocery.

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THE BEER BEAT: Hew Ainslie, an early New Albany brewer and Scottish-American poet.

Hew Ainslie was New Albany's first commercial brewer. This biographical sketch below was written by Louisville KY goldsmith, writer and homebrewer Conrad Selle.

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THE BEER BEAT: Thanks to Mesa (A Collaborative Kitchen) for a great inaugural beer night.

I was a tad rusty, and a few synapses failed to fire, but overall last evening's gingerly dipped toe of a first-time-in-two-years beer sampling went fairly well. Thanks to everyone who turned out; to Chef Ruben Freibert for his nibbles (and our borrowed server Brett); and to the whole crew at Mesa.

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THE BEER BEAT: A late August compendium of links about local and regional beer.

There was a time when the general rule of thumb was to wait a bit before reviewing a restaurant or brewery, this representing a tacit understanding that while no one excuses bad food, beer or service, it usually takes a while to put things into place. Curve balls are common at the start, and even boomerangs.

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THE BEER BEAT: YAY (effing) YAY -- my friend Patti and her pal Cindy get some serious ink, and I'm not talking tattoos.

Here you go, Patti -- your fifteen minutes of beer fame, although honestly, it's fifteen years. You've been a rock star all along.

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North Korea's first beer festival proves the superiority of Socialist beer rating schemes.

Or some such. I'm sure RateAdvocate is right on it.

For a brief period in 1989, I was slated for attendance at the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in Pyongyang. Eventually my credentials were revoked by the American governing body of Young Communists (sic), which I concede was fitting and proper considering I'd never been a member of their organization.

Of course, this is irrefutable evidence that I'm not a Commie, but this is another story for another time. Perhaps my next brewery project should be called Fellow Traveler, with a graphic depicting Robert E. Lee's horse.

Ironically, later in 1989 in Copenhagen I was able to taste a North Korean bottled beer brought out of the country by a Danish friend's relative, who if memory serves worked for Aeroflot.

The beer tasted like the drippings of a rusty drainpipe atop a chicken coop, filtered with moldy cleaning rags. Other than that, it was fine. Now there is Taedonggang beer, and by all appearances it's a considerable improvement.

In 2008, the New York Times explained the brewery's origins. It originally was used to make the Ushers brand of ale in England. Now the brewery produces lager beer in North Korea, and perhaps there is some confusion among coverage providers, as when the Guardian writer uses the word "ale" to describe "lager" flavor characteristics:

"With an alcohol content of 5% and a taste resembling British ale."

No matter. If anyone snags some, can you bring me a bottle? Thanks in advance.

Photo credit: The Guardian.

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Keg Liquors Fest of Ale will move to New Albany's Riverfront Amphitheater in 2016; the 11th annual edition slated for June 4.

(cross-posted from NA Confidential)

Saturday, June 4th remains the date for the 11th Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale, but the 2016 edition of the festival will be held at the Riverfront Amphitheater in New Albany.

Here's the press release from Todd Antz.

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Fest of Ale on the move.

New Albany, Ind. (February 2016) – After 10 successful years in Clarksville, the Keg Liquors Fest of Ale is changing venues. The 11th Annual Fest of Ale will be held on June 4th, 2016 at the New Albany Riverfront Amphitheater.

“Moving the event was a tough decision, but we felt that we had outgrown the space we were using at St. Anthony’s,” said Todd Antz, owner of Keg Liquors. “St. Anthony’s has been very generous with their facilities and support over the years, and we could not have grown the event to the size it is today without their help.

"We felt that the event was becoming a bit too taxing for their neighbors and parishioners, and that it was best for both parties if we moved on. We’ve always had a great relationship with St. Anthony’s and look forward to working with them in any future opportunities that may come up. I can’t thank everyone at St. Anthony’s enough for their support over the last 7 years of hosting our charity event. We could not have done this without them.”

The New Albany Riverfront Amphitheater, located below East Main Street at the foot of Pearl Street, is home each spring and summer to numerous free concerts, productions, festivals and other events.

The move to the Riverfront Amphitheater will allow the Fest of Ale to expand in size, provide more parking, as well as having access to all of the great restaurants and businesses in downtown New Albany.

“The Fest of Ale has always been a grassroots festival that promotes independent breweries and businesses, so moving the event to an area that has reinvigorated itself with all of the great shops and restaurants made perfect sense to us,” continued Antz. “The City of New Albany was very excited to help us with the event, and we look forward to working with them to make this the best Fest of Ale ever.”

Tickets for the 2016 Fest of Ale will go on sale at the beginning of April.

Keg Liquors
Keeping Kentuckiana Beer'd since 1976
http://www.kegliquors.com

617 E. Lewis and Clark Parkway
Clarksville, IN 47129
812-283-3988

4304 Charlestown Road
New Albany, IN 47150
812-948-0444

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On tasting Cincinnati and the stalking Budweiser attorney.

Brew Professor looks to be a good place to keep up with Cincinnati beer news, which has exploded so rapidly in recent years that a casual observer is hard-pressed to keep tabs.

When I caught the headline below, a song came to mind.

The problem is, I've heard it so many times before.

Taste of Cincinnati, yes. Drinks of Cincinnati, no, by Mike Stuart

One of city’s largest summer festivals, Taste of Cincinnati, is intended to showcase local culinary talent and unique local flavors. Most would agree they succeed on this front but their selection of Cincinnati beers have some room for improvement.

For a food festival there are certainly a large number of beer options (warning, some of these “beers” are Bud Light’s mixed drinks). However, for a locally focused festival, it’s sorely lacking an accurate representation of what is produced locally.

Of the 68 beers, only 15 are local from four of the more than 20 locally operating breweries. Yep, about 20% of the beers offered are made here in our community. The rest range from Cleveland to Kalamazoo to St. Louis to Portland.

Paying to play in whatever convoluted fashion serves only to remind us that American capitalism never has been pure or pristine, and when we hear a politician suggest such, our first reflex should be to reach for the rotten fruit and begin mimicking big league fastballs down the (wind) pipe.

In turn, this reminds me of a tangentially related story at Facebook, as relayed by Tom "Orange Blossom Brewery" Moench, who once saved my life in Orlando by providing alcoholic diversions as we were stranded for an afternoon during a family reunion. I've never thanked you enough, Tom, and your words here are sheer poetry.

What are the chances
I walk into a bar downtown and step up to order a couple craft beers for my crew
The fellow next to me barks out
"I'm a Budweiser attorney, explain to me the big deal this craft beer shit"
I tried to engage him, telling him that Bud is fast food and craft is fine dining
"where do you get off selling 3pks for $9" he says
I then tell him I don't want to talk to him anymore
He wouldn't shut up
We walked 25 feet away and he got up and came over to continue berating craft beer
I say "don't come at me like that"
He then insists on buying us Buds
We walk outside to get away from the fool but here he comes, beers in hand
I refuse them, and he tells me he knows the cops and will wipe the street with me
I hold my own hoping he will take a swing, but he was trying to incite me to swing also
I even called him "little fellow" (he was 6'3', I'm 6'4")
Stay Classy Bud

Bud's always classy, Tom.

Like Joe Stalin.

The first wave of metro Louisville beer festivals is coming.

Seeing as I'm on leave of absence, maybe attending one or two of these as a civilian isn't entirely out of the question. I'm not sure I'd know how to act.

Spring brings sunshine, flowers, baseball — and beer festivals, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)

Louisville has become quite the hot spot for local beer festivals, and this spring is looking like a good one, with some returning favorites bearing happy new wrinkles and a new entry making its debut into the lexicon to coincide with Derby.

It’s still a bit early, but we figure it’s never too early to welcome spring’s sudsy bounty. Get your calendars (and your livers) ready.

Click through to review:

• Craft Beer Extravaganza for Thunder Over Louisville
• Derby City BrewFest
• Highlands Beer Festival
• Bardstown Bound Beer Tour
• Keg Liquors Fest of Ale

“We’re Only in It for the Money”: Gravity Head 2015 cashes in with headliner Against the Grain on February 27.

Here is a first look at NABC art-guy-in-residence Tony Beard's design for the Gravity Head 2015 logo.

Gravity Head 2015 is the 17th spectacle in a series that began in 1999. This year, the theme is "We're Only in It for the Money," and Louisville's Against the Grain Brewery will open the show on Friday morning, February 27, with a headlining multi-tap breakfast lineup.

There’ll be another Gravity Head Sunday Sunrise Brunch at Bank Street Brewhouse on March 1, with food and beers to be announced, and the traditional Flat12/Founders/NABC wave on Gravity Head's Third Friday (March 13, 2015).

The most recent web site. update is Friday, January 9. There are 41 draft listings so far, including the Against the Grain contingent.

We’ll be aiming for 50 selections, and as you can see, the slots are filling quickly. Check back, and there'll be occasional reminders. We also reserve the right to pull certain kegs and save them for next year if numbers become to unwieldy.

GnawBrew apparently was quite good.

Damn it, John -- I hated to miss it. Maybe next year, but not with me camping ... rain or shine.

GNAWBREW FESTIVAL 2014: WHY THE THREAT OF WEATHER WILL NEVER RUIN THE TRIPLE THREAT OF CRAFT BEER, ART & MUSIC, by Jon McNabb of Indiana On Tap

... Gnawbrew is an event that founder Douglas Talley started 5 years ago in his backyard as a way to gather friends, drink craft beer and play music with his band Gravel Mouth. It has now turned into an event with several bands, lots of breweries, camping, comedy, movies and hundreds of people in attendance. As far as I’m concerned, it's one of the best festivals you could ever attend.

A glance at the NABC calendar for January and February.

Since when is February the kickoff for event season?

We have road engagements each of the first four weekends of the month, culminating with a return on February 28 to the friendly confines of the Pizzeria & Public House for the celebration known as Gravity Head. See them all below.

Meanwhile, there is both new and old on the agenda for January.

Old Lightning Rod Day comes around for the ninth time on the 19th at Bank Street Brewhouse, where we'll also be staging an inaugural birthday for Hoptimus on the 31st.

But before that, January 14 will be a Tuesday to remember at both locations, as we debut a very special one-time ale at 5:00 p.m. My lips are sealed. This time, you'll just have to show up and see what we're talking about.

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NABC AT HOME: OUR BRICKS AND MORTAR

JANUARY 14

First-ever release of (censored) Ale

Join us at both NABC locations on Tuesday, January 14, when we’ll be releasing a limited edition ale so very unique and ridiculously special that we can’t even tell you about it yet. Just be at the Pizzeria & Public House or Bank Street Brewhouse at 5:00 p.m. on the 14^th, and taste for yourself.

JANUARY 19 & 20

Old Lightning Rod Day 2014

At Bank Street Brewhouse (19^th) and the Pizzeria & Public House (20^th)

It’s the annual limited release of Old Lightning Rod, NABC’s cult favorite Colonial Dark Ale, honoring the legendary Benjamin Franklin’s birthday. On Monday, January 20, Old Lightning goes on tap at the Pizzeria & Public House. As always, it’s a small batch, so get your pints and growlers while you can.

JANUARY 31

Hoptimus Inception Reception 2014

At Bank Street Brewhouse only

Hoptimus is NABC’s biggest-selling beer in the metro Louisville market, and to celebrate its 8^th birthday, we’re showcasing the everyday recipe with added shadings, courtesy of the boys in the brewhouse: Oaktimus (oak-aged), Chouffetimus (Belgian yeast) and two pins of differently dry-hopped Hoptimus (with Citra and Styrian Celeia).

FEBRUARY 28

Gravity Head 2014: Bullet Train to Blackout Town

At the Pizzeria & Public House only, through March

The 16^th annual Gravity Head is NABC’s celebration of the brewing world’s biggest and best.  Beginning on February 28, and lasting daily throughout March until all the kegs are gone, we’ll be devoting numerous taps to showcasing these rare and sought-after beers, as chosen to exhibit maximum diversity of flavors and stylistic inspiration.

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NABC ON THE ROAD: SELECTED FEBRUARY EVENTS

We’ll be on the road for four February samples-only, winter-themed beer festivals. Brewers and sales staff are guaranteed to be present, so if you’re attending one or more of these festivals, come by and say hi.

February 1

Winterfest, by the Brewers of Indiana Guild, held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis

February 8

Winter Warmer, at Lafayette Brewing Company in Lafayette, Indiana

February 14 and 15

Cincinnati Winter Beer Fest, both nights at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, Ohio (with Cavalier Distributing Ohio)

February 15

Craft Writing: Beer, The Digital, and Craft Culture, a symposium at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. NABC’s Roger A. Baylor will appear along with other craft beer notables, including Garrett Oliver, Mitch Steele and Stan Hieronymus

February 22

Tailspin Ale Fest, at Bowman Field in Louisville, Kentucky, the city’s first ever winter craft beer showcase

The 2014 beer calendar hits the fan ... in February.

Since when does events season start in February? Here's the 2014 calendar so far, with all of them counting as NABC gigs except for the Craft Writing afternoon, which is being attended by me and my shadow.

February 1 (Saturday)
Brewers of Indiana Winterfest in Indianapolis

February 8 (Saturday)
Winter Warmer 2014 at Lafayette Brewing Company (Lafayette Indiana)

February 14 & 15 (Friday & Saturday)
Cincy Winter Beerfest in Cincinnati, Ohio

February 15 (Saturday)
Craft Writing: Beer, The Digital, and Craft Culture at the University of Kentucky (Lexington)

February 28 (Friday)
Gravity Head 2014 (Bullet Train to Blackout Town) at NABC's Pizzeria & Public House

Ah, but wait -- there's more, because a new festival is coming to Louisville ...

February 22 (Saturday)
Tailspin Ale Festival – Louisville’s 1st Winter Warmer Beer Festival at Bowman Field

Following are a few more Indiana dates of interest.

April 5-12
Bloomington Craft Beer Week

April 12
Bloomington Craft Beer Fest

July 12-19
Circle City Beer Week

July 19
Indiana Microbrewers Festival

A brief report on this week's Brewers of Indiana Guild meeting.

On Wednesday, there was a board meeting of the Brewers of Indiana Guild, and I accompanied NABC's Blake Montgomery to Indianapolis for the occasion. He went out and did sales guy stuff, and I spent the afternoon at Sun King with the other directors.

Not all the topics we discuss can be public knowledge, but broad themes are fair game. As with any organization, we have our internal housekeeping tasks to perform. These days, much activity has to do with the explosion of commercial brewing in Indiana. The number of working breweries in Indiana has more than doubled during the past three years.

Among other tasks, the Guild hopes to improve communications with all craft brewers in the state, improve promotion of the segment, continue to successfully lobby the legislature, commence a mentoring program and have every brewery in attendance at our two biggest yearly fests. Toward these ends, we're organizing committees. I'm on the membership committee, and this makes me quite happy.

I'm also glad that as we move forward into the emerging era of Indiana brewing multiplication, one of my pet ideas is gaining traction. We're not there yet, but the day draws nearer.

I wrote about it earlier this year.

Now that Indiana is a state fairly blessed with brewers, should non-Indiana beers still be a component of these three yearly Guild fests?

Of course … under conditions and circumstances channeled by the guild itself, which to my way of thinking, means orienting guest beers according to their own state guild structures, and not by their Indiana wholesalers.

My solution has the merit of gently nudging Indiana wholesalers sponsoring an Indiana guild-administered festival to better support those Indiana brewers already on their sales rosters. It also provides a compelling reason for other state Guilds to become better organized, and to refine their message.

Just picture it: Instead of a wholesaler tent at the BIG Microbrewers Festival, with craft beers from America jumbled together, there could be separate tents for guilds from Kentucky, Michigan and other states.

A VIP and an IBU walk into a beer fest ... and our day at Fishers on Tap.

Yesterday's Fishers on Tap in Indianapolis ran the requisite VIP hour at the beginning, followed by three hours of general admission. But rather than waxing egregious, the VIP portion at Fishers offered the opportunity for attendees to pair Indiana beers with food from local restaurants. The food presenters stopped serving when general admission began, but food trucks (Indy has such a culture; I imagine Floyd County's Health Department prevents it here) began.

The Fishers event was very good in all respects, and a veritable model for how a small outdoor beer fest should find its opening legs. There was a refreshing absence of geek samplers tethered to Untappd, and no roving bands of 22-year-old males asking for the highest alcohol content. There was a surfeit of locals, considerable community spirit, and a mellow vibe all around -- and the band Soul Street was the best music I've ever heard at such a beer fest.

Kudos to the organizers. Here's my column at LouisvilleBeer.com for June 15.

A VIP and an IBU walk into a beer fest

I went to my first rock concert at the age of 15 in 1975. The venue was Louisville Gardens, and the band was Chicago, which had made it only to IX at the time and wasn’t yet overtly pop. Tickets were $7 in advance, and $8 “on the day of show.”

My most recent name brand concert was the Who at Yum Center in February. Tickets cost somewhere around $75 after Ticketmaster’s various digital anal probes, but for a mere $750 (maybe more; who can remember a spare zero or three?) I might have tithed myself into position backstage as a VIP, fed organic Black Sea caviar with a coke spoon formerly wielded by the late, great Keith Moon, and exchanged pre-curtain pleasantries with Pete Townshend just prior to him ceremonially smashing his guitar atop my tonsure – although it occurs to me that fretboard abuse cost an extra C-note, of which I keep plenty around to light cigars.

Indiana Statecraft, concluded.

No one asked me what I thought, but that's never been an impediment.

Indiana Statecraft (Part Two)

Written by Roger Baylor

(Full disclosure: I am a director on the board of the Brewers of Indiana Guild. However, my thoughts are strictly my own, and do not reflect official guild policy. Part One of this column is here)

“I promote local pride, not jingoism.”
– Greg Koch (Stone Brewing, San Diego CA)

The Brewers of Indiana Guild stages three yearly beer festivals, with these events providing the bulk of the non-profit organization’s annual operating revenue. The festivals are Winterfest (held in February in Indianapolis), Bloomington Craft Beer Festival (April; Bloomington) and BIG Microbrewers Festival (July; Indianapolis).

Plymouth cask ale fest on my horizon?

If everything breaks favorably, I'll be visiting the United Kingdom come early July. Of course, England means cask ale, and cask ale means the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) as handy local reference to which ales and pubs are best. Accordingly, I found the Plymouth CAMRA website, and am delighted to learn that their annual Beer Festival is running on July 12 and 13, 2013.

This makes me very happy. All I really want to do on holiday is drink cask ale in the company of steak and kidney pie, Cornish pasties, fish and chips, one good carvery, the occasional Vindaloo, and a custard tart now and again.

Following is a brief digression following my last journey to Devon and Cornwall, in 2009.

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In the modern era, beer enthusiasts the world over refer to different fermentation methods, and hence different fundamental types of beer, as ale (top fermented) and lager (bottom fermented). As is the case with two people divided by a common language, colloquial English usage in the UK confuses matters, because there, people say "beer" when they mean "ale," although "lager" remains "lager."

Beyond this, England remains a great place to experience "ale," primarily cask-conditioned "real" ale, so long as the visitor understands that not every pub plays the game the same way. It is absolutely essential to have a copy of "Good Beer Guide," the campaign for Real Ale's annual guidebook to the best pubs that serve the best cask ale. Without it, your beer hunting will be an expensive crap shoot.

After sampling at least 20 different cask-conditioned ales, the majority of them one shading or another of Bitter at around the 4% abv mark, I can say that the great triumph of English brewing methodology is producing richness of malt character in a low gravity quaff. It amazes me. Surely hop character is excellent, if restrained by American micro standards, but it's the malt that always impressed me in the best cask pints.