Louisville's First Link Supermarket, and its connection with Frank Fehr Brewery and Rathskeller.

Who knew that a supermarket closing would bring submerged Louisville brewing history back to the surface?

Downtown's only grocery store closes after more than 70 years in business, by Marty Finley (Louisville Business First)

Downtown Louisville's only grocery store has closed after more than 70 years in business, and the building will be auctioned next month.

The independently owned First Link Supermarket building, at 431 E. Liberty St., near Jackson Street, will be auctioned at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18. The auction will be held at the property, according to Indianapolis-based Key Auctioneers, which is leading the auction.

This part grabbed me:

"The site was formerly the Frank Fehr Brewery and Rathskeller, and features a huge lower-level, temperature-controlled environment which would enable it to be repurposed (i.e. liquor storage and distribution), continue to function as a supermarket and USDA meat-processing operation, or to be completely redeveloped for a new use," the release stated.

Broken Sidewalk picked up the story:

Seventy year old grocery closure puts last remaining Frank Fehr structure in jeopardy, by Branden Klayko

The First Link property is older than it looks, dating to sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s. While the facade of First Link along Liberty Street has been bricked up and windowless for some time, the original facade ... featured large expanses of glass, including a layer of glass admitting light to the basement. A rounded aluminum overhang added to the structure’s Streamline Moderne Art Deco aesthetic.

The structure was built by the Frank Fehr Brewing Company and clearly was an effort to modernize its eclectic collection of historic buildings, long demolished for parking lots and the Dosker Manor homes. Another sleek, modern structure approximately three stories tall once stood across from the First Link site, standing in stark contrast with the older architecture.

Following are four random views of the Fehr demolition, circa 1966. They're at the University of Louisville's digital library.

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Join me on a Session Beer Day Brewery Crawl on Thursday, April 7.

As Lew Bryson notes, Session Beer Day is only 20 days away, on Thursday, April 7.

For the past few years, my mission in beery life has been to propagandize the merits of session consciousness, and toward this noble end, I tried mightily to introduce the notion of Session Head at NABC's two locations.

Session Head was the symbolic final act of Gravity Head, with the pendulum swinging from the heavier wintry end of the spectrum to the lighter (in alcoholic terms) side of the aisle, as preparation for warmer weather in springtime.

I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish with Session Head. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of my more brilliant ideas -- ever.

However, most of you know by now that pending the outcome of the buyout saga, I've been "fired" by my business partners. I'm no longer in a position to rule on topics like Session Head, and it's a mystery to me whether or not NABC will stage it this year.

No matter, because I'm staging my own personal Session Head 2016.

As noted here previously, the idea suits both my preference for flavorful, lower-gravity beers, and a love of walking -- as exercise and philosophy, rolled into one.

On April 7, I'll start before lunch (circa 11:00 a.m.) and traverse downtown Louisville on foot, much like Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's Ulysses, walking from brewery to brewery and having a session beer at each. Most usually have at least one 4.5% choice on draft.

The brewery list, traveling roughly west to east, would be:

Falls City
Gordon Biersch
BBC 3rd Street
Against the Grain
Goodwood
Akasha

I've yet to check opening hours and other details, but there's time for all that. I'll be drinking "small beer in large glasses" (Lew's words), and I won't be driving. If this Session Beer Day Brewery Crawl can be managed without a single "Session IPA," it would suit me just fine.

If Rick's still open to some form of ceremonial late afternoon/early evening observance at Akasha, it would be wonderful. Other Louisville breweries too far away for walking might be able to sell session-strength kegs to Akasha for duty on the guest taps; it's just an idea, and it strictly is Rick's call.

Yes, it's a work day. So is Friday. However, if you're interested in blowing off work to join me, let me know. The more, the merrier.

Or: The less, the merrier. It depends on one's outlook. Remember, this trek is an all-weather event. Bring an umbrella if necessary.

I hope to see you somewhere on Session Beer Day, 2016.

An inspiring Rauchbier at Gordon Biersch in downtown Louisville.

On the topic of the Gordon Biersch restaurant/brewery outlet in downtown Louisville, I'll have more to say a bit later in the year, as my column in Food & Dining Magazine (3rd quarter, circa August) will profile it.

First, having been called upon to represent NABC in a "throwdown" evening at Biersch, with our Helles and theirs flowing at the same time, I had a wonderful time on Tuesday with beers, pizza and Nicholas Landers, who brews at Biersch.

Given my habit of antagonizing the peanut gallery with rote chants of "Death to Chains," there'll be an inevitable rejoinder alleging hypocrisy, or worse. But life isn't black and white, and localism is about principled shift -- and at Louisville's branch of Biersch, all the beers are brewed on site, and a greater degree of site-specific latitude than ever before is offered to Landers. I think his core portfolio of German-style lagers (and the occasional Teutonic ale) is delicious; meanwhile, he's doing an American-style Pale Ale and IPA.

In particular, if you like Rauchbier of the Spezial model, get over there now. Nick's made a fine version using Weyermann malt. There's a growler in the fridge as we speak, and it isn't expected to last very long.

Louisville brewers on ideas for beer and food pairing.

Have food, will beer. Or vice versa.

Local brewers talk beer and food pairing, by Dana McMahan (Courier-Journal)

I'm flattered to bat leadoff -- all hail the power of alphabetizing.

Here are the other interviewees:

Vince Cain .. Great Flood
Sam Cruz ... Against the Grain
Leah Dienes ... Apocalypse
Brian Holton ... Beer Engine
Christopher Turner ... BBC
John Wurth ...

My first thought on the matter follows, and I'm sticking to it.

The best way to begin pairing beer and food is to smile broadly in the knowledge that beer’s dizzying stylistic diversity makes the process fun and enriching. As a beverage fermented from barley and other cereal grains, beer functions not unlike bread with a meal, and it’s also carbonated, which expands possibilities with heavier and oilier foods. Beer is bitter and sweet, pale and dark, heavy and light – sometimes all at once. You could spend a lifetime pairing beers with cheese.

It's been a while since my last beer dinner. Perhaps it's time to correct that.

More new craft breweries than this numbers-challenged drunkard can count.

Read about all the breweries coming to Louisville and environs.

Craft beer industry has room to grow in Louisville area, by David A. Mann (Business First)

Well, read part of it; my complimentary media subscription apparently hasn't been processed. The "by the numbers" list is instructive.

Now, read about all the breweries coming to Indianapolis ...

Explosive growth of craft breweries may saturate Indy's beer market, by Chris Sikich (IndyStar)

... assuming you have articles remaining behind THAT paywall. Jesus, this used to be easy (see "complimentary" preceding). Next, contemplate the possibility of saturation. Optimist or pessimist? Back here in Louisville, Great Flood Brewing looks to be next.

Great Flood Set To Open Floodgates, Begin Brewing 'This Week' (Eater Louisville)

You're lucky to be in Louisville, guys. Here in Floyd County, the health department already would be planning a SWAT infiltration to guard against any possibility of fun -- as they may be doing as Rick Otey gets Donum Dei nearer to fruition. He'd get more done if he didn't spend so much time at Gravity Head ... but the list isn't finished yet.

From Bridles to Beer: Leather craftsman Ralph Quillin is opening Paris brewery, by Liane Crossley (Kyforward)

Paris is a few miles northeast of Lexington, and I can only hope that quite soon, other Kentucky towns named for place in Europe get their own breweries: Verona, Florence, Newcastle, Sligo, Warsaw and maybe even Versailles.

Chris Ritter: "Derby City on Tap."

The Paper may be going away soon, but there's an excellent piece on Louisville area beer, written by Chris Ritter, and featured in the current issue.

Derby City on Tap

In 2007, Andrew Dimery was fermenting his first batch of homebrew on a whim, having cashed in his tax return for the most minimal of required gear. Six years later he is the newest head brewer at the Bluegrass Brewing Company in St. Matthews.

“I loved the DIY aspect of it,” said Dimery. “I remember recycling was every Tuesday. And I’d go out to recycling bins and that’s where I’d get my glass bottles – clean them out really well and sanitize them. But I kind of felt like Gollum or something like that.”

Brewers of Louisville: Leah Dienes, as profiled by LEO's Sara Havens.

Unfortunately, I didn't think to post this link until after Apocalypse Brew Works had its "Drink Beer 'Til the End" party on the 21st. No matter; I was able to drop by Apocalypse on Friday afternoon, enjoy a quick beer, and say hello to Leah and the gang.

2012 People Issue: The Brewmaster — Leah Dienes, by Sara Havens (LEO Weekly)

Most of us sit chained to our desks from 8-5 dreaming of a better job, a thinner body and a fatter wallet. Very few of us are actually able to break those chains to pursue what it is we really want to do. Leah Dienes loved to brew beer and knew she was good at it. She won competition after competition during her 15 years as a home brewer and was tired of shilling out her swill for free to thirsty friends. So last Derby, she opened her own bar/brewhouse, Apocalypse Brew Works, with some fellow home brewers. The dozen or so taps have been flowing ever since.