Falls City Common Beer and my introduction to Over the 9.

I finally made it to Over the 9, and had a wonderful time. The pretext was to have another beer or two with Cezary ... and the mission was accomplished.

My beer with Cezary Wlodarczyk, and what's up at Falls City, Old 502 and Over the 9.

The two top-selling Falls City beers are brewed under contract elsewhere, but Over the 9 has plenty of Dylan's beers brewed on site, with more to come. Many are at a human-friendly, sessionable alcohol content, and a few dip beneath the Bryson threshold. I was very pleased with this fact, and was able to have full pours of Cream Ale and Common, both in or around 4.5% abv.

The Falls City Common described below is delightful: Amber-brown in color, moderately hopped, and entirely poundable. There is a hint of adjunct, and no sourness. I can see many growlers of it in my future.

At RateBeer, an observer expresses confusion over the absence of sourness. While I support the notion of brewing Common (Komon) as a sour, as NABC has done, it does not appear likely that the style ever was intentionally sour in its heyday more than a century ago. This is explained in great detail here:

Kentucky Common – An Almost Forgotten Style, by Leah Dienes and Dibbs Harting

Whatever my future holds, it probably will not include regular commuting to Louisville for beer, insofar as the commute requires driving. I prefer walking or biking. To me, the fun thing about Falls City, Old 502 Winery and Over the 9 is that their 10th Street location in downtown Louisville is so close to New Albany. If the K and I Bridge ever becomes a pedway, as it  should, I'd be able to bike to 10th Street in 20-odd minutes.

Until then ... those growlers, and my complete satisfaction with being a Commoner.

Falls City's new beer is based on an old tradition, by David A. Mann (Louisville Business First)

Falls City Brewing Co. is making a push for its version of Kentucky Common beer — a brew that officials there believe has the potential to become a major new product for the company.

The brewery first debuted Kentucky Common during a Derby Eve brew festival earlier this year.

Falls City brewmaster Dylan Greenwood said he believes the company's Kentucky Common has the potential to become a flagship product for the brewery.

Kentucky common-style beer borrows a bit of inspiration from the state's distilling industry, in that it uses a grain bill (the grains used in brewing) that features corn and rye, Brewmaster Dylan Greenwood told me during a recent interview at Over the 9 restaurant on 10th Street.

Obscure beer styles like these interest me.

Over the years, I've been fortunate to taste examples of many of these styles. The one most interesting to me today is Kottbusser; I seem to remember Jerry Gnagy producing one at BBC St. Matthews seven or so years ago, but I may be wrong.

What intrigues me the most is that for all their obscurity now, most were everyday beers in their original incarnations. Naturally, I daydream about reviving them for everyday drinking in the current time, and not merely as one-offs or seasonals.

Don't tell me: Someone's already doing it, right?

Point the way, then. I'd plan a vacation around this sort of concept. The article is better than the norm when it comes to lists, as this list isn't totally arbitrary and useless. Thank you, Alex.

11 Obscure Beer Styles That Are Worth a Try, by Alex J. Berezowsky (Mental Floss)

Sure, stouts, India pale ales, and hefeweizens are tasty, but if you want to venture away from the beaten path for your next beer, give one of these styles a shot.

NABC's Kaiser 2nd Reising (Pre-Prohibition Pilsner) is on tap at both locations.

It's time again for the annual release of NABC's Kaiser 2nd Reising, which is a perennial favorite of mine. While probably biased, I think it's delicious.

Kaiser 2nd ReisingYour great, great granddaddy’s PilsnerBefore World War One, the Paul Reising Brewing Company was New Albany’s pre-eminent brewing concern, and it occupied a respected position in the pantheon of local business. In the contemporary age, NABC recognizes Paul Reising and the city’s other brewers of old with this Pre-Prohibition Pilsner.
40 IBU
5.9% ABV

Pre-Prohibition Pilsner has been renamed Pre-Prohibition Lager in the Beer Judge Certification Program's (BJCP) most recent style guidelines. No matter. In the Louisville context, these are the forerunners of the beers we knew in their bastardized dotage when we were young pups: Falls City, Fehr’s, Oertel’s, Sterling, Wiedemann and so on.

The BJCP's historical beer categories have my enthusiastic approval. Here's the relevant definition in its entirety.

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Historical Beer: Pre-Prohibition Lager

Overall Impression: A clean, refreshing, but bitter pale lager, often showcasing a grainy-sweet corn flavor. All malt or rice-based versions have a crisper, more neutral character. The higher bitterness level is the largest differentiator between this style and most modern mass-market pale lagers, but the more robust flavor profile also sets it apart.

Aroma: Low to medium grainy, corn-like or sweet maltiness may be evident (although rice-based beers are more neutral). Medium to moderately high hop aroma, with a range of character from rustic to floral to herbal/spicy; a fruity or citrusy modern hop character is inappropriate. Clean lager character. Low DMS is acceptable. May show some yeast character, as with modern American lagers; allow for a range of subtle supporting yeast notes.

Appearance: Yellow to deep gold color. Substantial, long lasting white head. Bright clarity.

Flavor: Medium to medium-high maltiness with a grainy flavor, and optionally a corn-like roundness and impression of sweetness. Substantial hop bitterness stands up to the malt and lingers through the dry finish. All malt and rice-based versions are often crisper, drier, and generally lack corn-like flavors. Medium to high hop flavor, with a rustic, floral, or herbal/spicy character. Medium to high hop bitterness, which should neither be overly coarse nor have a harsh aftertaste. Allow for a
range of lager yeast character, as with modern American lagers, but generally fairly neutral.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with a moderately rich, creamy mouthfeel. Smooth and well-lagered. Medium to high carbonation levels.

Comments: The classic American Pilsner was brewed both pre-Prohibition and post-Prohibition with some differences. OGs of 1.050–1.060 would have been appropriate for pre-Prohibition beers while gravities dropped to 1.044–1.048 after Prohibition. Corresponding IBUs dropped from a pre-Prohibition level of 30–40 to 25–30 after Prohibition.

History: A version of Pilsner brewed in the USA by immigrant German brewers who brought the process and yeast with them, but who had to adapt their recipes to work with native hops and malt. This style died out after Prohibition but was resurrected by homebrewers in the 1990s. Few commercial versions are made, so the style still remains mostly a homebrew phenomenon.

Characteristic Ingredients: Six-row barley with 20% to 30% flaked maize (corn) or rice to dilute the excessive protein levels; modern versions may be all malt. Native American hops such as Clusters, traditional continental hops, or modern noble-type crosses are also appropriate. Modern American hops such as Cascade are inappropriate. Water with a high mineral content can lead to an unpleasant coarseness in flavor and harshness in aftertaste. A wide range of lager yeast character can be exhibited, although modern versions tend to be fairly clean.

Style Comparison: Similar balance and bitterness as modern Czech Premium Pale Lagers, but exhibiting native American grains and hops from the era before US Prohibition. More robust, bitter, and flavorful than modern American pale lagers, and often with higher alcohol.

Vital Statistics: 
OG: 1.044 – 1.060
FG: 1.010 – 1.015
IBUs: 25 – 40
SRM: 3 – 6 
ABV: 4.5 – 6.0%

Commercial Examples: Anchor California Lager, Coors Batch 19, Little Harpeth Chicken Scratch