New Speakeasy about to lift off in downtown New Albany.

(Updated 8:42 a.m. on Thursday, 14 June)

I'm told that Speakeasy, downtown New Albany's newest restaurant (also a jazz venue), will be doing "soft" lunches this week from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, and 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Friday, as preparation for the big grand opening show on Saturday, June 16th. I'm assuming that regular hours will commence beginning next week, and will inform readers when the information is known.

The Speakeasy is located at 225 State Street (between Main and Market, just adjacent to the retro Firestone auto service center. The phone is 812-981-0981. Owners are Brad and Lori Tharp, and the chef is Kevin Crum.

The Saturday grand opening event, featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra, is sold out. Develop New Albany is the primary sponsor of the event along with Holiday Inn Express (Dee Cunningham; the hotel provided all the Miller band's rooms); Tumblebus (Larry and Brenda Scharlow); Lopp Real Estate (Mike & Terri Kopp); New Albany mayoral candidate Doug England and wife Michelle England; Sturgis Carpet Cleaning (John and Amy Sturgis); and Community Bank in New Albany.

Three draft New Albanian Brewing Company beers will be served (Mt. Lee, Elector and Community Dark, at least to start) along with two from Bluegrass Brewing (Main & Clay). A short list of craft beers and imports from World Class Beverages also will be offered. The food menu is Cajun-influenced, and the physical setting is compelling and likely to become an immediate classic.

With four taps at Bistro New Albany and two at Connor’s Place, the Speakeasy's three NABC taps bring the downtown total to nine -- one more than at the pub and pizzeria. If that isn't progress, I'm not sure what is.

Thanks to Mike Kopp for fleshing out this posting.

Authentic Mexican cuisine deserves better than Carta Blanca, et al.

Yesterday the Curmudgeons walked a few short blocks to New Albany’s La Rosita Mexican Grill for what has become a twice (at least) weekly authentic Mexican feast, courtesy of the culinary wizardry of chef and owner Israel Landin.

As Israel and my wife discussed Catholic theology and the phenomenon of Santeria, I noticed a five people at a nearby table that seemed about to collapse from the weight of colorful dishes, and their food made me hungry, except that each was drinking a Mexican beer straight from the bottle, with the redundant lime wedged in the neck.

That part of the scene almost gave me nausea. Such superb examples of Mexican cuisine … and such lackluster Mexican beer to go with them.

Part of it may have been that the last time I dined at La Rosita on the occasion of our recent pub crawl through New Albany, the festive nature of the evening caused me to shed longstanding inhibitions and order a Carta Blanca, sans lime, in an effort to compare the flavor with my 1980’s memories of it. I expected to be disappointed with what I recalled as a pervasive blandness. Instead, I was disgusted by the overpowering essence of corn flakes. No wonder limes are used. It’s the only way to hide the corn.

These ruminations aren’t to be taken as a jab at Israel, who is both a wonderful person and a gifted cook. Rather, they are to reiterate (again) how sad it is that ethnic restaurants so seldom have challenging beer lists. Each time I eat at La Rosita, I imagine the beer that would accompany my food, but it isn’t available, and given Israel’s scale of operation and his personal priorities, it isn’t likely to be any time soon.

A boy can dream, though. Time, perhaps, for the long-awaited cooperative venture between Israel and myself, wherein he produces a multi-course Mexican masterpiece and I find microbrewed beers from America for an intelligent pairing.

Call it the Progressive Mexican-American beer dinner. Anyone out there game?

Anyone interested in a Schneider reception in Indy on Tuesday?

To paraphrase Lt. Col. Henry Blake, it really gripes my cookies not to live in a civilized part of the world.

I’ll explain that in a moment. First, here’s the pretext for my annoyance – and make no mistake, it’s consummately civilized and something I’d like very much to attend. Getting there is my problem.

This email is to inform you all of a special Schneider Brewery Customer Appreciation Event that Cavalier Distributing has planned. I know that calendars get filled quickly, so please mark your calendars on June 12th for this event.

Susi Hecht, the Export Manager for Schneider Brewery, is coming to the United States and making a one day stop here in Indianapolis on Tuesday June 12th. Along with B. United, Cavalier Distributing will be hosting a Schneider Brewery Customer Appreciation Event at the Rathskeller that Tuesday evening. The event will run from 7 pm - 9 pm with a presentation from Susi around 7:30. Try to arrive by 7:30 for the presentation if possible.

We will provide Schneider Edel-Weiss (Schneider's organic wheat beer) on draft complimentary through the evening for everyone. Additionally, we will be sampling out the other Schneider beers in their portfolio. Susi Hech from Schneider and David Frost from B. United will be there along with the Cavalier staff to lend their expertise. Along with the beer there will be complimentary hors’d oeuvres provided as well.

This event is a way of thanking you for your business and providing a very rare educational experience from one of the most respected breweries in Germany and the world.

To our knowledge this is Susi Hecht's first visit to Indiana, and with her expertise we hope to provide a great event for all of you.

Granted, by American standards Indianapolis isn’t a great distance away from New Albany. It’s roughly an hour and a half each way.

However, knowing that if we were in Bavaria, where Schneider is located, and could simply board one of many frequent trains to make the trip and not worry about driving … as in fact we could have done one hundred years ago right here in Indiana … quite simply causes me to regret my choice of nationality.

Anyone up for a road trip on Tuesday?

NABC’s buying the gasoline.

NABC at today's 12th Annual St. Louis Microfest.

6:10 p.m. update ~ here's a text message from Jared: "40 gallons in 4 hrs. 1st out of beer." Sounds like a success.

From the St. Louis Riverfront Times, here's a description of today's 12th Annual St. Louis Microfest, where NABC brewers Jesse Williams and Jared Williamson (along with friend and employee Richard Atnip) will be pouring samples.

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Designated Drivers, Start Your Engines!, by Mark Fischer.

Attention beer connoisseurs: Gather your friends, and limber your fingers for the most crucial game of "rock, paper, scissors" you'll play all year — it's time to choose the designated driver for this season's Microfest! For the first time in its storied history, Microfest goes on for two days, with proceeds from Friday and Saturday (June 8 and 9) benefiting the Lift for Life Gym. Tasting begins Friday evening at 5 p.m. with a focus on international brews like Duvel and Delirium Tremens, and admission at the gate is just $25.

Then, wake up before noon Saturday and wash your hangover away as the homegrown beers take the spotlight. The $25 admission fee buys a glass for unlimited tasting while you take in cooking demonstrations (bring cash if you want to eat; food is priced in the $3-to-$6 range) and sway to the music of performers like Erin Bode and Javier Mendoza. And designated drivers, you're winners, too: A special admission fee ($12 either day) entitles you to a Fitz's root beer mug to sample more than twenty specialty craft sodas. Microfest takes place at the upper Muny parking lot in Forest Park. For more information call 314-436-2337 or visit www.liftforlife.org/microfest.htm.

Date/Time: Daily from Fri., June 8 until Sat., June 9
Event Location: The Muny
Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63112
314-361-1900
http://www.muny.org

Back to Warbird: The OGC and his brewing concept.

Recently I tasted four beers brewed by Warbird Brewing Company (Ft. Wayne, Indiana) and commented on what I considered an odd juxtaposition between “most drinkable” sloganeering and warplane label imagery. I was relieved to note that the beers are brewed to style and worthy in their own right, with the possible exception of a very light bodied Mustang Gold that (as noted below) wasn't intended for beer drinkers like me in the first place.

Warbird: Fortunately, not "wet air" superiority.

Thanks to intermediary Todd Antz of Keg Liquors in Clarksville, here’s a note in response, written by Warbird's owner, Dave Holmes. It's a fine statement of his business plan, and worthy of your consideration. I'm hoping to meet Dave and chat during the forthcoming Brewers of Indiana Guild fest in Indianapolis on July 21.

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Hi Roger:

Todd Antz at Keg Liquors sent me the link to your blog. I read it with interest. Thanks for taking the time to feature us. We just started selling beer through Cavalier down in Southern Indiana and we hope to be able to build some fans there.

You seem like a man of clear ideas, so I won’t try to change your mind on your objections. However, I would like to at least offer some explanations. That way, when we have a beer together some day, there are no hard feelings or misunderstandings.

The Warbird brand is often mis-perceived as male and militaristic. Closer scrutiny will show that the brand honors the men and women who have served our country flying these airplanes. As far as fascism goes, Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo were pretty good examples. The airplanes depicted on our label and package were flown by men and women who dropped what they were doing in the late 1930’s and early ‘40s, beat hell out of those guys, and then went back their normal lives. We are not trying at all to market militarism to you. We are reminding people of the history that allows you and I to be free to pick and choose what we want to drink. Adolf wouldn’t have given us a choice.

Secondly, I know “beer guys” like yourself don’t find joy in Gold Ales. No, the Mustang Gold isn’t even a Kolsch. The only thing great about this beer is that it is made with 100% varietal Metcalf malt. No blended malts from multiple sources. No rice, no corn, just beautiful special pale malt. One hop, California Ale yeast, and charcoal filtered water. This beer is the most minimalist beer one can make. The basic 4 ingredients. Nothing fancy. Just great quality in a bottle. Why would a microbrewery make a beer like this? Because 99% of the other micros out there are already bombarding the market with specialty malts, immense IBUs, fruit and other adjuncts. Our position within the craft sector is drinkability. We want people to be able to enter the category of craft beers, get their feet wet, enjoy a hand-made beer, and be able to work in to bigger, more complex beers. Mustang Gold Ale is a perfect entry point. I think the T-6 Red Ale does pretty well with that too.

My wife is our index customer. 4 years ago, she did not enjoy beer. She was not beer averse, but she would drink Bud Light. I made the Red Ale for her and she said we could sell it “because it didn’t have any aftertaste.” When we made the Thunderbolt, she had enough confidence to try it and found that she really enjoyed a traditional hefeweizen. Last Christmas, when we bottled Warhawk Pale Ale for the first time, she had one and said, “that’s actually pretty good.” Two weeks later, she was asking me to bring her a six of the Warhawk so she could have one “when she was in the mood for a little more flavor.” That’s a 45 IBU 7.3% alcohol beer. She is now a craft beer drinker and she wasn’t before.

My favorite sale is to a woman who says she doesn’t like beer, tries our Red or Gold and then buys a six pack or two. That is category growth. Long term, we all need that.

So, I hope you can appreciate that there is some thought and plan behind this. We don’t aspire to be the next Stone or Dogfish. I am happy with our position. I just hope we can build the sales enough to stay in business. You know the beer business is not flush with cash. Still, I’m in for the long haul, as long as the cash holds out.

I hope to meet you in person some day. In the mean time, thanks for doing what you do.

Cheers,

Dave

Dave Holmes
Operations Group Commander
194th Brewing Wing, 1st Brew Force
Warbird Brewing Company
http://www.warbirdbeer.com/

Velocity's "Bar Hopper" on NABC.

It’s not exactly a secret that I’ve given Velocity, the Louisville Courier-Journal’s brightly colored and scantily worded mock-alternative weekly, quite a hard time at numerous past junctures.

When last we peeked into the world of Velocity, the Courier-Journal’s weekly ad-driven alternative wannabe corporate paean to cluelessness as a demographic preference – a place where relevance crawls off to die – it really wasn’t pretty.

My previous gibes were entirely merited, because apart from other complaints pertaining to Velocity’s aura of marketing-first, knowledge-a-distant-second approach to its primarily youthful readership, I’ll simply say that its coverage of beer has been inadequate.

Perpetual curmudgeonly probation aside, New Albanian Brewing Company made the cut for this week’s “Bar Hopper” column, and to give the devil his due, it’s a very good piece about my business.

Velocity’s Joanna Richards on NABC

I find myself wondering how many people will read the review, drive to New Albany in search of NABC, and only belatedly realize that NABC and Rich O’s are the same establishment … and that we actually have our own house beer? These facts are duly noted within the column, but often it doesn't matter.

Thanks to Ms. Richards. You did good work.

An accolade for Rich O's Public House: RateBeer's Best Beer Bar list "gold" for 2007.

Something akin to a press release ...

Rich O’s Public House has achieved gold status for the second consecutive year in RateBeer’s annual list of Best Beer Bars. According to the popular web site’s 2007 rankings, we finished in sixth place out of 93 establishments worldwide that were awarded gold certification.

I'm a realist, and grains of salt always come in handy at times like this, but it's very flattering just the same, and we’re sincerely appreciative of the honor. The list in its entirety can be viewed here: Best Beer Bars 2007. I've been to some of the other gold-medal beer bars mentioned, and they're high-powered, indeed.

For those just tuning in:

Rich O’s Public House, founded in 1990, is the pub arm of the New Albanian Brewing Company, which also incorporates Sportstime Pizza, which predates the Public House by three years and will be celebrating its 20th anniversary later this summer on July 14. The pub and pizzeria offer 34 taps pouring NABC house beers and rotating guest beers from America and around the world; 650+ beers have been on tap at one time or another since 1987. The bottle list includes 225+ hand-selected brands of beer, cider and mead. Our food menu specializes in pizza, lasagna, sandwiches and salads.

RateBeer is an on-line forum for beer drinkers to exchange information and share opinions of beer. In addition, users can write opinions of cider, mead and sake. RateBeer has more than 1,112,000 ratings, lists nearly 60,000 beers from 7,270 breweries, and has grown to become the largest beer information web site in the world in addition to serving as a forum for discussions about the craft brewing industry (the preceding is courtesy of Wikipedia).

Thanks to Steve Hall for tipping me. Crossposted at NA Confidential for maximum propaganda value.

Points for pondering, courtesy of the GABF's revised style guidelines.

Early June is when breweries receive their registration packets for the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver Colorado, which will take place this year from October 11-13.

If you’ve ever wondered, draft beers for the festival's public tasting sessions make their way to Denver in Microstar kegs via Anheuser-Busch’s distribution network. Meanwhile, beers for the medals competition judging must be bottled (or canned) and shipped separately.

It’s doubtful that NABC will participate in 2007, and this decision has nothing to do with politics or my traditional ambivalence about Charlie Papazian's empire. We’re small, money’s finite, and we feel it is better spent taking entertaining tasting trips to regional festivals like this Saturday’s 12th Annual St. Louis Microfest in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison, Wisconsin on August 11.

Having noted that, I’m always interested in the yearly tweaking of the GABF style categories and sub-categories, and for this reason I’m reprinting the text of competition manager Chris Swersey’s message to brewers. The complete style list can be viewed here.

These annual refinements represent an effort to match judging criteria to current trends and realities, and while some always represent progress – the addition of American-Style Sour strikes me as indicative of wonderful things – others denote regress, as in the case of German Oktoberfests no longer being distinguishable from Dortmunders. That's quite sad, isn't it?

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The 2007 GABF competition is just around the corner, and I hope that you will enter your beers and be a part of the fun – there’s nothing like the rush you get during the awards ceremony on Saturday afternoon. Be sure to look over the style list and the style descriptions very carefully before submitting your entry form. As usual, there are a number of big changes to the categories that need pointing out – don’t use last year’s category numbers when you complete your entry form!

I also want to point out a recent trend in American-Style Pale Ale, Strong Pale Ale, IPA and Imperial IPA entries. During the past four years, the style descriptions for the American-style Pale Ale family of beer styles have evolved to the point that the essential differences reflect alcoholic strength more than any other single quality. We have received numerous comments from brewers, judges, and consumers which indicate that there is confusion regarding the alcoholic strength of beers entered in particular categories, with respect to the brand name of the beers themselves. For example, a brewery could intentionally under-enter a strong pale ale in the pale ale category, with the idea that the beer might outclass the competition.

The GABF has no intention of policing entries for compliance by alcoholic strength. Analyzing entries is impractical and expensive, and more importantly, this role would subvert the function of the judge panel. Over the years, the judge panel has told us what makes great beer, and we plan to continue to let them. With this in mind, the judge orientation this year will include a taste calibration session that focuses on alcoholic strength, along with a reiteration of the comments that we have received regarding alcoholic strength. Please be sure to enter your beers in the appropriate category based on alcoholic strength as well as other factors.

Okay, here’s a list of some of the changes you’ll see in the style guidelines:

Category 4d – we’ve added Pumpkin Beer as a subcategory to fruit or vegetable beer.

Category 10 – Other Low Strength Ale or Lager – a new counterpart to category 73, Other Strong Ale or Lager.

Category 12 – Gluten Free Beer – This rapidly growing product segment now has its own category.

Category 13a – American-Style Sour Ale – an exciting new category for mixed fermentation beers that reflect American brewing on the cutting edge.

Category 16 – Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – ditto.

Category 19 – Smoke-Flavored Beer – greatly expanded subcategories to reflect the broad range of German-style smoke beers.

Category 20 – International-Style Pilsener - Renamed the old European-style Pilsener to reflect the broad origins of adjunct lagers from around the world.

Category 24 - Dortmunder/European Style Export or German-Style Oktoberfest/Wiesen (Meadow) – This category reflects the current market reality that current-day German-style Oktoberfest is indistinguishable from Dortmunder or Export.

Categories 59-62 – Reorganized the Belgian-style categories based on feedback from judges and brewers from both the United States and Belgium.

Category 70b – Added an American-style Imperial Stout. We plan to continue the Pro-Am Competition this year. This is a special competition that will be judged by the same professional judge panel that evaluates all GABF entries.

Good Luck at the 2007 GABF, we'll see you in Denver this fall!

Bad call.

To my mind, the most noteworthy bastardization in mass-market beer advertising this year has been SABMiller’s garish celebration of the many awards won by its flagship, Miller Lite.

Television spots that show gleaming trophies morphing into bottles of beer are a reminder of what the late Dr. Goebbels told us: Make the lie so immense that it becomes oddly believable – and sit back as the ensuing wet air is joyfully swallowed by millions.

Among these ads, I like the suitably totalitarian vision of thousands of industrially brewed Miller Lite units rolling through one of the company’s sterile beer factories as immaculately dressed employees gather to celebrate another first place finish in the World Beer Championships.

The category? American-style Light Lager, of course.

Such a triumph may seem impressive, but it helps to know how such a product comes to be declared a winner. When it comes to beer styles and competitions, various governing authorities have created made-for-mass-market-swill categories that are among the more surreal in the beer judging pantheon.

Why stoop? See “800-lb gorillas: Megabrewing division” for the answer.

The American-style light lager designation calls for the judge to carefully gauge all things that differentiate beer from soda pop – body, flavor, malt, hops – and then to determine whether the light beer in question has had each component ruthlessly purged.

Consequently, the most un-beer-like of the contestants is declared the champion … the festive banners are hoisted … and the subsequent marketing campaign chases the approbation (and dollars) of the clueless.

A female acquaintance once noted that drinking light beer is indeed comparable to love on the beach, but with no hope of orgasm – something she said was far too common in her life without it interfering with her beer.

Fest of Ale recap.

Yesterday was the second annual Fest of Ales at Keg Liquors in Clarksville, and store owner and beer enthusiast Todd Antz surely must be happy with the results.

After last year’s inaugural event, Todd did some necessary tweaking. He moved the date back six weeks, brought in even more breweries and wholesalers, and relentlessly advertised. I’d guess that attendance was triple that of 2006, and in spite of an hour of stormy gusts and hard rain (given the steaminess of the day, this may have helped entertain the crowd rather than hurt), those present seemed to be having a wonderful time throughout.

The Curmudgeon’s picks of the litter?

Upland Brewing’s Eileen Martin brought a 750 ml bottle of experimental strawberry lambic; sorry there wasn’t enough for everyone. I’m trying to score some for sampling at the annual Lambic by the Glass on June 30 at NABC.

World Class Beverage had New Holland’s Existential on hand. It is another creative excursion into crossover territory, with the gravity and heft of a barley wine, but with an overt hoppiness that derives from ten hop additions. It has a clear, well defined balance between the malt and the hops. Who says one can’t enjoy gravity beers like this and Ol’ Shag, a barley wine from Browning’s Brewery, on a hot, sultry day? Not the Curmudgeon, for he did enjoy them.

Another surprise for me was the complex and tasty Shmaltz He’Brew Origin Pomegranate Ale, brewed with (duh) pomegranate juice. It’s handled in Indiana by Cavalier.

Louisville-area breweries were well represented, too, and all the styles I tasted were quite good, and to conclude, who doesn’t like fresh-fried, Elector-battered grouper from Bistro New Albany’s Dave Clancy?

Fest of Ale is sure to grow next year. Try not to miss it.

SteveFest 2007 kicks off with his party in Prost.

Views from Friday night's SteveFest party. The honoree is first:

Worst beer out there?

Check out this thread at the Louisville Restaurants Forum:

Worst beer out there?

Be prepared to, uh, “choke up” while revisiting your penurious drinking days of youth.

NABC's lineup for Fest of Ales at the Keg this Saturday.

By now you should know that on Saturday, June 2, the 2nd Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale will take place at The Keg Liquors in Clarksville. Please visit the store's web site for directions and ephemera: Fest of Ale 2007. Before proceeding to the fest's overview, here are descriptions of the three beers that NABC will be taking to the show. It will be a rare summertime appearance for the customarily allocated Thunderfoot, and your first chance to taste the most recent Kommon brew. I'm interested in reader views on the slightly tweaked Mt. Lee, which currently is on tap at the pub.

Thunderfoot
OG: 1.094
ABV: Circa 11%
MALTS: English 2-row, dark crystal, roasted barley, flaked oats
HOPS: Northern Brewer, Willamette, Cascade
YEAST: House London
MISC: Dried tart cherries are added to the hopback, and the beer is aged with dried Bing cherries and medium toast oak chips. The result is ultimate palate renewal.

Phoenix Kentucky Kommon
No specs available; the following description by local beer archivist Conrad Selle describes the style:

Dark Cream Common Beer - This beer, using 1-2% black sometimes also 1-2% crystal malt, and or 3-8 grams of brewers caramel per barrel was popular in the Louisville/New Albany area and referred to as Kentucky Common Beer in the Wahl-Henius Handy Book of Brewing, though it was locally known as cream beer or common beer. There is some evidence that partial sour mashes were used to lighten the body. It was usually made with about 75% malt and 25% corn grits or sugar, 11 or 12 degrees B (1.044-1.048). Like cream ale, it was consumed fresh, usually as draft beer. In 1913 it was estimated that 80% of the beer consumed in Louisville was of this type. Many local breweries made this type of beer only. It is a distinct beer style that originated in Louisville.

Mt. Lee
ABV: Circa 5.5%
MALTS: English 2-row, pale, caramalt
HOPS: Simcoe, Cascades
YEAST: San Francisco/California Common (as ale)
MISC: California Common ("Steam"), named for the Hollywood mountainside with the famous sign. First brewed in 2006. It has been lightened in gravity and a.b.v. by roughly 10% for the current first batch of summer, 2007.

Here's the rest of the festival promo, courtesy of the Keg's owner, regular reader and pal Todd Antz:

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11 Breweries, 2 Importers, 3 Craft Beer Distributors, over 100 craft and import beers, food and more!

Our Annual Fest of Ale celebrating the goodness that is craft beer on June 2nd from 2 - 6 pm.

We will have 10+ microbrewers on site to sample their wares, as well as food, music, and a charity silent auction to support the rebuilding efforts of Bridgepointe Goodwill services. Brewers and Importers signed up so far are: Upland Brewing Company, New Albanian Brewing, Barley Island Brewing, Bluegrass Brewing Company, Warbird Brewing, Bells Brewing, Browning's, Thirsty Dog Brewing, New Holland Brewing, Spanish Peaks Brewing, Cumberland Brews, Belakus Beer Brokerage, and Eurobrew Importers (Xingu, St. Peters).

Also in attendance will be World Class Beverages, North Vernon Beverage, and Cavalier Distributing. Food will be available from Mark's Feed Store, Bistro New Albany, and Buckhead Mountain Grill.

Price is $25 in advance, and $30 day of the event (available at Rich O's Public House & Sportstime Pizza -- just ask your server).

Flip side: "Why Are You So Incredibly Drunk?"

As a landlocked fan of longstanding, I subscribe to Oakland Athletics e-mail updates at www.sfgate.com, the web site of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Here's a recent non-baseball article closer to home.

Why Are You So Incredibly Drunk? What is it about public displays of extreme, staggering wastedness? Is it fun?, by Mark Morford (Friday, May 25, 2007).

Warbird: Fortunately, not "wet air" superiority.

I am eternally amused by the disparities between macho culture (musky – very musky) and beer flavor (fine as long as there isn’t any), and merrily refer to these incongruities from time to time.

… the funniest of all are the gargantuan, tattooed, macho, leather-encased motorcycle riders who are the bar-none toughest guys around – but can’t manage to choke down a beer that tastes any stronger than the Silver Bullet and its color-coded coldness gauge.

So you can imagine my trepidation when given four sample bottles of beer from Warbird Brewing in Ft. Wayne, Indiana – each with an American military airplane on the label, and the lot of them described on the brewery's web site by M*A*S*H-style stenciling as the “world’s most drinkable craft beer.”

Nothing against my brewing brethren up north -- please read all the way to the end before accusing me of negativity – but militarism (ours or another's) simply isn’t a marketing strategy designed to attract my loyalty. After all, I’m the card-carrying contrarian who feels that the military air show at Louisville’s annual “Thunder over Louisville” fireworks display is fascistic in nature.

Furthermore, “drinkable” is a notorious code word in craft brewing circles, and generally implies “tasteless” by another name.

It turns out that my low expectations were unmerited. I drank Warbird’s beers, and as they say in sports when a heavy underdog beats the overwhelming favorite, that’s why they bother playing the games.

Only one, Gold Ale, can truly be referred to as “drinkable” to the point of insipid. Why bother apart from the cute airplane? Mass-market beers are less expensive, although in fairness, there was a note or two that suggested Kolsch without the fruitiness native to the style.

But two others, Pale Ale and Red Ale, fit comfortably within stylistic parameters, with a touch of pleasant hop bitterness intruding into the former, and a toasty sweetness characterizing the latter. Clean, with adequate flavor. Good sessions stuff.

The biggest surprise is Warbird’s Wheat, which (Hallelujah!) actually is brewed with Bavarian yeast rather than house ale yeast, and boasts the expected bananas and cloves. Quite tasty, actually. I notice that Bluegrass Brewing (Main and Clay) in Louisville also is brewing a German-style Hefeweizen as a seasonal. Let’s hope these two developments constitute a trend, because there’s nothing more “drinkable” (i.e., tasteless) than microbrewed American-style wheat.

Me? I’m waiting for Warbird’s B-52 seasonal barley wine.

Downtown NA pub crawl Wednesday night.

In honor of the honorable Don Barry, world traveler, scholar and the author’s cousin, who is in town for a brief stay before jetting to New York and Europe for the usual round of summer frolics, those of us forced to remain here are going to do something previously thought impossible: A pub crawl of ... yes ... downtown New Albany, with Don in tow.

That’d be a pub crawl with good beer, and not the area standard of swill. It ain't Bamberg ... but it's better than before.

This largely unplanned event will take place on Wednesday evening (May 30). We will be meeting at the Baylor residence (1117 E. Spring) at 5:30 p.m., and then decamping by foot to the nearby La Rosita for culinary succulence. Stated simply, there is no better Mexican cuisine in the Louisville metropolitan area than that prepared and served by Israel Landin and his family.

After various morsels, we’ll walk down Market Street and examine the Bistro New Albany’s expanded libations list, which now includes top shelf liquors. Founded in April, 2006, the Bistro New Albany offers fine dining in the historic New Albany Inn hotel building at 148 E. Market. It has an excellent, atmospheric patio, and four or five NABC beers always on draft.

Later, we’ll stroll around the corner to the brand new Connor's Place for nightcaps and cigars on the patio. Connor’s Place, with relaxed sports bar ambience and casual dining in a historic building at 207 E. Main Street, is former BNA partner Dave Himmel’s labor of love. It has another knockout outdoor seating area and two NABC beers always on tap.

Afterwards we’ll walk back to the starting point via Main Street and 11th. Readers and friends are invited to join us at one or all of the stops.

BARD list update brings us to 648 beers on tap since 1992.

I found time today to update the NABC web site’s “Beer Archive Research Division (BARD)”, which is a long-term archival and archaeological project to match recollections with invoices and other evidence, and to assemble a master list of draft beers (and a handful of ciders) served at the Public House and Pizzeria since 1990.

After adding the ones below, which have appeared for the first time since last December, the list currently stands at 648. I fudged a bit with two of the NABC house beers, which have been brewed but haven’t yet been sampled by the public.

But they were briefly on tap for R & D purposes.

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Avery Thirteen (Weizen Doppelbock)

BarrelHouse Belgian Style Winter Ale
BarrelHouse Boss Cox Double Dark IPA
Bayrischer Bahnhof "Berliner Style" Weisse
BBC Dank IPA
BBC Leah's Etrange
Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout
Brooklyn Brewery “Brewmasters Reserve” Antwerpen
Brooklyn Brewery Brown Ale
Brooklyn Brewery East India Pale Ale
Browning’s Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Clipper City Holy Sheet
Clipper City Peg Leg Imperial Stout

Ettaler Curator Doppelbock

Flying Dog Double Dog

Great Divide Titan IPA

Hoppin’ Frog Boris the Crusher

Jolly Pumpkin Bam Bier
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura (Dark Dawn) Stout

Kronenbourg 1664

Left Hand Oaked Imperial Stout
Left Hand Snow Bound Winter Ale

Mojo Risin' Double IPA (Boulder Beer)

NABC Elsa Von Horizon Imperial Pilsner
NABC Jasmine the Mastiff
NABC Malcolm's Old Setters Ale

New Holland Mad Hatter IPA

Ridgeway Criminally Bad Elf
Rogue Monk Madness
Rogue JLS Imperial YSB (Younger's Special Bitter)
Rogue Kell’s Irish Lager
Rogue JLS Dad's Little Helper
Rogue JLS Black Brutal
Rogue JLS Latona 20th Anniversary
Rogue Ten Thousand Brew Ale

Schlafly Reserve Oak-Aged Barley Wine
Shmaltz Genesis 10:10
St. Druon de Sebourg

Upland Ard-Ri Imperial Irish-style Red Ale

Wychwood Hobgoblin

NABC's Jared Williamson performing at Bistro New Albany this weekend.

Our associate brewer, Jared Williamson, will be doing a solo gig at Bistro New Albany tonight and tomorrow (May 25 & 26). He'll be performing at the outdoor patio from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Jared's day job is brewing, but he's been playing music for longer than he's been making beer. Anyone up for catching the tunes on Saturday evening?

In other downtown New Albany news, the soon-to-open Speakeasy jazz club has announced that its first big Saturday show -- the Glenn Miller Orchestra on June 16th -- already is sold out. Pretty good for an establishment that's yet to open, as well as a fair amount of pressure to open.

Famous big band booked for New Albany Speakeasy; Glenn Miller Orchestra playing State Street jazz club’s opening (from the New Albany Tribune).

Don't forget Connor's Place at 207 E. Main. Dave Himmel has embarked upon his dream, and it's a comfy, atmospheric setting for beer and food ... and even more inviting since his dad bought him an outdoor grill for the attractive rear patio.

Tribune visits Connor's Place during last night's grand opening gala.

2nd Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale is Saturday, June 2.

On Saturday, June 2, the 2nd Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale will take place at The Keg Liquors in Clarksville.

Visit the store's web site for directions and ephemera: Fest of Ale 2007.

Here's the rest of the mouthwatering promo, courtesy of owner, reader and pal Todd Antz:

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11 Breweries, 2 Importers, 3 Craft Beer Distributors, over 100 craft and import beers, food and more!

Our Annual Fest of Ale celebrating the goodness that is craft beer on June 2nd from 2 - 6 pm.

We will have 10+ microbrewers on site to sample their wares, as well as food, music, and a charity silent auction to support the rebuilding efforts of Bridgepointe Goodwill services. Brewers and Importers signed up so far are: Upland Brewing Company, New Albanian Brewing, Barley Island Brewing, Bluegrass Brewing Company, Warbird Brewing, Bells Brewing, Browning's, Thirsty Dog Brewing, New Holland Brewing, Spanish Peaks Brewing, Cumberland Brews, Belakus Beer Brokerage, and Eurobrew Importers (Xingu, St. Peters).

Also in attendance will be World Class Beverages, North Vernon Beverage, and Cavalier Distributing. Food will be available from Mark's Feed Store, Bistro New Albany, and Buckhead Mountain Grill.

Price is $25 in advance, and $30 day of the event (available at Rich O's Public House & Sportstime Pizza -- just ask your server).

Bistro New Albany's current draft beer selection.

Here’s a downtown New Albany update for local readers.

Bistro New Albany has made a few draft changes. Currently Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Upland Dragonfly IPA and Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel are alongside the usual four NABC ales, Bell’s Oberon, Guinness and a mass-market Belgian lager that I failed to record. Not also the distinctly top-shelf liquor selection that has been evolving since bNA procured a three-way permit a couple months ago.

bNA also has started adding selected bottles, beginning with small Chimay Blue and Dogfish Head ApriHop.