Grieving the Beer Hunter's passing: Michael Jackson, the Red Room and Louisville.

Michael Jackson unexpectedly visited Rich O’s Public House in November, 1994, a tad more than two years after it first opened, and if I hadn’t been drinking much of the same day as an obviously weary Beer Hunter made pre-arranged appearances at Bluegrass Brewing Company and the now defunct Silo, I surely would have been too nervous to properly function in the role of host.

I’ll never know why he consented to accompany twenty-plus awed, fledgling and inebriated beer enthusiasts on yet another beer journey, this one at 9:00 p.m. after a long day’s work, from Louisville, Kentucky, across the Ohio River, to an embarrassingly unfinished space in a strip mall that, at the time, could offer only three beers on tap.

Moreover, knowing that most of our regular pub customers would be with us that day following Jackson around Louisville, we’d closed the pub tight, and with the motorcade from the Silo approaching, came dashing inside to turn on the lights, sweep up and make the barroom look somewhat presentable. Once seated, and following hours of one-ounce samples and a furious scribbling of notes, Jackson ordered a full 20-oz Imperial pint of Sierra Nevada Porter, and when he left an hour and a half later, wryly observed, “"I've been to many pubs in America, and I've never seen one quite like this."

It took a while, but eventually I understood what he meant.

----

It is impossible to overstate the influence that Michael Jackson had on thousands upon thousands of beer drinkers, who found in his elegant and precise prose a purposeful rationale for their pursuit of the perfect pint.

I'm prime among them.

Analogies with other cultural pursuits are difficult and fleeting, but they're most apt when made in literature, with the temptation being to describe Jackson as comparable to William Shakespeare in terms of reach and pervasiveness.

To me, far more flattering is the positing of Jackson as the beer world’s successor to the 18th-century English essayist Samuel Johnson. After all, Johnson established an expository norm for non-fiction and wrote a dictionary of the English language, and a century and a half later, Jackson synthesized Johnson’s style and words to write the language and vocabulary of beer.

We’ll be speaking and writing the fruits of Johnson’s and Jackson’s life work for quite some time to come.

As Lew Bryson perceptively notes in an appreciation elsewhere, it is Jackson's association of beer with place that survives as the finest representation of the beer writer's particular genius. 20th-century industrial complexes may have stolen beer from its traditional point of localized orientation, but Jackson stole it back, first a little, and then a lot.

He generally refrained from writing about technical brewing details, possessing instead a superhuman ability to filter hyperbole of the sort favored by marketers, and viscerally connect beer to its own "terroir" in terms of physical geography, human culture and social conditions. Jackson did so factually, wittily, often majestically, and always with supreme lyricism.

He was a damned fine writer, and the father of us all.

----

Five years after the nocturnal November visit, I found myself at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, a few samples under my belt, standing somewhere on the mezzanine, leaning against a vacant table and chatting with the beer writer and editor Stan Hieronymus. After a few minutes, Stan asked me if I had brought a book to be signed. With my face registering obvious cluelessness, Stan motioned behind me – and there was Michael Jackson, settling in for another afternoon with his reading public.

Surprisingly, I was at the head of a gradually lengthening line of people forming behind me, and entirely without a Michael Jackson book for autographing, but I had a GABF program tucked under my arm, and it was duly presented to Jackson as I reintroduced myself and asked if he remembered the late evening at Rich O’s.

Jackson smiled and said yes, and then added that the FOSSILS newsletters we had since been mailing to him in London were entertaining. “You’re quite the polemicist,” said Jackson.

You’d better believe I was blushing, but before there was much time to consider a coherent response, Jackson pushed away the program and said, “Have I told you why your Red Room made such an impression on me?”

No, he had not, and this remark seemed odd at the time it was offered. In 1994, the Red Room had only just come into being. Then, as now, it is a small seating area at the pub, with one wall painted red and a massive three-part Soviet-era poster of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin on the wall, since augmented with other examples of Communist paraphernalia.

It surprised me that Jackson even noticed the Red Room during his brief visit, and of course there had been no other times when he might have explained what it meant to him, so I answered as directly as I could.

“No.”

Jackson promptly put down his pen and began telling the story.

It began in 1945 with his earliest childhood memory at the age of three: The long delayed, post-war British election campaign that ended in sweeping victory for Labor and the fall of Winston Churchill. Jackson’s father, whom he referred to as the family’s political agitator, was working one important day, so his mother – normally apolitical – took young Michael to a gala rally for their constituency’s Labor candidate, who in fact was red-letter Socialist (unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the politician’s his name).

Jackson said that he never forgot the rally’s numerous red buntings and campaign banners, and a week later, the Socialist/Labor candidate handily won the seat and began a long and distinguished career in Parliament, so long in fact that after the adult Jackson graduated from university and embarked upon his own career in journalism in the mid-1960s, the very same politician was still holding the seat won in 1945. Jackson was assigned by his newspaper to interview the aging MP.

During the interview, Jackson learned that the politician had actually lived in American prior to the second war, and had worked for …

“The leftist Louisville newspaper,” Jackson said, “what is the name of your leftist Louisville newspaper?”

By now I was kneeling, and starting to become uncomfortably cognizant of perhaps 75 people queued behind me, and what’s more, I was unable to think of any newspaper in Louisville that would fit the description offered by Jackson, who tried his best to joggle my memory.

“The newspaper’s owners were wealthy liberals,” he said, “and they’ve since sold the paper to a media company.”

I blurted, “The Binghams? The Courier-Journal?” and Jackson almost came up out of his chair.

“Yes! The Courier-Journal, and the Binghams – that’s it. That’s where he worked.”

As it transpired, the member of parliament – the man whose campaign rally had been burned into Jackson’s memory by virtue of the color red, who had worked for the Louisville Courier-Journal, and who had spoken of Louisville when interviewed by Jackson so many years before – was the cognitive impetus for Jackson’s reaction when he walked into our pub in 1994.

Finally, it all made sense: Red Room, geography, colors, politics and beer, all combining to make more than a few other beer lovers impatiently wait their turn while the dots were meticulously connected for me by the world’s greatest beer writer. It is something that I’ll remember until the day that I join Jackson at the celestial tap room's bar, when I’ll ask him the one question that most needs answering:

What was the journalist/politician’s name?

I briefly spoke with Jackson a third time at another GABF, and then a fourth at a British ale tasting in Indianapolis in 2001, and that was all. Now he’s dead, and the return visit to Rich O’s that I always thought would be made some day isn’t to be.

To remember Michael Jackson, I can do no better than appropriate Edwin Stanton’s words at the passing of Abraham Lincoln: Now he belongs to the ages.

He was, indeed, the father of us all.

Beer hunter Michael Jackson has died; worldwide good beer community mourns today.

It always was my hope that there'd be a second visit to the Public House by beer writer Michael Jackson. Sadly, it isn't to be.

Joyfully, his role in teaching us about beer will be celebrated for as long as there is a craft brewing business.

As always, ironies abound. I'd just finished posting about essential beer books, smiled inwardly at my memories of meeting Jackson at Rich O's and later in Denver, and then I checked my e-mail, only to learn that Jackson died last evening.

There'll be eulogies by the thousands, written and spoken by people in good beer circles who recognize the almost unfathomable extent of Jackson's contribution to the success we enjoy today. The hyperbole is deserved, because he made us all.

I'll have more to write when there's time; the show truly must go on, and we have a Bamberg-centric draft beer event kicking off on Friday. If not for Jackson, would I have visited Bamberg when I did? Would I have chosen to make good beer my life's work?

The weekend's beers are going to have his imprint, and I'm having the first one now.

All About Beer is the first place to turn for an appreciation. There'll be others, and I'll collect them at another time.

A few good beer books.

A reader asks:

I'm thinking about getting into home brewing, and I'd like to just become more knowledgeable about beer and the craft beer industry in general. Do you know of any good books to read on one or all three subjects (home brewing, the industry, and beer overall)? A cursory search in Amazon yielded plenty of results, but I figured you might have a good suggestion or two.

Following are quick, off-the-cuff suggestions designed much like a personal “Top Five.” The list is not intended to be comprehensive, and reader additions are appreciated. Perhaps we can come up with a worthy “Top Ten.”

I may not think much of Charlie Papazian when it comes to his beer industry dabbling outside homebrewing, but when it comes to homebrewing, his New Complete Joy of Home Brewing probably remains the best place to start for aspiring homebrewers.

The classic “great beer” texts by Michael Jackson are still out there, and worth it for the always elegant writing, although the information is dated in older editions. Go to his Beer Hunter website and read the many archived columns there, then look around for used copies of the warhorses from the 1980’s.

Garrett Oliver's The Brewmaster's Table is a recent essential volume. The subtitle says it all: “Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food.” However, it’s also a wonderful overview of beer styles.

wordpress.com/the-book/">Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World, by Christopher Mark O’Brien. Need I say more?

For insight into the microbrewing business, I like Sam Calagione’s Brewing Up a Business: Adventures in Entrepreneurship from the Founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. He has another book called
Extreme Brewing: An Enthusiast's Guide to Brewing Craft Beer at Home, but I haven’t yet read it.

Readers?

I’m batting somewhere under .250 as Sandkerwa NA approaches on Friday, August 31.

Let’s have fun mixing baseball and German beer metaphors, okay? First, a reminder: Sandkerwa NA, an homage to Bamberg’s beers, begins Friday, August 31.

Next, the box score:

Base hit: Most of the beers from Bamberg and environs are in stock.

Strikeout: I’ve not been able to get the glassware I wanted.

Groundout: I didn’t allow enough time to get the food I wanted.

Pop-up: Three of the beers originally ordered didn’t make the trip, though in fairness I knew this some time back.

Compounding the annoyance in terms of logistics are the many (ten) leftover kegs from the Greg Koch/Stone visit (don’t worry; they’ll keep for a while) and yet another dozen kegs that are the result of my ordering too much beer when business finally began to slow down during the past week. These are clogging the walk-ins, making set-up for Sandkerwa into a more difficult jigsaw puzzle than even most Gravity Heads.

After careful consideration, my verdict is to simplify.

I’ve calculated the pricing across the board rather than by individual brand, so nine of the fourteen imported German beers slated for Sandkerwa will be sold in our usual Imperial pint glasses, but at the ½ liter price (a savings of about 10%) – and the price will be the same for all nine. The four wheat ales will be a bit less expensive and will be served when possible in wheat ale glasses. The Kulmbacher Eisbock will be priced by the 10 ounce pour.

There’ll be a simple one-page, two-sided program. No frills ... this year.

Just wait 'til next year.

Here are the beers:

20-oz Imperial; $5.75
Aecht Schlenkerla Helles (Bamberg)
Aecht Schlenkerla Marzen (Bamberg)
Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock (Bamberg)
Bayerischer Bahnhof Heizer Schwarzbier (Leipzig)
Klosterbrauerei Ettal Dunkel (Ettal)
Mahr's Hell (Bamberg)
Mahr's Pilsner (Bamberg)
Mahr's der Weisse Bock (Bamberg)
Spezial Rauchbier (Bamberg)

½ liter; $5.00
Aecht Schlenkerla Weizen (Bamberg)
Bayerischer Bahnhof Gose (Leipzig)
Kapuziner Weissbier (Kulmbach)
Schneider Wiesen Edel Weiss (Kelheim)

10-oz; $3.00
Kulmbacher Eisbock (Kulmbach)

Mahr's Ungespundet, Mahr's Weisse Lager (both from Bamberg) and St. Georgenbrau Kellerbier (Buttenheim) were unavailable.

As always, two other permanent guests of German extraction will be pouring in the usual manner during Sandkerwa NA: Pilsner Urquell (Plzen, Czech Republic) and Spaten Premium Lager (Munich).

Finally, we'll also be debuting a New Albanian Brewing Company beer in honor of the occasion: Happy Helmut, named for a merry trinket salesman with whom I once drank numerous half-liters of Spezial in Bamberg. There's a percentage of smoked malt from Bamberg's Weyermann malting house, and some rye in the grist. California Common yeast is used, and Tony's working on the artwork. Diring tastings last week, Happy Helmut was (happily) revealed to be soft and suitably Franconian, with the smokiness and rye qualities both muted, and a noble hop firmness. At less than 5% abv, it's a fine quaffer.

Talking to an animal at Brew at the Zoo.

Photo courtesy of Ed Needham's friend Uwe, as snapped at Saturday's Brew at the Zoo. As Ed notes, the captioning possibilities are endless:

"Now that the animals are talking to me, I think it's time to slow down a bit on the beer."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. Fill out an application. I'll hire you."

Thanks for the photo, Uwe and Ed. It has made my day.

A-B: From pet shampoo to skin care, and no good beer in between.

Back in the mid-1990’s, when Anheuser-Busch resolved to violently poach Budweiser Budvar from the citizenry of the Czech Republic as a means of “resolving” the century-old trademark dispute between the American industrial alcopop monolith and the traditional Czech craft beer maker, several enterprising journalists traveled into Bohemia with units of American Budweiser in tow.

Impromptu taste tests were organized with local beer drinkers, and unsuprisingly, the verdict was rather abysmal for the brewing philistines from St. Louis. I’ll always remember one man’s response when asked to pass judgment on Budweiser:

Not fit for humans to drink, but ideal as pet shampoo.

How incredibly appropriate that the bloated megabrewery – it’s impossible to make these things up – now will be delving into cosmetics.

Anheuser-Busch launches skin balancing water worldwide, by Simon Pitman (Beverage Daily; 21/08/2007).

Global drinks company Anheuser-Busch has launched a new line of bottled water that will be marketed as an integral part of any skin care regime in a bid to make a side-step into the ever-growing skin care market.

It's always been anything but the beer for A-B, so what's next?

Embalming fluid?

Brew at the Zoo wrap-up for 2007: Inclement weather early, sticky beer drinking late.

The 4th annual Brew at the (Louisville) Zoo was yesterday, and while the overall event went smoothly, it wasn’t without an element of adventure.

I was standing in the conventionally anchored beer and food tent, i.e., not the main one that rests atop a concrete slab, at about 4:10 p.m. when the anticipated thunderstorm stuck and a wind gust reminded me of the Keg Liquors festival earlier this year.

During that occasion, many people were hanging onto Todd’s small tents to keep them from doing an Oz, and yesterday, for a brief moment, I thought it was happening again. The tent started to rise, and the support poles were askew, but there was no liftoff even if the cups, plates, buns and signage flying through the air was vaguely reminiscent of Dorothy’s dream sequence.

Unfortunately, the storm brought precious little relief from the heat, and an hour later, we’d returned to full bake mode. Despite the weather, most of the paying customers I met seemed pleased with the beer and food choices on offer.

As for me, sated with preliminary sampling and the unexpected gift of a Havana cigar, things were increasingly mellow as the event progressed. Mrs. Curmudgeon arrived on the scene a little after 7:30 p.m., and we motored to Maido Essential Japanese for a civilized late dinner, which for me included seaweed salad, kimchee pork and “hedonism,” the latter a signature sushi.

BBC (Main & Clay) APA accompanied the Maido feast, and while I’m on the topic, be on the lookout for BBC’s next seasonal, an Oktoberfest that brewmaster David Pierce notes is his first lager in “a long time.” It’s brewed with a Bavarian bock yeast, and while malty, is not overly sweet. For those planning to attend the Curmudgeon’s annual Harvest Homecoming parade party on October 6, plan on seeing the new BBC Oktoberfest on tap alongside Poperings Hommel and Rodenbach Classic.

Why invest in Iron City?

There’s something about this that fails to make sense.

Problems mount for bankrupt brewer (Friday, August 24, 2007; by Len Boselovic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

The proposed saviors of bankrupt Pittsburgh Brewing, who last month were given an additional 45 days to complete their takeover of the troubled Lawrenceville brewer, are confident they'll meet the latest deadline extension.

If the swill segment of the beer market remains static, and the craft segment grows at a pace of 10% a year, is it a good investment to pour millions into a brewery that brews only swill? Just think what could be done with such a sum.

(thanks to Scott for the link)

UPDATE: Peak Summit beer choices will include BBC.

BBC's John Campbell provides a welcomed update for yesterday's Good news, musicians: Peak Summit is this weekend at New Albany's Rustic Frog, and you get to have NABC.

In addition to the A-B stable of light alcohol soda pops and possible Bud Island and Budhook, there will be BBC available! APA and Dark Star Porter on tap and Nut Brown and Altbier in bottles. Look past the A-B neons and find the BBC banner and taps back by the stage.

The non-swilled music fans can now breathe more easily.

Brew at the Zoo is Saturday -- here are the facts.

Here are the vitals for Saturday's fourth annual Brew at the Zoo, most of them provided by the organizers,a nd with the beer list courtesy of BBC's David Pierce.

I wrote about Brew at the Zoo yesterday in the Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO): Gulp with the gators, slurp with the sloths.

As a side note to Matt, and as it pertains to our discussion last evening, the titles of my submissions aren't customarily mine to select, although at times I manage to be clever.

As always with the Curmudgeon, it's all about the beer, and there'll be some good ones pouring on Saturday, but at the same time I'll issue a disclaimer: Notions like "Parrot Dice Casino" are herewith disavowed as tacky. You'll find me with the beverages, and I hope to see many of you there.

Date:
August 25, 2007

Time:
4:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Location:
The Louisville Zoo Oasis band shell, tent and field.

Attendance:
The event, which has grown each year, brought more than 2,000 guests to the Zoo this past year. For 2007, we are projecting an attendance of 2,500 patrons.

Admission:
Tickets will be available beginning July 1st.

Advance ticket purchase online at www.louisvillezoo.org
Individual $38.00
Designated Driver $28.00

Advance ticket purchase at the Zoo box office
Individual $45.00
Designated Driver $35.00

Day of the Event
Individual $50.00
Designated Driver $40.00

Price includes admission to the Zoo, live music, Official Brew at the Zoo
4 oz. tasting glass and brew and food sampling from participants.
(Food service 4 :00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., Beer/wine tasting until 8:30 p.m.)

Event Overview:
There will be different beers for tasting from 20 local & regional breweries. A selection of non-alcoholic products and water will be provided along with a variety of food tasting and wine tasting donated from over 30 local restaurants and vendors.

Breweries/Beers:
Alltech's Lexington Brewing Company
BBC Beer Co. (Clay Street Live Branch)
BBC St. Matthews
Barley Island Brewing Company (Noblesville, IN - new this year)
Bell's Brewery
Browning's Restaurant & Brewery
Brugge Brasserie (Indianapolis - new this year)
Cumberland Brews
Main Street Brewing/Turoni's (Evansville - new this year)
New Albanian Brewing Company
Schlafly Brewing Company
Upland Brewing Company

And a selection of beers poured by the distributor, including Rogue Dead Guy, New Holland Red Tulip, Arcadia IPA, Ommegang Witte, Unibroue Chambly Noire, Avery White Rascal, Boulder Mojo IPA .

Live Music:
Two local talents, Stompbox and Two Guys Having Fun, will perform live at the Event. Bring your lawn chairs and picnic blankets to lounge on the lawn and enjoy the tunes.

Parrot Dice Casino and Raffles Baskets:
Do you feel lucky? Cold beer and hot dice are new for this year’s Brew. Gamble with your friends for the benefit of the Zoo. In addition, The Friends of the Zoo will be selling chances to win one of several fantasy raffle packages offered. Each participating brewery/restaurant/vendor contributes items or gift certificates for the raffle basket .

Coming September 12: Grassroots Festival, on the patio at Stratto's (Clarksville).

Here's first notice. More information is forthcoming.

Good news, musicians: Peak Summit is this weekend at New Albany's Rustic Frog, and you get to have NABC.

The Peak Summit Groove & Dance Festival will be running the weekend of August 24, 25 & 26 at the Rustic Frog (located just west of downtown New Albany).

The New Albanian Brewing Company is donating beer for the backstage hospitality area, but the Rustic Frog itself will be controlling beer sales for those in attendance. Given the Frog's business model and the prominent web site decor of a Budweiser frog neon, my guess would be that you can expect to see the Anheuser-Busch stable of alcoholic soda pop in all its varied glory; with luck, perhaps there'll be Goose Island or Redhook as a "micro" alternative.

As a note to readers, the New Albanian Brewing Company can legally self-distribute under Indiana state law, so we can sell beer to concessionaires and licensed establishments within the state. Which is to say, had we been approached to provide the Rustic Frog with beer for Peak Summit, we'd have gladly sold them kegs.

(Shrug)

Self-absorbed Arrogant Bastards aplenty as Stone's Greg Koch visits Rich O's -- and that's the way we like it.

Monday night’s visit by Greg Koch of Stone Brewing is history, and it was such an engrossing and entertaining spectacle that I utterly failed to capture it on film even though my camera was in my pants pocket throughout. Fortunately, others did, and we’ll wait for their photos and post them at a later date.

As expected, the Seven Footer was on hand, and he has provided a fine overview of the proceedings at his blog:

Arrogant Bastard is a Nice Guy.

I heartily concur with this sentiment, as do about a hundred (perhaps more) enthusiasts who gathered for the occasion. Greg responded to the adulation admirably, providing autographs and answering questions with the seasoned nonchalance of a rock star. However, he wasn’t expecting an appearance by the mayor of New Albany, James Garner, who awarded the Stone CEO a classy plaque certifying him as Honorary Riverboat Captain.

As a side note, several door prize winners could not be found, but there should be no worries. I have your e-mail addresses, and will try to contact all of you in the coming days.

Tuesday morning was devoted to cleaning the cold plates and finding a place for the remaining beer. No kegs were blown, but sizeable dents were placed in Stone 10th Anniversary Ale IPA and Double Bastard Ale 2005. 10th Anniversary will return during Lupulin Land Harvest Hop fest in mid-October, while the ’05 Double Bastard is slated to be held until Gravity Head 2008. If all goes according to plan, Double Bastard Ale 2006 will not be seen again until Gravity Head 2009.

India Pale Ale and Smoked Porter are still on tap and will continue pouring, and they’ll be joined at various times in the near future by Old Guardian Barley Wine, Ruination IPA, Imperial Russian Stout and 07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale.

Of course, Arrogant Bastard Ale is a daily staple at our establishment, and when there’s a chance during the next few weeks, we’ll slip the remaining Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale into its place.

Thanks to all who attended the party, and especially to Reva, Jared and Kate for pouring the beers. Thanks also to Aaron for organizing the visit on Stone’s end. We’re hoping to get Larry Bell down from Michigan for a similar event some time this fall or winter … so stay tuned.

Perhaps not the best promo for Brew at the Zoo: "Bears eat man at beer festival."

BELGRADE, Serbia (Reuters) -- A 23-year old Serb was found dead and half-eaten in the bear cage of Belgrade Zoo at the weekend during the annual beer festival.

The man was found naked, with his clothes lying intact inside the cage. Two adult bears, Masha and Misha, had dragged the body to their feeding corner and reacted angrily when keepers tried to recover it.

"There's a good chance he was drunk or drugged. Only an idiot would jump into the bear cage," zoo director Vuk Bojovic told Reuters.

Local media reported that police found several mobile phones inside the cage, as well as bricks, stones and beer cans.

(Thanks to Frank for the link: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/08/20/bear.death.reut/index.html?iref=mpstoryview)

Tonight: Stone Brewing co-founder and CEO Greg Koch (and his beers) at Rich O's.

From the Stone Brewing website's calendar of events:

Greg Koch's Midwest Tour Continues At Rich O's

Monday, August 20th --- 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Rich O's Public House at the New Albanian Brewing Co. has been supporting Stone Brewing for years. Now it is time for Stone to show our appreciation...and how are we going to do that? With an amazing lineup of Stone Special Releases and a visit from Stone CEO Greg Koch, of course!
Join Greg, Aaron, and the gang at Rich O's on Monday the 20th for an array of Stone beers the likes of which has never been seen in the Hoosier State.

[Warning: You may want to sit down before reading further!].

07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale, Arrogant Bastard Ale, Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale, Double Bastard Ale 2005, Double Bastard Ale 2006, Imperial Russian Stout, India Pale Ale, Old Guardian Barley Wine, Ruination IPA, Smoked Porter, Stone 10th Anniversary Ale IPA

Needless to say...pencil this one on your calendar, grab a designated driver, and get ready for a night you'll never forget ... or maybe you just might!

Rich O's / New Albanian Brewing Co., 3312 Plaza Drive, New Albany, IN, 812.949.2804

Misleading, don't you think?

Czech legend has it that the finest hops are picked by female virgins, so this announcement prompted considerable expectation and a bit of lewdness, but alas, it was all about brides, and didn’t have anything at all to do with a “hop tasting.”

A boy can dream. Do the virgin hop pickers wear white?

SWIRCA fest in Evansville, August 18.

Another summer Saturday, another beer festival -- this time on behalf of the Southwestern Regional Council on Aging (SWIRCA). There wasn't NABC staff to make the trip to Evansville, so we entrusted the taps and briefcase to Jim and Debbie Frazier, who reported that a good time was had, and submitted a few photos.

As is our custom, we sent NABC's big boys: Thunderfoot, Hoptimus and Croupier.

Tisha from World Class Beverages was on hand to push her excellent craft and import portfolio.

As was Bloomington's Upland Brewing, somewhere beneath Elmer's beard.

Many thanks to Jim and Debbie for carrying the baton. There'll be beer in it for you ...

Merriment at the Seven Footer's blog.

It is my habit to work at home during the morning, and then proceed to the pub some time around lunch for required on-site activities like ordering beer, stacking beer and drinking beer.

One afternoon a few months ago, I emerged distractedly from my office, walked around the corner of the bar, and found myself “mano y mano” -- beer gut to beer gut – with a giant. Looking to the sky to make eye contact is something I’m seldom required to do, although 6' 4" is of course tiny by today's professional basketball standards (crazily, Golden State's star guard, Baron Davis, is my height, and approximately 15 times quicker). Still, my daily encounters don't usually include bumping into people who are scraping their heads against the drop ceiling.

The legitimate seven-footer in question turned out to be Matt Simons, who became our source for vital information about the amazing Sergio's in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

Sergio's World Beers an unlikely Shelbyville mecca ... but it is.

A short time back, Matt undertook a blog of his own, and he has been sending me links to some great stories there.

PC readers might wish to join in the fun: Thinking Is Hard.

Sandkerwa NA, an homage to Bamberg’s beers, begins Friday, August 31.

Bamberg, a beautiful city of 70,000 people located in the countryside of the northern German region known as Franconia, has long been recognized as the epicenter of traditional German brewing and beer culture. Ten breweries operate within the city limits, and as many as 150 others are to be found within the outward radius of a good day’s bicycle ride on immaculately marked and maintained bike routes. The majority of Franconia’s 300 breweries are family owned and operated.

For a half-century, SANDKERWA (SAND-kehr-wa) has been Bamberg’s end-of-summer street festival, one that originated as a church-related commemoration in the historic city’s oldest central district. For six days each year in late August, the Altstadt’s narrow lanes are filled with food, beer and people in a hearty celebration that brings Munich’s better known Oktoberfest to mind, but exists on a less crowded, decentralized and more enjoyable human scale.

Sandkerwa is an idea worth emulating, and Bamberg a state of mind worth honoring, so given that I’ve been looking for a reason to stage a German-themed draft beer fest, prepare for the inaugural edition of Sandkerwa NA, which kicks off at Rich O’s and Sportstime on Friday, August 31.

Expect a dozen or so beers from Bamberg and environs on tap at the same time, perhaps even more, combining to represent as many traditional Franconian styles of beer as possible (with a few Greater Bavarian and non-regional ringers tapped to provide representative examples of unobtainable styles).

Kindly note that contrary to what you may have heard, not all of these delectable beers are smoked!

In Bamberg itself, only the renowned Schlenkerla and the tiny Spezial include Rauchbier in their daily range, as do a few breweries outside Bamberg, but by no means are smoked beers the norm in Franconia at large. Here are the beers that I’m hoping will be on hand, beginning with the core selection from Bamberg:

Aecht Schlenkerla Helles
Aecht Schlenkerla Marzen
Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock
Aecht Schlenkerla Weizen
Mahr's Hell
Mahr's Pilsner
Mahr's Weisse
Mahr's der Weisse Bock
Spezial Rauchbier

Bayerischer Bahnhof Gose (Leipzig)
Bayerischer Bahnhof Heizer Schwarzbier (Leipzig)
Klosterbrauerei Ettal Dunkel (Ettal)
Kulmbacher Eisbock (Kulmbach)
Schneider Wiesen Edel Weiss (Kelheim)

And, of course, Pilsner Urquell (Plzen, Czech Republic) and Spaten Premium Lager (Munich) will both be on tap during Sandkerwa NA.

Regrettably, and as so often occurs, both Mahr's Ungespundet Lager (Bamberg) and St. Georgenbrau Kellerbier (Buttenheim) are unavailable at this time. This is particularly frustrating given that these are the only two examples of the style even possible to acquire, but I'll persist, and maybe they'll be available later in the fall.

Finally, we'll also be debuting a New Albanian Brewing Company beer in honor of the occasion: Happy Helmut, named for a merry trinket salesman with whom I once drank numerous half-liters of Spezial in Bamberg. There's a percentage of smoked malt from Bamberg's Weyermann malting house, and some rye in the grist. California Common yeast is used, and Tony's working on the artwork.

As always is the case with our draft extravaganzas, the Sandkerwa NA beers will continue pouring until they are depleted. By mid-September, a new wave of Oktoberfest brands from Germany and American craft breweries will begin flowing, and after New Albany’s annual Harvest Homecoming has concluded, we’ll commence Lupulin Land, NABC’s annual hop festival, on October 19.

A final note: It is my aim to launch Sandkerwa NA for the sake of the classic beer alone, and without the capability of providing Bamberg-style cuisine as a delicious match. The summer proved to be too busy to do more than draw up a future outline and order kegs, and yet I believe that starting small, while expedient, is also the correct approach. In 2008, it is my hope to add a full-blown German meal to the program, and perhaps music as well.

In 2007, savor the wonderful beers, and in 2008, we’ll broaden the experience.

It's on! Meet Greg Koch at Stone Brewing Night: Monday, August 20, at the Public House.

As previously announced, Greg Koch – CEO & co-founder of Stone Brewing Company – will be the guest of honor for a meet ‘n’ greet at Rich O’s Public House on August 20. The approximate timing of the event will be 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., but the Prost special events wing will be open from 5:00 p.m.

There will be drawings for several door prizes, including a gift certificate to BadaBoomz Ale House & Grill in Indianapolis and a selection of vintage Stone beers pulled from the Public House vault.

There’ll also be gratis glimpses (with detailed commentary, no doubt) of my old friend and former Rich O’s bartender Buddy Sandbach’s Arrogant Bastard tattoo, which is a conversation starter if ever there was one.

Separated at birth? You be the judge.

As for beer, are you ready for 11 different Stone beers on tap all at once? Currently there are kegs stacked to the ceiling in our cold storage areas, but we believe that when the contents are extracted, the following Stone beers will be pouring … all at the same time, and all of them available in specially priced 10-ounce portions, all night long.

07/07/07 Vertical Epic Ale
Arrogant Bastard Ale
Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale
Double Bastard Ale 2005
Double Bastard Ale 2006
Imperial Russian Stout
India Pale Ale
Old Guardian Barley Wine
Ruination IPA
Smoked Porter
Stone 10th Anniversary Ale IPA

Ironically, as we were discussing the beers available for the event, it was agreed that something on the milder side was needed, but in the end, Stone Pale Ale was unavailable in draft. There’ll be some bottles of it for completists. In the end, Smoked Porter might turn out to be the lightest beer in the bunch.

If you’re looking for reasons why to appreciate Greg Koch’s place in the wonderful world of craft brewing, look no further than this paragraph, which is reprinted from the RateBeer interview linked below:

I run into many people who use the "It’s what I grew up with, that’s why I drink XYZ brand of fizzy yellow beer" excuse. Bullshit. It’s because you got used to a generic taste and have decided not to move on. That’s OK, but the fizzy yellow beer drinker should at least be able to acknowledge their own reality. They don’t want to expand their horizons. There’s a reason why better things in life are referred to as "acquired tastes." you may have to work at developing your palate, but when you get there its nirvana!

That’s a man after the Publican’s own heart. Thanks to Greg Koch, Aaron Tyrell (Stone Brewing’s Midwestern regional rep), Cavalier Distributing (Indianapolis) and the NABC brew crew & Reva for making this happen.

Here are a few informative links:

Stone Brewing Company

Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens

Interview with Greg Koch at RateBeer

Photo credit: http://www.stoneworldbistro.com