The final Gravity Head 2013 update and tally.

Something like 45 days and several thousand Gravity pours later ... here's the final update.

Gravity Head 2013 lineupdate page ... what's tapped?

From Gravity to Session this weekend.

Gravity Head is winding down, and Session Head is here. In a nutshell, the weekend NABC schedule looks like this.

Gravity Head Fan Appreciation Night
Friday, April 5 at the Pizzeria & Public House
The handful of remaining Gravity Head listed selections will continue to be tapped and poured, but we're on the downward arc. On Friday, April 5, all Gravity Head listed selections currently on tap will be priced as specials, all day long.

Session Head 2013
Starts Saturday, April 6 at the Pizzeria & Public House
Officially, Session Beer Day is on Sunday, but NABC is starting early on Saturday with Session Head. Consider it the polar opposite of Gravity Head; instead of small pours of big beers, it's full pours of small beers. The list is here, along with the session beer philosophy. Read, absorb, and act. Hoops junkies already know that the University of Louisville's game begins around 6:00 p.m. If the Cardinals advance to the final game on Monday, and even it they don't, it will be shown at the Pizzeria & Public House (Bank Street Brewhouse is closed on Mondays).

Session Beer Day 2013
Sunday, April 7 at Bank Street Brewhouse
We'll observe Session Beer Day at Bank Street Brewhouse, with our weekly Sunday brunch (prime rib and the omelette station on the first Sunday of the month) and NABC session series pints on special throughout the day.

Links
More on Session Beer Day at Lew Bryson's Session Beer Project site
NABC's session observance preview at Session Beer Project
wordpress.com/2013/04/03/session-beer-day-2013/">Session Beer Day 2013 at the Beermebartender blog
For a contrarian viewpoint, there's always Joe Sixpack (Don Russell) in Philly

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful Friday.

I'm oddly missing my voice this morning.

Whispering to the missus that my best guess is the throat deserted me after an entire day yelling over a crowd, she said, "And you have to be heard, don't you?"

Absolutely. In fact, I insist on it, so hear this:

Many thanks to Flat12 (two Gravity Head crew visits) and Cavalier Distributing for yesterday's rollicking good time. Additional thanks to Against the Grain for its commendable lunch hour hospitality, and to Adam and Jerry for explaining the salad bar(ity) to an uncomprehending Publican. Still more thanks to all of NABC's staff for coping with the tsunami.

I've learned a few things this Gravity Head, and here's one of them, cryptically: In future years, if ya wanna get featured, ya gotta come represent. 

The Gravity Head lineupdate page is fully updated. You'll see that a fourth corral has been added to hold kegs that were tapped, but then pulled to make room for the featured selections on March 8. They'll see duty again. The only keg from the Flat12 contingent to deplete yesterday was Highway to Hops.

I'm going to Cincinnati for the day. Thanks again to everyone for a great third weekend.

An unprecedented third "troika" weekend of Gravity Head begins on Friday, March 8.

Gravity Head 2013’s third weekend begins at 11:00 a.m. this Friday morning, March 8, and it’s going to be a troika of epic dimensions.

It’s “Cavalier Distributing & Founders Brewing Night,” but this alone inadequately describes the scene, because most and possibly all of the Gravity Head tap space will be allocated to three breweries. Representatives from each will be on hand. Follow the highlighted links for more detailed descriptions of their beers:

Flat12 Bierwerks (Indianapolis IN)
Founders Brewing Company (Grand Rapids MI)
New Albanian Brewing Company (New Albany IN)

Founders and NABC are distributed in Indiana by Cavalier, while Flat12 is available through World Class Beer.

Here’s the list of 19, which includes two previously unannounced NABC cellar * bonuses:

13F RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
Flat12 Pinko Russian Imperial Stout 10.3%

Founders Imperial Stout (2011) 10.5%

14C IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE

Flat12 Highway to Hops 10%

Flat12 Winter Cycle 9.3%

NABC/De Struise/LBS B’Urban Trotter (2011) 9.2%

19A. OLD ALE

Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale 9.8%

19C. AMERICAN BARLEYWINE

*NABC Jaxon (2010) 11%

21A. SPICE, HERB, OR VEGETABLE BEER

Founders Breakfast Stout (2011) 8.3%

22C. WOOD-AGED BEER

Flat12 Bourbon Barrel Winter Cycle Double IPA (2012) 9.4%

Flat12 Pinko RIS KGBaylor (Pappy Van Winkle) 11%

Flat12 Pinko RIS Nitro (Pappy Van Winkle) 10.5%

Founders Backwoods Bastard (2012) 10.2%

Founders Bolt Cutter (15^th Anniversary) 15%

NABC IX — Ninth Anniversary Ale (2010) Circa 9%

NABC Bourbondaddy (2012) 9.5%

*NABC Quadrageddon (2011) Circa 9.2%

23. SPECIALTY BEER

NABC/O'Fallon/Schlafly C2 Collaboration Ale (2010) 10.7%

NABC Stumble Bus (2012) 11.2%

NABC Turbo Hog (2012) 9.5%

Jaxon? Quadrageddon? A pair of Gravity Head surprises from NABC this Friday, March 8.

To add even more heft to Friday’s Third Weekend lineup at Gravity Head 2013, we sent Josh Hill into the cellar to locate kegs we’ve been keeping for a while. He did good. First, a familiar furry face.

Jaxon (2010) ... The one you know.

American Barley Wine
ABV: 11%
IBU: 100
OG: 28 degrees Plato

Drop the leash, already. Jaxon’s been resting since midway through Barack Obama’s first term. Jaxon teasingly asks the question, “With a bark like that, who needs Pat?,” because NABC’s properly pedigreed Barleywine was brewed at Bank Street Brewhouse and aged by David Pierce (creator of the legendary Bearded Pat’s Barley Wine). Only the first runnings were collected from the mash tun, with no sparge, meaning three separate mashes made up this batch.

Malts: Special Pale, Dingeman's Biscuit, Cara 45, Special B

Hops: Centennial, Simcoe, Chinook in two additions;
Cascade in the whirlpool; dry hopped twice with whole cone Cascade

Yeast: House Ale

Josh didn't stop there.

Quadrageddon (2011) ... The one you’ve never seen.

Former NABC brewer Jared Williamson created Quadrageddon in early 2011 with the express purpose of setting the beer aside. Early tastings in 2011 were malty and hot, but after two years of cellaring, it’s winey, tannic and dry with a touch of tartness. In other words, it’s time to see what the world thinks. Jared was kind enough to e-mail an overview.

Malt: 2 row, Castle Biscuit and Special B; perhaps some Castle Aromatic, too.

Hops: A variety; probably around 30 IBU

Yeast: Chouffe

Aged in Cabernet barrels (previously used for the C2 collaboration batch aging) for +/- 10 months.

Finished around 9.2%ABV

At LouisvilleBeer.com: "Gravity's Rogue."

Back to some first principles.

Gravity’s Rogue

At New Albanian Brewing Company (NABC)we have a peculiar annual institution known as Gravity Head, and with the 15th version currently underway, I’m reminded of how Gravity Head’s internal alarm clock has a snooze button marked “Time Warp.”

No, this isn’t meant as an indicator of the way hours become minutes as the many strong ales seep into one’s corpuscles, spinning the random cosmic generator wheel and bizarrely conjuring pearls of wisdom previously reserved for holy men and theme park architects.

Rather, it is a consideration of longevity: How many of this year’s participating breweries were operating in 1999, when Gravity Head began?

Steve "Insider Louisville" Coomes on Gravity Head.

Thanks to Steve Coomes for a fine write-up on Gravity Head at Insider Louisville.  I vaguely recall being interviewed by him some time last Friday morning.

Contrary to its name, Gravity Head is an uplifting experience for serious beer geeks

“Since we’re drinking beer at 8:30 in the morning, does that make us alcoholics?” a friend asks only half sarcastically. “I can’t say I’ve done this — on purpose, anyway — in a long time.”

Me, either, I tell him, save for last year’s Gravity Head kickoff at the NABC Pizzeria and Public House in New Albany.

That marked the first time in decades I drank beer so early, the first time ever that it was actually good beer, not to mention, consumed under civil circumstances. (That short-on-civility event was the Talledega 500 NASCAR race in 1987. Just use your imagination) ...

Gravity Head 2013 lineupdate page ... what's tapped?

Updated for opening on Tuesday, April 16. This is the final update for 2013. Gravity Head has ended, but the listed beer will continue to pour (on fewer allotted taps) until they're gone. Check here for updates (scroll right).

The annual journey known as Gravity Head continues. We're still updating this posting as a current lineupdate reference, so plan on returning here.

Upon closer examination, we actually began with 63 kegs, not 62. Math never was my strong suit.

Remember that 2013 programs are u-print only (here). For quicker news of depletions and tappings, follow @nabcnews on Twitter, or visit the NABC Facebook page.

Starting Tuesday, April 16 (6 taps):

13F RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
Victory Storm King (2011) 9.1%

19A. OLD ALE

Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale 9.8%

23. SPECIALTY BEER

Harpoon Triticus Ale (Leviathan Series) (2011) 11.5%

NABC Turbo Hog (2012) 9.5%

Three Floyds/Mikkeller Boogoop II 10.4%

Upland Ard Ri Imperial Red 9.3%

Yet to see action (4):

14C IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE

Upland Double Dragonfly 9.1%

18C. BELGIAN TRIPEL

Schlafly Tripel 10%

19B. ENGLISH BARLEYWINE

Upland Winter Warmer 8.5%

19C. AMERICAN BARLEYWINE

Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine (2012) 12%

Emptied and yet fondly remembered (53):

00. SUN KING – STYLE UNTO ITSELF

Sun King Batch 666: Sympathy for the Devil 11%

Sun King Batch 777: Touched By An Angel 10%

Sun King Big Iron 10%

Sun King Dominator 8%

Sun King Timmie 10%

Sun King Wee Muckle 8%

5E. EISBOCK

Kulmbacher Eisbock “Bayerisch G’frorns” (2010) 9.2%

9E STRONG SCOTCH ALE (WEE HEAVY)

Big Dawg Claymore 180 Shilling Scotch Ale 12%

Dark Horse Scotty Karate 9.75%

13F RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT

BBC (Shelbyville Road) Tsar Bomba 12.5%

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (2011) 10%

Flat12 Pinko Russian Imperial Stout 10.3%

Founders Imperial Stout (2011) 10.5%

Great Divide Yeti (2011) 9.5%

Stone Imperial Russian Stout (2011) 10.8%

14C IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE

Bell’s Hopslam 10%

Flat12 Highway to Hops 10%

Flat12 Winter Cycle 9.3%

NABC/De Struise/LBS B’Urban Trotter (2011) 9.2%

People’s Space Cowboy 9%

16E. BELGIAN SPECIALTY ALE

Ellezelloise Hercule 9%

Urthel Samaranth Quadrium 11.5%

19B. ENGLISH BARLEYWINE

Harpoon Barleywine (Leviathan Series) (2011) 10%

North Coast Old Stock Ale 11.9%

19C. AMERICAN BARLEYWINE

Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale (2011) 10.2%

Rogue XS Old Crustacean Barley Wine (2011) Circa 11%

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine (2006) 9.6%

21A. SPICE, HERB, OR VEGETABLE BEER

Flying Dog Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout (nitro) 8.9%

Founders Breakfast Stout (2011) 8.3%

Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti 9.5%

Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti (2011) 9.5%

Southern Tier Jah-va 10.6%

21B. CHRISTMAS/WINTER SPECIALTY SPICED BEER

Haandbryggeriet Bestefar 10%

22C. WOOD-AGED BEER

Against the Grain/De Molen Bo and Luke 14%

Flat12 Bourbon Barrel Winter Cycle Double IPA (2012) 9.4%

Flat12 Pinko RIS KGBaylor (Pappy Van Winkle) 11%

Flat12 Pinko RIS Nitro (Pappy Van Winkle) 10.5%

Founders Backwoods Bastard (2012) 10.2%

Founders Bolt Cutter (15^th Anniversary) 15%

Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti (2011) 9.5%

J. W. Lees Vintage Harvest Ale Lagavulin Scotch (Islay) barrel-conditioned (2011) Circa 11.5%

NABC IX — Ninth Anniversary Ale (2010) Circa 9%

NABC Bourbondaddy (2012) 9.5%

Schlafly Oak Aged Barleywine (2010) 10.2%

Southern Tier “Oak-Aged Imperial” Back Burner 9.6%

23. SPECIALTY BEER

Bell’s This One Goes to 11 11.4%

Brooklyn Brewmaster’s Reserve: The Companion Ale (2011) 10%

NABC/O'Fallon/Schlafly C2 Collaboration Ale (2010) 10.7%

NABC Stumble Bus (2012) 11.2%

Samichlaus Bier (2010) 14%

Stone Double Bastard Ale (2011) 10%

Three Floyds/Mikkeller Risgoop 10.4%

26B. BRAGGOT

People’s Ardelle Christmas Ale 8.5%

(GRAVITY HEAD BONUSES: Unlisted but consumed: NABC Hard Core Gore (2011, 2012 and 2013) NABC Jaxon, NABC Quadrageddon, Three Floyds Dreadnaught)

Gravity Head 2013: Marathon begins, finish line somewhere over that horizon.

It was a fairly typical Gravity Head opening day, with six kegs cashed, and I cannot thank you enough for attending. Also, requisite kudos to all NABC staff members, without whom Gravity Head cannot exist.

Remember that 2013 programs are u-print only (here); also, no beers from Founders, Flat12 or NABC will be tapped until their featured day on Friday, March 8. Finally, for Saturday, the keg of 180 Shilling Scotch Ale from Big Dawg will be tapped upon arrival. Other replacement kegs are queued, and only Eric knows for sure what's to come.

Here is the first of my periodic lineupdates.

Starting Saturday, February 23:

00. SUN KING – STYLE UNTO ITSELF

Sun King Batch 666: Sympathy for the Devil 11%

Sun King Dominator 8%

Sun King Wee Muckle 8%

13F RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
Stone Imperial Russian Stout (2011) 10.8%

14C IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE

Bell’s Hopslam 10%

16E. BELGIAN SPECIALTY ALE

Ellezelloise Hercule 9%

19B. ENGLISH BARLEYWINE

North Coast Old Stock Ale 11.9%

19C. AMERICAN BARLEYWINE

Rogue XS Old Crustacean Barley Wine (2011) Circa 11%

21A. SPICE, HERB, OR VEGETABLE BEER

Flying Dog Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout (nitro) 8.9%

Southern Tier Jah-va 10.6%

21B. CHRISTMAS/WINTER SPECIALTY SPICED BEER

Haandbryggeriet Bestefar 10%

22C. WOOD-AGED BEER

J. W. Lees Vintage Harvest Ale Lagavulin Scotch (Islay) barrel- conditioned (2011) Circa 11.5%

Southern Tier “Oak-Aged Imperial” Back Burner 9.6%

23. SPECIALTY BEER

Bell’s This One Goes to 11 11.4%

Emptied and yet fondly remembered:

00. SUN KING – STYLE UNTO ITSELF

Sun King Batch 777: Touched By An Angel 10%

Sun King Big Iron 10%

Sun King Timmie 10%

21A. SPICE, HERB, OR VEGETABLE BEER

Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti 9.5%

22C. WOOD-AGED BEER

Against the Grain/De Molen Bo and Luke 14%

23. SPECIALTY BEER

Three Floyds/Mikkeller Risgoop 10.4%

Yet to see action:

5E. EISBOCK

Kulmbacher Eisbock “Bayerisch G’frorns” (2010) 9.2%

9E STRONG SCOTCH ALE (WEE HEAVY)

Big Dawg Claymore 180 Shilling Scotch Ale 12%

Dark Horse Scotty Karate 9.75%

13F RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
BBC (Shelbyville Road) Tsar Bomba 12.5%

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (2011) 10%

Flat12 Pinko Russian Imperial Stout 10.3%

Founders Imperial Stout (2011) 10.5%

Great Divide Yeti (2011) 9.5%

Victory Storm King (2011) 9.1%

14C IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE

Flat12 Highway to Hops 10%

Flat12 Winter Cycle 9.3%

NABC/De Struise/LBS B’Urban Trotter (2011) 9.2%

People’s Space Cowboy 9%

Upland Double Dragonfly 9.1%

16E. BELGIAN SPECIALTY ALE

Urthel Samaranth Quadrium 11.5%

18C. BELGIAN TRIPEL

Schlafly Tripel 10%

19A. OLD ALE

Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale 9.8%

19B. ENGLISH BARLEYWINE

Harpoon Barleywine (Leviathan Series) (2011) 10%

Upland Winter Warmer 8.5%

19C. AMERICAN BARLEYWINE

Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale (2011) 10.2%

Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine (2012) 12%

21A. SPICE, HERB, OR VEGETABLE BEER

Founders Breakfast Stout (2011) 8.3%

Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti (2011) 9.5%

22C. WOOD-AGED BEER

Flat12 Bourbon Barrel Winter Cycle

Double IPA (2012) 9.4%

Flat12 Pinko RIS KGBaylor (Pappy Van Winkle) 11%

Flat12 Pinko RIS Nitro (Pappy Van Winkle) 10.5%

Founders Backwoods Bastard (2012) 10.2%

Founders Bolt Cutter (15^th Anniversary) 15%

Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti (2011) 9.5%

NABC IX — Ninth Anniversary Ale (2010) Circa 9%

NABC Bourbondaddy (2012) 9.5%

Schlafly Oak Aged Barleywine (2010) 10.2%

23. SPECIALTY BEER

Brooklyn Brewmaster’s Reserve: The Companion Ale (2011) 10%

Harpoon Triticus Ale

(Leviathan Series) (2011) 11.5%

NABC/O'Fallon/Schlafly C2 Collaboration Ale (2010) 10.7%

NABC Stumble Bus (2012) 11.2%

NABC Turbo Hog (2012) 9.5%

Samichlaus Bier (2010) 14%

Stone Double Bastard Ale (2011) 10%

Three Floyds/Mikkeller Boogoop II 10.4%

Upland Ard Ri Imperial Red 9.3%

26B. BRAGGOT

People’s Ardelle Christmas Ale 8.5%