THE BEER BEAT: It took a week to get the details straight, but BBC is leaving its current St. Matthews location after 23 years and hopes to reopen elsewhere in Louisville.

There are lessons somewhere in all this, but at the moment I am bereft of glibness. If Jim, Debbie and Blake are reading, thanks; you had it right the first time. 

To revisit the roller coaster of the past week, first the rumorama insisted that January 29 would be the last business day for Bluegrass Brewing Company St. Matthews, but the rest of it was unclear. Next, the Green Mouse received a more nuanced and expansive report, much of which has now come to light (below), to the effect that the January 29 date was incorrect.

Then literally, this report proved to be true; not January 29, but February 5 as the last day for BBC at its longtime Shelbyville Road digs.

Yesterday morning, Insider Louisville's Caitlin Bowling reported about the fast and furious BBC rumors, and subsequently her instincts were proven correct.

Rumors fly about fate of Bluegrass Brewing Company’s St. Matthews restaurant

During the past week, Insider Louisville has received tip after tip from people who say they’ve heard that the Bluegrass Brewing Company plans to close its St. Matthews bar and restaurant.

A few hours later, the floodgates opened. I believe the C-J's Bailey Loosemore was first past the post.

Bluegrass Brewing Co. to leave St. Matthews

Bluegrass Brewing Company is moving from its St. Matthews location after 23 years on Shelbyville Road.

On Friday, co-owner Pat Hagan told the Courier-Journal that the company has agreed to forgo its lease on the brewery's building so that another restaurant can move in. Partners in the new venture were previously involved in Sully's Saloon, a Fourth Street Live! bar and restaurant that closed in 2013 after an 11-year run ...

... Soon, construction will start on a new BBC restaurant in the Kindred Healthcare facility at the corner of Broadway and Fourth Street. And Hagan hopes to find a new building in the East End where he can reopen a taproom and resume retail production.

Business First's David Mann closed Friday with an update.

BBC leaving St. Matthews after 23 years

Bluegrass Brewing Co. is leaving the St. Matthews space it's called home for 23 years. The brewpub, located on Shelbyville Road, near Breckenridge Lane is closing up shop Feb. 5, allowing a new concept to move in to the location.

The area has changed in the more than two decades since BBC opened there, owner Pat Hagan told me in an interview today.

"It's more of a night club area now, which we're not," he said.

So, to recap: Owner Pat Hagan bowed (intelligently, in my view) to leasing and area development realities and now hopes to move BBC to a new location, one that will allow the expansion of brewing into bottling and/or canning. The 3rd Street brewery and restaurant remain open, and the 4th Street branch will reopen when the Kindred building is finished. The coming week will be a victory lap for BBC in St. Matthews, and I hope to make it over and learn the future of my Wort Mug, number 66.

That's the way it is, at least until it changes again. APA, here I come.