Big Four Burgers has been sold and is under new management, and District 22 Pizza is no more, soon to become a "hot chicken" outlet.

The Green Mouse was told some months back that Matt McMahan was looking to sell both of his burger restaurants (New Albany and Jeffersonville) as well as District 22 Pizza, which has been attached to the New Albany Big Four for the past year.

The only constant is change. Stay tuned for updates.

THE BEER BEAT: Beer news overview, featuring our Bamberg correspondent; Pearl Street Taphouse's anniversary; and a Dauntless beer dinner at La Chasse.

Look at the head on that!

Kim Andersen is an evil man, taunting the terminally New Albany-bound (that's me) with this photo of delicious, freshly-poured Spezial Rauchbier, as snapped from his current vantage point in Bamberg, Germany.

However, it's the two folks in back that make this view wonderful, because for them, it's just a restorative mid-afternoon local pub stop.

While I'm at it, cheers to Matthias Trum and family. Kim informs me that he was drinking six-month-lagered Schlenkerla Urbock on Thursday evening. No photos of Schweinshaxe -- yet. But he's got plenty of time.

(I posted the preceding words at Facebook long before lunch on Friday, when it was mid-afternoon in Bamberg.)

Then I watched as the pub crawl proceeded, first to Greifenklau ...

 ... then Schlenkerla.

Instantaneous communications enables me to see the photos before Kim's done draining his glass. The beauty of it is that I've been to these places enough times to possess near-total sensory recall: to taste the beers, smell the food and feel the room. It's grin-inducing.

I'm very fortunate, indeed.

---

Closer to home -- or Jeffersonville, to be exact -- last December we were introduced to Pearl Street Taphouse.

THE BEER BEAT: The Pearl Street Taphouse in downtown Jeffersonville.

I'm delighted for Kelly and Teri that Pearl Street Taphouse (that's downtown Jeffersonville, folks, not downtown New Albany) has come out of the gate so strong. Now comes the long haul ... and best wishes for it. If all goes as planned, my inaugural visit to Pearl Street Taphouse will be on Wednesday during a projected pub crawl of Jeffersonville.

These days, I'm too infrequent a customer anywhere locally to merit status as a "regular" (no Stammtisch for me), though here of late we keep going back to Pearl Street Taphouse for a round whenever engaged in errands by car.

The default remains walking 10 minutes to downtown New Albany. Runner-up has become Pearl Street Taphouse, which will celebrate its first birthday beginning December 1.

Good beer options in Jeffersonville have grown exponentially. I adore the fact that Tony Revak (you know him from Buckhead's) is running the beer program at Parlour, and of course Flat12's taproom is just a short distance away. Still, I like the ambiance at Kelly's and Teri's place; it shouldn't come as any surprise that the size and scale remind me of the Public House of old.

Congratulations to them, and may the birthdays flow into the future.

---

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds," unless you're consistently branding a concept, in which case Big Four Burgers kept the same name even when the restaurant's second location opened in the New Albany building made famous by South Side Inn, miles from its namesake Jeffersonville bridge.

Then, when Matt McMahan's next food service idea germinated amid the vast expanse of the former South Side's kitchen, eventually giving birth to District 22 Pizzeria, the decision to take pizza and alcohol delivery to Jeffersonville will not result in the District 10 Pizzeria.

(22 and 10 are the county numbers for Floyd and Clark counties, respectively.)

Pizza, alcohol delivery concept District 22 is expanding, by Caitlin Bowling (Insider Louisville)

Roughly three months after opening the inaugural District 22, owner Matt McMahan said that he is expanding the pizza and alcohol delivery concept.

The first District 22 opened at 110 E. Main St. in New Albany in a space connected to McMahan’s casual dining burger restaurant Big Four Burgers + Beer. The two businesses share some staff and a kitchen.

Now, McMahan told Insider, he plans to do the same thing at the Big Four Burgers at 134 Spring St. in Jeffersonville.

“From Day One, I knew it was too much space,” McMahan said. “I’ve been wanting to do the District 22 for a long time.”

Although the concept is still young, he said that District 22 had done “decent numbers” since it opened, giving him the confidence to move forward with the Jeffersonville store.

“Sharing the space, sharing the utilities, sharing the kitchen, sharing the staff, it is literally a no-brainer,” McMahan said.

The ability to deliver alcohol, he said, has allowed District 22 to differentiate itself from the many other pizzerias in the area.

It's not just swill for home delivery, either.

---

Donum Dei will become the first brewery in our immediate vicinity to add a distillery, taking advantage of a trend toward statutory liberalization during recent years, as driven primarily by Indiana's Republicans (insert befuddled but appreciative emoticon here).

As accompaniment to Donum Dei's announcement, the Indy Star explains the boom in Hoosier "craft" distillation.

New Albany brewery to start making spirits, by Danielle Grady (That Jeffersonville Newspaper)

Rick Otey, a jovial, bearded figure, is already bursting with ideas now that his New Albany brewery, Donum Dei, has a license to distill spirits.

He hopes to start by crafting a beer brandy: a beer that has been distilled. Eventually, he wants to graduate to an all-grain moonshine, a vodka, whiskey and — finally — a gin, flavored with local botanicals.

On Wednesday, Donum Dei, located at 3211 Grant Line Road, became one of the few breweries in Indiana and the only one in Clark and Floyd counties, to also hold an artisan distiller’s permit. (Huber’s Orchard and Winery claims a distiller’s permit, but makes wine instead of beer).

It’s a goal that Otey and his co-owner/wife, Kim Otey, have been working toward ever since they opened their brewery to the public in 2015. At the time, breweries had to be in operation for three years before receiving their distiller’s permit. (Now, it’s 18 months).

---

In closing, there's a beer dinner coming on December 11 at La Chasse in Louisville.

I seldom mention events occurring across the wide expanse of water, over yonder in the big city, but as a reminder, the acclaimed La Chasse is Isaac Fox's restaurant. New Albanian old-timers will remember Isaac from Bistro New Albany and Speakeasy.

The dinner at La Chasse will feature beers from Dauntless Distributing, which brings some of the planet's finest brands into Kentucky, as well as handling Louisville brewers Against the Grain, Monnik and Akasha. Two NABC alums work for Dauntless: Richard Atnip and Kevin Lowber.

Details (menu, beers, price) have yet to be announced, but I'd love to see a good contingent of friends and fellow travelers in attendance. Aside from the beer angle, you owe it to yourself to have a meal at La Chasse.

There'll be no regrets.

Here's an update on District 22 Pizzeria, opening any day now in downtown New Albany.

I ran into Matt McMahan yesterday at the post office, and later he sent these photos of District 22 Pizzeria, his new project, located next to Big Four Burgers + Beer NA.

NOW HIRING!!!! Opening soon!!! Space is ready. Now just need people! Hiring drivers (must be 21 to deliver beer) , counter and cooks!! Apply at Big Four Burgers + Beer NA next door !

It will come as no surprise that staffing is the final hurdle. Simply stated, there isn't a restaurant in metro Louisville that isn't looking for help, and if there it is, it's an exception.

Back in January, we had a look. The Alcohol & Tobacco Commission has mandated a few cosmetic changes to the floor plan, but the overall business model for District 22 remains intact.

District 22 Pizzeria will offer pizza AND beer delivery in New Albany.

Stay tuned for more information.

District 22 Pizzeria will offer pizza AND beer delivery in New Albany.

As displayed in the Indiana Code, Title 7.1 (Alcohol and Tobacco) runs 371 soul-crushing pages. It actually includes a section listing "miscellaneous" prohibitions, which is instructive.

For background, you might spend a morning scrolling through these pages (as I just now did), or take a quick glance at the number of different alcoholic beverage permits available in Indiana. Conversely, you might stab knitting needles into your eyes.

More expansively, an article in the Indianapolis Business Journal ("Thirst rises for liquor licenses in Marion County") offers a glimpse into the potential vagaries of Indiana's ATC permit regime. Permitting might be so much easier, but it isn't. There we are, and if you've decided to be in the business of selling alcoholic beverages in Indiana, you learn, just like with any other heavily regulated field.

Having chatted with Matt McMahan on a couple of occasions about the artful manner in which permits, exceptions, prohibitions and allowances can be linked and layered together to achieve a desired end -- in perfect legality, although at times the Alcohol & Tobacco Commission itself must consult the oracle to determine routes out of the labyrinth -- I can attest to Matt's patience and diligence in taking the time to learn what he might and might not to with the space to the right of Big Four Burgers + Beer NA, which used to be the South Side Inn's carry-out portal.

It is to be called District 22 Pizzeria, and Danielle Grady's piece in the News and Tribune provides the overview (it also mentions progress toward Matt's CIDEways cidery project at the corner of Elm and Pearl).

Market niches like this come with risks and rewards, but to me, Matt's biggest challenge won't be the alcohol delivery service. Rather, it will be creating and positioning the pizza.

There is plenty of space in the Big Four kitchen and a top-quality chef, so the omens are good.

Pizza and beer delivery service coming to New Albany; District 22 Pizzeria to open in March

NEW ALBANY — If you’ve ever been at home watching the game, hungry and craving a beer that isn’t there, but not wanting to leave, Matt McMahan wants to help.

The Southern Indiana entrepreneur’s latest venture is District 22 Pizzeria, a beer and pizza delivery joint slated to open in March. Yep, you’ll be able to get beer (and food) delivered to your home.

The restaurant will be based out of 110 E. Main St. in New Albany — right next to McMahan’s other restaurant, Big Four Burgers + Beer.

Courier-Journal updates "6 new eateries for downtown New Albany."

Ms. Winer's updates include:

District 22 Pizzeria (text included below)
Match Cigar Bar NA
Urban Bread Company (Match's kitchen partner)
Hull and High Water (the working title of Eric "Gospel Bird" Morris' seafood restaurant)
Lady Tron's
410 Bakery

6 new eateries for downtown New Albany, by Madeleine Winer (Courier-Journal)

A casual seafood joint, a bread company and new pizza place are just a few restaurants foodies can expect to see pop up in downtown New Albany this year.

Get a taste for what's coming and what's new to know where you'll be heading for your next night out.

District 22 Pizzeria

Want a medium pizza and six pack of New Albanian Brewing Co.'s Hoptimus delivered to your door?

The owner of Big Four Burgers + Beer is looking to make that happen.

Matt McMahan plans to move his concept for the to-go pizza and craft beer joint, called District 22, next to Big Four Burgers and hopes to be open by March. He said the biggest hurdle in making his concept a reality was getting a liquor license that would allow him to sell and also deliver beer.

"About a year and a half ago, I discovered you could do it," he said. "I'm pretty pumped about it. We're going to focus on craft beer and being able to deliver. That is huge."

McMahan said the restaurant, at 110 East Main St., also will have retail space to sell bourbon, beer and wine. The menu will feature a variety of pizza and toppings as well as sandwiches and appetizers from Big Four Burger's menu, including beer cheese.

What we know about the forthcoming District 22 Pizzeria.

Update: Yet again, Matt has chosen to take his story to Louisville (!) media rather than trust his local blog, which tirelessly promotes New Albany. Tsk, tsk; karma is a ... but for more on this story, go to Insider Louisville.

Matt "Big Four Burgers" McMahan has been buying commercial buildings left and right, and recently on Facebook he began playfully previewing a new pizza "concept," presumably destined for one of them.

It's 22, as in the Bureau of Motor Vehicles code for Floyd County, and it is not intended for the Good Times building, which he recently acquired.

Has time run out for Good Times? If so, what's next at 114 East Market?

So ...

District 22 Pizzeria

Coming Soon to New Albany, Indiana ..... but where?!?

Matt's such a tease.