ON THE AVENUES: Anything except common, that Kentucky Common.

I'm cross-posting this weekend. The article offered here about Kentucky Common beer is something I'd planned on sharpening for use in my print-edition Food & Dining Magazine beer column (and still might), but I'd reserved a keg of Falls City Kentucky Common, received it, and need to make a tout.

Pints&union is open Friday and Saturday for now, probably until the second week of July, when hours will expand as we "reopen." Those details can wait. Until then, and I'll be candid, those of our adherents who'd like to further the cause -- and help us survive a bit longer -- should allocate a bit of their discretionary income to buy a meal and a growler.

Here's some more honesty: While others in town pretend neither the pandemic nor a resurgent Black Lives Matter movement ever happened, Joe Phillips has run toward every damn fire he's seen the past three months. While so many others in the local restaurant business were whining about science ("but I don't WANT to believe it") and doubling down on their distaste for essential social justice, Joe was feeding people, helping people and getting involved with people to further their causes.

If you don't approve of reality in this sense, then maybe you weren't a customer in the first place. If you do, and you were -- and are, and wish to be still -- then please think about coming down and spending a few bucks.

Thank you. And now, Kentucky Common.

Anything except common, that Kentucky Common.

In a narrow sense, bourbon is distilled beer. It’s a fermented mash of grain with no hops or spices added, destined for a very different outcome.

But this very analogy confuses the specific with the general. By definition, bourbon is a particular type of whiskey native to Kentucky, while Louisville’s craft breweries produce many varied types (or styles) of beer, ranging from India Pale Ale (ale) to Bohemian Pilsner (lager), encompassing numerous (limitless?) flavor profiles.

What most beer drinkers in metropolitan Louisville probably don’t know is that one style of beer is indigenous to the state of Kentucky. It’s as specific to the wider world of beer as bourbon is to whiskey, and it likely was the single biggest-selling type of beer in the city of Louisville 125 years ago.

It is known as Kentucky Common, and ironically -- perhaps even obtusely -- it’s a style not often brewed these days by breweries located in city or state.

Therein lies a story.

First, allow me to begin with the conclusion: Starting on Friday, June 19 at Pints&union, we’ll have a keg of Falls City’s Kentucky Common for $12 growler fills, curbside. Call (812) 913-4647 or visit the order portal after 4:00 p.m. on June 19th and 20th, and also on coming weekends until we reopen in July, date TBA.

Note also that Falls City Bock, a superlative dark lager and one of the finest American-style Bocks to hit my lips in a good while, still is available in growlers at the same price. Don’t force me to drain this keg all by myself, people.

Now I’ll explain to you why the commonality of history matters, and why I personally enjoy Falls City Kentucky Common so much.

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Prior to the contemporary craft beer era, most North American beers were brewed according to the broad parameters of styles that originated in Europe and were brought here by immigrants. Almost all of these styles came from the British Isles (in colonial times) or Germany and Central Europe (from the 1840s, on). Recall that “microbrewing” began only in the 1970s, and didn’t reach any semblance of critical mass until the late 1990s.

While brewers from Europe may have come to the United States with traditional recipes in mind, they often found that it was necessary to adapt to New World realities. Perhaps the most noted example of this shift came with lager beers in general, and Pilsners in particular.

Transplanted German brewers were compelled to adjust their thinking to suit climactic conditions and the raw materials at hand, particularly six-row barley as the malt backbone of their beers. Now, 150 years later, we can see that German and Bohemian Pilsners and their American cousins, pre-Prohibition “adjunct” Pilsners, are two separate branches of the same tree.

In like fashion, what we now refer to as “California Common” (or Steam, which is a term copyrighted by Anchor Brewing) reflects a hybrid brewing approach dating to Gold Rush times. Another uniquely American style is “Cream Ale,” which most of us of a certain age always will associate with Little Kings from Cincinnati. Cream Ales came about because 19th-century breweries specializing in top-fermented ale styles (the British tradition) sought a counterweight to increasingly popular German-sourced golden Pilsners.

Kentucky Common fits this paradigm. Here’s a bit of history of which you might be unaware, courtesy of the Beer Judge Certification Program.

A true American original style, Kentucky Common was almost exclusively produced and sold around the Louisville Kentucky metropolitan area from some time after the Civil War up to Prohibition. Its hallmark was that it was inexpensive and quickly produced, typically 6 to 8 days from mash to delivery. The beer was racked into barrels while actively fermenting (1.020 – 1.022) and tightly bunged to allow carbonation in the saloon cellar. There is some speculation that it was a variant of the lighter common or cream ale produced throughout much of the East prior to the Civil War and that the darker grains were added by the mostly Germanic brewers to help acidify the typical carbonate water of the Louisville area. Up until the late 19th century, Kentucky Common was not brewed in the summer months unless cellars, usually used for malting, were used for fermentation. With the advent of ice machines, the larger breweries were able to brew year round. In the period from 1900 to prohibition, about 75% of the beer sold in the Louisville area was Kentucky Common.

In its heyday, Kentucky Common would have been a localized example of “present use” beer, brewed in 6 – 8 days, low in alcohol content, delivered to taverns while still young and intended to be finishing its fermentation in the wooden barrel when first tapped. Kentucky Common was consumed quickly at a low price point.

This is why accounts of the period refer to Kentucky Common as being the working man’s choice. Rushing the growler in Louisville in the year 1900 meant sending one of your kids to fetch a (literal) bucket of beer from the neighborhood watering hole for pennies – and the liquid in the pail probably was Kentucky Common.

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The typical grist for a Kentucky Common might have been 65% six-row barley, 30% corn, and 5% dark malt enough to resolve the brewer’s chemistry issues and give the finished product an amber to light brown appearance (Falls City uses rye).

Hopping was minimal, with American hop varieties used for bittering and just a pinch of aromatic (and more expensive) imported German hops at the end of the boil. Brewers likely used an aggressive house ale yeast to jump start the fermentation. Ingredients and techniques for making Pilsner were reserved for Pilsner, often the higher-priced “special occasion” beer.

There’d have been as many different interpretations of Kentucky (and Southern Indiana) Common, riffing off this basic model, as there were brewers-- several dozen in the metro at local brewing’s acme in the 1890s.

Today, the modern version brewed at Falls City might be the city’s most unique beer simply because no one else in town regularly brews an “Amber Cream Ale.” Exceptions include Apocalypse (brewer Leah Dienes helped write the official style definition), Old Louisville and Against the Grain, but availability isn’t year-round at those establishments. Seldom can we find a beer for direct comparison in terms of flavor profile.

Falls City Kentucky Common has an amber hue and looks a bit like a Dos Equis, but the resemblance ends there. It’s malty, not hoppy, with a bready flavor touched by caramel. The rye peeks through, adding complexity. The body is light, and there is hint of fruitiness. You’ll notice an element of sweetness derived from the use of corn as an adjunct; it’s something most mass market Louisville beer drinkers wouldn’t notice because it’s generally present in Miller and Coors products (less so AB-InBev).

I like Falls City Kentucky Common for what it is: a solid summertime quencher with enough beeriness to maintain interest, and to pair with assertive food.

Providentially, Pints&union is working with Freedom Run Farms via the LEE Initiative’s Restaurant Reboot Relief Program and we’ll be featuring lamb dishes, and my guess is the Kentucky Common will go nicely with these.

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Recent columns:

June 11: ON THE AVENUES: Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger.

June 4: ON THE AVENUES: There, there. People are dying, so you may have to wait until 2021 for your pork chop sandwich.

May 28: ON THE AVENUES: The late, great Lee Kelly -- by Matt Nash.

May 21: ON THE AVENUES: Godlessness in defense of heathens, infidels, idolaters, atheists, non-theists, irreligious people, agnostics, skeptics, heretics and apostates.

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Social distancing and the single drinker.

A very timely reminder: For the past 40 years I've always tried my best, at all times and twice on Sunday, to keep at least 6 feet away from the nearest Miller Lite.

The pandemic has strengthened my resolve.

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Let's begin with some bad news.

Farewell for now to a golden age of drinking, by Schumpeter (The Economist)

The pandemic has hurt the booze business

... Lockdown and its aftermath leaves craft firms most exposed. Some have been bought by industry giants; abi now owns Goose Island and Camden Town Brewery. But many still sell from their own small premises, making it harder to attract social-distancing customers. Even in good times many barely covered their costs. Being small, they have less leverage to force their wares onto supermarket shelves. Some will either be sold or sluiced down the drain. Inevitably, the industry will lose some of its creative fizz.

In addition, two longer-term threats loom on the horizon: demography and drugs. Studies show that Generation z, the eldest of whom have recently reached drinking age, are far less likely to consume alcohol than their elders, says Javier Gonzalez Lastra of Berenberg, a bank. That will affect the drinks industry for years to come, because peak alcohol consumption has traditionally been between the ages of 18 and 34. Partly as a result, in America, historically the world’s biggest drinks market, total alcohol sales volumes have declined for three years in a row. Overlapping with youthful sobriety is cannabis use. A report co-written by iwsr last year found that this was an emerging alternative to booze among the young. Millennials in America accounted for almost half of “dualists”, who both smoke pot and imbibe. Covid-19 could benefit cannabis further. In Schumpeter’s limited experience, pot-smoking has always been something of a furtive activity. That may make it better suited to social distancing than clinking glasses in a pub.

The good news is that a great awakening of regulatory experimentation allowed to survive pandemic states of emergency would help keep us in the game.

Hip Hops: Public drinking -- and changing “stupid American liquor laws”

Rules and regulations are inevitable in any business or profession, but the ones pertaining to beverage alcohol often are a more impenetrable thicket than most, multiplied 50 times for each state in the union, compounded by additional layers of local blue laws, and seemingly imposed for the very purpose of denying that the repeal of Prohibition ever took place.

In the same article there's a list of Louisville area breweries and their current opening status.

Food & Dining Magazine’s "Hip Hops" column is devoted to the beer beat, and an essential component for the health and well being of any city’s beer scene is its core of local breweries. In the broadest of terms, the pandemic has been kind to Louisville’s breweries. Many of ours never closed entirely during the pandemic, and others have reopened.

Here’s a status list with the (incomplete) lowdown, as assembled Sunday afternoon in the company of a tankard of Falls City Bock — and then another, after the first.

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Cumberland Brews is coming to a close after 19 years in operation.

As noted previously, it now is my (part-time) job at Food & Dining Magazine to take note of comings and goings in the local food and drink business, and admittedly most of these news items pertain to restaurants and bars with which I'm unfamiliar.

Cumberland Brews is an obvious exception in my cosmos, and I'm in a mournful mood since learning of the brewpub's upcoming closing after a final day Saturday, October 5.

The stumbling Athletics were well on their way to losing the wild card game when news of Cumberland's passing began spreading on social media Wednesday night, and to be honest, I completely forgot about baseball and began reliving some warm, good times in that cramped, wonderful space.

I wrote about it at F&D, and you can read the obituary here: Raise a parting glass to Cumberland Brews, bowing out Saturday after 19 years.

Let the tankards speak; bye, guys. It was fun.

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: "DO/LIVE/LOVE Brewing unveils plans for Butchertown facility, coming in 2020."

The people involved in this new brewing project are unknown to me; the co-founder Childress has a beer pedigree, in that he also was a co-founder of the Common Space brewery in Los Angeles.

Consequently I have absolutely no reason to doubt anything reported in this article about the forthcoming advent of DO/LIVE/LOVE Brewing, a multi-million dollar undertaking. 

Just this one thing, and an old adage about reality: Wanna make a million in the brewing business?

Then start with $10 million.

I wish them nothing but the best -- and wish I knew more rich people, although if I did, I'd be angling for a corner bar in Europe. A couple hundred thousand ought to do it.

Sigh. To each his or her own.

DO/LIVE/LOVE Brewing unveils plans for Butchertown facility, coming in 2020, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)

DO/LIVE/LOVE Brewing unveiled its plans Wednesday for a 22,000-square-foot brewery complex in Butchertown that will bring with it a mission to benefit the neighborhood as well as brew good beer.

“We believe beer pairs perfectly with compassion,” said co-founder Dave Childress at a news conference in front of the future brewery. “We believe beer pairs perfectly with community. We believe beer pairs perfectly with positivity.”

DO/LIVE/LOVE brings with it a nonprofit arm that Childress said already has raised $450,000 in two years for various other nonprofits, such as military and veteran-focused organizations and charities focused on curing rare childhood diseases.

The cost to fully renovate the sprawling, 1950s-era former meat storage warehouse was set at $5.5 million, with a goal of opening next March, around the time the new Louisville City FC soccer stadium is slated to open.

Plans include an outdoor beer garden, a north-facing, second-floor balcony with views of the Ohio River and the stadium, and a rooftop deck with 360-degree views of the city. The brewery will incorporate multiple casual food options and is expected to employ at least 30 people once open. Construction already is underway.

The building itself is massive and broken up into large spaces. Some walls will be removed in the front part of the building to make way for patio seating. One part of the brewery complex will include a full kitchen with dining area, with a brewery and taproom taking up another section of the main floor.

The second floor will offer more taproom space, plus the deck. Private-use space also will be part of the brewery ...

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Four new Louisville breweries, and U of L's weird search for a craft beer "partner."

I'm enjoying Michael Moeller's beer articles in LEO Weekly, which seem to have come on the heels of his wonderful article at Kentucky Sports Radio earlier this year.

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Citizen journalist Michael Moeller uncovers a craft beer con man named Stephen Foster.

In the following piece Moeller has organized the basic information, offered a concise introduction, spoken with the owners of these four new breweries and allowed them to tell their story.

It's excellent work, and I hope he continues doing it.

Four new breweries, each with a tasty story, by Michael Moeller (LEO Weekly)

One new brewery will be a nanobrewery using just a single barrel. Another hopes to bring craft beer to more area visitors. And another new one will be part of a public market. They are among four new Louisville breweries opening soon. LEO caught up with the owners of Wild Hops Brewery at 1001 Logan St., Hometown Brewing Co. at 4041 Preston Highway, Noble Funk Brewery at 940 S. Third St. and Gallant Fox Brewing at 2132 Frankfort Ave. to learn more about what beers they’re offering and how each brewery will fit in with the other 21 breweries in the Louisville area.

As a postscript, here's an April teaser by Kevin Gibson at Insider Louisville. I elected to save it until after the May 2 deadline, then promptly forgot the whole thing. Google has not yielded a triumphant press release detailing the identity of the "craft beer partner," if any.

To be frank, I find the very idea impressively stupid.

Seeking revenue streams, University of Louisville looks to find a craft beer partner (Insider Louisville)

The University of Louisville is interested in getting into the craft beer business. Sort of. As part of exploring new revenue streams, the university has issued a nationwide request for proposals for a craft brewery partner to brew and distribute a UofL-branded beer. Submissions are due by May 2.

Maybe change the color scheme to red and go with this?

Rick Stidham and Akasha Brewing Company for New Albany Beer Week at Pints&union on Tuesday, May 28.

The first of two Pints&union gatherings for New Albany Beer Week comes on Tuesday, May 28 when owner/brewer Rick Stidham joins us along with a keg of Otterburn English Brown (for sale by the pint and half-pint) and a few other beer samples.

I've known Rick for a very long time and can't even remember when we first met. He brews wonderful beer and Akasha glides along under the radar. I think it's a criminally underrated brewery. Thanks both to Rick and his Indiana wholesaler, Starlight Distribution.

My profile of Akasha was published in Food & Dining Magazine in November of 2017, and the text appeared here in March of 2018.

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THE BEER BEAT: "Akasha Brewing Company: Karma and craftsmanship, cruising under the radar" -- from Food & Dining Magazine.

When the latest issue of Food & Dining Magazine comes out ...

LIVE TO EAT: Read my stories about Chef Space and Tito's Handmade Vodka, and grab the latest issue of Food & Dining Magazine, out now.

... I go back to the previous edition and reprise my contributions. In this instance, it's Winter 2017 (Vol. 58; Nov-Dec-Jan), and profiles of Akasha Brewing Company and Waylon's Feed & Firewater; the latter will appear elsewhere.

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HIP HOPS | Akasha Brewing Company: Karma and craftsmanship, cruising under the radar.

As today’s beers are being poured, let’s learn a word in Sanskrit.

AKASHA … a·ka·sha (Hinduism)(Noun) A supposed universal etheric field in which a record of past events is imprinted.

While Indian cosmology might make a fine category on Jeopardy!, the story of Akasha Brewing Company (909 East Market Street) in Louisville’s ever-evolving NuLu neighborhood is decidedly more prosaic.

Especially since Akasha wasn’t even the first choice of names.

Brewery co-owners Rick Stidham and Gerald Nawrocki originally selected the working title of Muse Brewing Company. In Greek and Roman mythology, Zeus’s nine daughters are called the Muses, each representing an artistic or scientific endeavor. A muse can be the personification of artistic inspiration, and when used as a verb, “to muse” is to engage in thoughtful contemplation.

In fact, some of us have been musing over beers for years.

Unfortunately, nowadays the denizens of Mount Olympus are guarded by a cordon of lawyers. Stidham and Nawrocki quickly learned Muse had been trademarked for beer use. Calmly, they chose to switch identities.

“It wasn’t worth fighting,” Stidham recalls. “So, we went down to Against the Grain Brewery, ordered a couple beers and started going through our list of backup names.” They agreed on Akasha: “I’d seen it in an article about quantum physics, signifying ‘everything from nothing.’ That sounded about right to us.”

Duly recast, Akasha Brewing Company opened for business in September, 2015. Eight months later, new equipment began arriving, and output reached 600 barrels in 2016.

Currently assisted in the brewhouse by Kacy Machir, who doubles as Akasha’s graphics generator, Stidham is the company’s wryly good-humored public face. He’s thoughtful and on the quiet side, but possessing ample beer savvy and a resolute confidence in his abilities.

“The beer we put out there is consistently good,” Stidham says, and this is no idle boast coming from a man whose commitment to craftsmanship was nurtured as a methodical homebrewer, one so devoted to self-improvement that he’d repeatedly brew styles he didn’t even care to drink, all the better to hone his technique.

Now two years old, Akasha’s lineup of regular beers continues to evolve. Recurring favorites include Always Sunny in Amarillo (dry-hopped American Pale Ale) and Piper Cherrywood Smoked Porter, although two other very different styles recently have risen to pre-eminence.

One of them is Gose (go-zah), an obscure German ale that delightfully exemplifies craft beer’s prevailing eclecticism, given that it’s about as unconventional as Germans allow their beers to get.

The grist is half barley, half wheat. It is only lightly hopped, low in alcohol content, purposefully tart, and spiced with coriander and salt. The style reached its zenith in Leipzig in the early twentieth century, then gradually lapsed into near extinction. By the late 1990s, revivals began popping up.

For Akasha’s version, Stidham achieves a slight tanginess by means of kettle souring, a technique recently developed as a comparatively simple way of imparting desired tartness to beer.

After mashing, the wort is flash boiled in the kettle, then recirculated through the heat exchanger to cool down. When the liquid returns to the kettle, lactobacillus bacteria is added for the requisite souring.

A bit later, the hops, salt -- Pink Himalayan, as “it gives a different, better taste,” according to Stidham -- and coriander are added, and when the boil is finished, regular ale yeast is pitched.

The other current best-seller at Akasha is Fehr’s XS, the rebirth of a lager formerly brewed in Louisville by the Frank Fehr Brewing Company (1872-1964). It’s the polar opposite of Gose.

In order to bring Fehr’s XS back from obscurity, Stidham worked closely with Jeff Faith, a Louisvillian who acquired the rights to the brand’s copyright. Faith researched its pre-Prohibition recipe, and he found in Stidham a kindred spirit with a shared zeal for authenticity.

Faith’s determination was such that he purchased a fermenter specifically for Stidham’s use at Akasha in brewing Fehr’s XS, so that a beer requiring slow, cool aging wouldn’t interrupt the brewery’s normal production schedule.

Fehr’s XS is formulated according to the pre-Prohibition custom of using six-row barley, rice, Cluster hops (for bittering) and aromatic German finishing hops. It is straw golden and light-bodied; crisp and firmly-hopped; and in the mold of a Pilsner, though uniquely flavored.

“We have plans to continue to bring Fehr's back to wider availability in Louisville and the rest of Kentucky,” notes Stidham. “We drink a good bit of it at the brewery, and I get a kick out of seeing it on tap at so many places.”

Akasha is designed to be a production brewery. While there are no cans or bottles at present, kegs travel to outside accounts via Dauntless Distributing in Kentucky and Starlight Distribution in Indiana.

However, beer lovers are invited to stop by Akasha’s dog-friendly taproom for pints and samplers, carry-out growlers and the occasional game of Monopoly. Apart from packaged snacks, no food is served at the taproom; however, this being NuLu, sustenance is always quite near.

Grind Burger Kitchen lies just across Campbell Street, and the Louisville location of Feast BBQ is roughly 20 paces from Akasha’s front door.

“We’re Feast’s de facto overflow dining room,” Stidham says, and Feast’s owner Ryan Rogers not only agrees, but adds an inspiring primer on localism.

“Rick’s right, and it speaks volumes to the symbiotic relationship we have with Akasha,” explains Rogers.

“We sell their beer on draft, which is a privilege for us because their product is so good that we want it despite their brewery selling it a dollar or so cheaper a few steps away – and they actively encourage their patrons bringing in food from the local restaurants.”

The neighborly affinity is real. Earlier this year, Stidham collaborated with Feast BBQ and Royals Hot Chicken (also owned by Rogers) to brew a beer called Royal Feast in Helles, a wonderful Bavarian-style golden lager.

When asked to chart Akasha’s future growth, Stidham is cheerfully imprecise.

“When we sell enough beer in 2018 to continue selling beer in 2019,” he laughs, “that's enough for me to be happy.”

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: A "reimagined" Louisville Craft Beer Week omits "craft," emphasizes local brewing.

Regular readers may recall that last year around this time, there still was such a thing as Louisville CRAFT Beer Week.

THE BEER BEAT: Louisville Craft Beer Week VIII begins today ... in Jeffersonville.

Jefferson Airplane has become Jefferson Starship -- strike that, because in reality, it's the other way around with a return to basics, and the redubbed Louisville Beer Week for 2018.

Kevin Gibson tells all at Insider Louisville. I think the change makes sense.

Reimagined Louisville Beer Week will focus on local breweries in 2018

For several years, Louisville Craft Beer Week celebrated beer with various events around the city, but as time went by, it veered away from promoting local breweries, focusing more on beer-centered events at area restaurants and bars with little attention to local beer.

Last year, local breweries essentially weren’t involved.

But this year, thanks to the efforts of breweries in Louisville and craft beer enthusiast David Satterly, we will have a Louisville Beer Week that will be focused on beer brewed in the city.

Satterly, creator of the Kentucky Beer Network, said the event has dropped the word “craft” to differentiate it from its predecessor, with which the new week of celebrating local beer has no real connection. And along with a name change comes the new local focus.

In other words, the emphasis will be on “Louisville beer” as opposed to just “beer” going forward.

Expect brewery collaborations, tap takeovers, trivia events and more, happening each night starting Friday, Oct. 26, and wrapping up on Saturday, Nov. 3.

With no funding and little help other than the participation of the breweries, Satterly, 25, moves forward using baby steps, initially just to re-establish the nine-day celebration as something different from it what it had evolved into.

THE BEER BEAT: Let's review a few headlines, from Louisville (and Indy) Lager to Brimstone Big.

I had a lunch meeting on Friday, and the three of us met at the recently re-refashioned Bank Street Brewhouse for some Taco Steve treats and NABC libations.

Now cast irrevocably as a member of the "former owner" camp, it still feels a bit weird for me to return as a civilian. This said, everything was fine. Taco Steve is impeccable, and the four beer samples all were solid.

Not everyone will agree, but I like what Josh Hill has done with Elector, fattening the malt and to my palate, rebooting a throwback closer to the way it tasted back in 2002 when Michael and Joey first accidentally invented it.

As a side note: Tuesday, March 13 is the ninth anniversary of BSB's opening day in 2009. Today's segue has concluded, and we turn to the latest from the NABC alumni contingent.

Schlafly’s Jared Williamson Talks IPA Fads, Keeps Things Fresh, by Emily Saladino (Eugene Daily News)

Jared Williamson is no slouch. The Indiana native got turned on to brewing while working at New Albanian Brewing Company in New Albany, Indiana in 2005. “One day they finally taught me how to use the keg washer, and the rest is history,” he told STL Beer Bulletin. At NABC, he learned everything from brewing to marketing to distribution to tax and TTB.

As lead brewer at Schlafly, where he’s worked since 2011, Williamson manages operations at both the Taproom and Bottleworks locations. His innovative brews include Schlafly’s Single Malt Scottish Ale, painstakingly blended and aged in Scotch casks, and The Variant, an imperial stout-based beer aged in port barrels. Somehow he also found time to pose for Schlafly’s 2016 Beard Calendar. (Williamson shared an umbrella with fellow brewer and co-Mister April, Charles Stockstrom.)

We caught up with Williamson to learn what he thinks about IPA fads, and how his life motto might just be “drink it fresh.”

Rock on, Jared.

Back here in Louisville, it may finally be time to roll out the barrels of lager. I persist in thinking that a firmly hopped, youthful lager with a trendy sheen of haze would do well in these parts. BSB probably has some tank space ...

The year of the lager? by Kevin Gibson (LEO)

... Well-crafted lagers in Louisville have been making a comeback, coming full circle since the dawn of Prohibition. Goodwood Brewing was on the fore of this slowly-moving trend when it brought Louisville Lager to the market a couple of years ago. It was a more flavorful version of the stuff you would normally buy from a vendor at a ballgame.

Recently, in casual conversation, I mentioned the growing lager prevalence in craft beer, to which a friend said, “It’s the year of the lager.”

Goodwood's Louisville Lager is a delicious local example, as is Kyle's Bavarian-style Helles at Mile Wide. This might be an appropriate juncture to tout (yet again) the excellent lagers being brewed at Daredevil in Indianapolis, which will be staging another Indy Lagerfest in May.

Road trip, anyone? I really want to attend this one. Back here in the Ville, Business First recently asked and answered a question.

COVER STORY: How many more breweries can Louisville support? by Bridgett Weaver (Louisville Business First)

Adam Watson, one of the owners of Against the Grain Brewery, has seen a steady number of competitors start brewing beer in Louisville since his East Main Street facility opened in 2011. And he welcomes all new brewers to town — with one caveat.

“The only new breweries that I fear are ones that make bad beer,” he said with a laugh.

Weaver's article is lengthy and well researched, and the conclusion? More of them.

Bart Watson, chief economist for the national Brewers Association, said that when craft breweries first started opening in other states, laws in Kentucky and Louisville made it harder for breweries to open here, and then to operate and scale up — like zoning classifications that didn’t account for breweries. That’s likely what caused Louisville and the rest of the state to fall behind the curve.

But now with those laws changing to better accommodate the industry, Louisville is catching up and there’s far more space for the industry to run wild here than say, in Colorado, which has more than 330 breweries.

California ranks first in number of breweries, with 623 in 2016. Kentucky ranked 35th out of the 50 states in 2016, with 34 breweries in the state.

“It’s been a market that’s lagged behind others, but Louisville has a lot of untapped potential and it’s starting to sort of catch up and meet that potential,” Watson said. “I think the reason that you’re seeing such tremendous growth in Louisville is that it’s a little behind other cities so there’s a little more run room.”

With new age local "craft" beer running amok, all the more reason to slow down and cherish the classic stylistic yardsticks of the past.

Eyeing a Return to Growth, Sierra Nevada Refocuses on Pale Ale, by Justin Kendall (Brewbound)

After two consecutive years of single-digit sales declines, Sierra Nevada Brewing is refocusing its efforts on selling its flagship Pale Ale while also telling its story to consumers.

Speaking to Brewbound, Sierra Nevada chief commercial officer Joe Whitney said the company’s sales were down more than 7 percent last year following declines of more than 6 percent in 2016 ...

Is any of this sounding familiar?

Whitney added that some on-premise wounds have come as decades-old Pale Ale draft placements were swapped out for special release offerings that only lasted until the kegs ran dry. And once they did, competing breweries could more easily commandeer the draft lines.

“[When] you see some of our distributors switch out Pale Ale for a special beer that they think is really exciting, that only stays on tap for a month, it’s like, ‘Wow, you gave up a 20-year-old handle in an account for a feature for the month, and then we lost a 20-year-old account? How can you do that?’” he said. “I think there’s so much emphasis on new that it’s kind of gotten irrational.”

So this year, Sierra Nevada is scaling back its focus on innovation in an effort to refocus on Pale Ale, which accounts for half of the company’s volume, Whitney said. In the process, the company hopes to win back some of those surrendered tap handles and re-engage with consumers on “a deeper, louder level.”

That's right; it's the crazed former brewery owner's (me) basic theory for Pints & Union, and while Sierra Nevada Pale Ale probably won't be among the permanent taps, it should be pouring from a tap somewhere downtown, all of the time.

Who wants to speak some retro truth? It'd taste mighty good with fish. Just saying.

In closing, an example of classicist beer writing that places narcissistic beer selfie culture in the reeking dumpster with the fish bones, where it belongs. It's a two-decade-old barleywine -- and as a bonus, some fine Belgian-style eating.

This is BIG, by Lew Bryson (Seen Through a Glass)

Hi there.

I know, I know: nothing for years. The blog is dead, long live Twitter.

But you know? Some things deserve more space.

And this...is BIG.

No, literally, look at the label. I was digging in my Beer Fridge today, looking for two bottles of proper beer to make carbonades Flamandes (more on that later) on this disappointing snow day, when I found two bottles of Brimstone Big, a Maryland-brewed barleywine from the 1990s that we cherished back in the day. The brewed date on the label: October 1998.

THE BEER BEAT: "Akasha Brewing Company: Karma and craftsmanship, cruising under the radar" -- from Food & Dining Magazine.

When the latest issue of Food & Dining Magazine comes out ...

LIVE TO EAT: Read my stories about Chef Space and Tito's Handmade Vodka, and grab the latest issue of Food & Dining Magazine, out now.

... I go back to the previous edition and reprise my contributions. In this instance, it's Winter 2017 (Vol. 58; Nov-Dec-Jan), and profiles of Akasha Brewing Company and Waylon's Feed & Firewater; the latter will appear elsewhere.

---

HIP HOPS | Akasha Brewing Company: Karma and craftsmanship, cruising under the radar.

As today’s beers are being poured, let’s learn a word in Sanskrit.

AKASHA … a·ka·sha (Hinduism)(Noun) A supposed universal etheric field in which a record of past events is imprinted.

While Indian cosmology might make a fine category on Jeopardy!, the story of Akasha Brewing Company (909 East Market Street) in Louisville’s ever-evolving NuLu neighborhood is decidedly more prosaic.

Especially since Akasha wasn’t even the first choice of names.

Brewery co-owners Rick Stidham and Gerald Nawrocki originally selected the working title of Muse Brewing Company. In Greek and Roman mythology, Zeus’s nine daughters are called the Muses, each representing an artistic or scientific endeavor. A muse can be the personification of artistic inspiration, and when used as a verb, “to muse” is to engage in thoughtful contemplation.

In fact, some of us have been musing over beers for years.

Unfortunately, nowadays the denizens of Mount Olympus are guarded by a cordon of lawyers. Stidham and Nawrocki quickly learned Muse had been trademarked for beer use. Calmly, they chose to switch identities.

“It wasn’t worth fighting,” Stidham recalls. “So, we went down to Against the Grain Brewery, ordered a couple beers and started going through our list of backup names.” They agreed on Akasha: “I’d seen it in an article about quantum physics, signifying ‘everything from nothing.’ That sounded about right to us.”

Duly recast, Akasha Brewing Company opened for business in September, 2015. Eight months later, new equipment began arriving, and output reached 600 barrels in 2016.

Currently assisted in the brewhouse by Kacy Machir, who doubles as Akasha’s graphics generator, Stidham is the company’s wryly good-humored public face. He’s thoughtful and on the quiet side, but possessing ample beer savvy and a resolute confidence in his abilities.

“The beer we put out there is consistently good,” Stidham says, and this is no idle boast coming from a man whose commitment to craftsmanship was nurtured as a methodical homebrewer, one so devoted to self-improvement that he’d repeatedly brew styles he didn’t even care to drink, all the better to hone his technique.

Now two years old, Akasha’s lineup of regular beers continues to evolve. Recurring favorites include Always Sunny in Amarillo (dry-hopped American Pale Ale) and Piper Cherrywood Smoked Porter, although two other very different styles recently have risen to pre-eminence.

One of them is Gose (go-zah), an obscure German ale that delightfully exemplifies craft beer’s prevailing eclecticism, given that it’s about as unconventional as Germans allow their beers to get.

The grist is half barley, half wheat. It is only lightly hopped, low in alcohol content, purposefully tart, and spiced with coriander and salt. The style reached its zenith in Leipzig in the early twentieth century, then gradually lapsed into near extinction. By the late 1990s, revivals began popping up.

For Akasha’s version, Stidham achieves a slight tanginess by means of kettle souring, a technique recently developed as a comparatively simple way of imparting desired tartness to beer.

After mashing, the wort is flash boiled in the kettle, then recirculated through the heat exchanger to cool down. When the liquid returns to the kettle, lactobacillus bacteria is added for the requisite souring.

A bit later, the hops, salt -- Pink Himalayan, as “it gives a different, better taste,” according to Stidham -- and coriander are added, and when the boil is finished, regular ale yeast is pitched.

The other current best-seller at Akasha is Fehr’s XS, the rebirth of a lager formerly brewed in Louisville by the Frank Fehr Brewing Company (1872-1964). It’s the polar opposite of Gose.

In order to bring Fehr’s XS back from obscurity, Stidham worked closely with Jeff Faith, a Louisvillian who acquired the rights to the brand’s copyright. Faith researched its pre-Prohibition recipe, and he found in Stidham a kindred spirit with a shared zeal for authenticity.

Faith’s determination was such that he purchased a fermenter specifically for Stidham’s use at Akasha in brewing Fehr’s XS, so that a beer requiring slow, cool aging wouldn’t interrupt the brewery’s normal production schedule.

Fehr’s XS is formulated according to the pre-Prohibition custom of using six-row barley, rice, Cluster hops (for bittering) and aromatic German finishing hops. It is straw golden and light-bodied; crisp and firmly-hopped; and in the mold of a Pilsner, though uniquely flavored.

“We have plans to continue to bring Fehr's back to wider availability in Louisville and the rest of Kentucky,” notes Stidham. “We drink a good bit of it at the brewery, and I get a kick out of seeing it on tap at so many places.”

Akasha is designed to be a production brewery. While there are no cans or bottles at present, kegs travel to outside accounts via Dauntless Distributing in Kentucky and Starlight Distribution in Indiana.

However, beer lovers are invited to stop by Akasha’s dog-friendly taproom for pints and samplers, carry-out growlers and the occasional game of Monopoly. Apart from packaged snacks, no food is served at the taproom; however, this being NuLu, sustenance is always quite near.

Grind Burger Kitchen lies just across Campbell Street, and the Louisville location of Feast BBQ is roughly 20 paces from Akasha’s front door.

“We’re Feast’s de facto overflow dining room,” Stidham says, and Feast’s owner Ryan Rogers not only agrees, but adds an inspiring primer on localism.

“Rick’s right, and it speaks volumes to the symbiotic relationship we have with Akasha,” explains Rogers.

“We sell their beer on draft, which is a privilege for us because their product is so good that we want it despite their brewery selling it a dollar or so cheaper a few steps away – and they actively encourage their patrons bringing in food from the local restaurants.”

The neighborly affinity is real. Earlier this year, Stidham collaborated with Feast BBQ and Royals Hot Chicken (also owned by Rogers) to brew a beer called Royal Feast in Helles, a wonderful Bavarian-style golden lager.

When asked to chart Akasha’s future growth, Stidham is cheerfully imprecise.

“When we sell enough beer in 2018 to continue selling beer in 2019,” he laughs, “that's enough for me to be happy.”

THE BEER BEAT: "Dives and hives" in Nawbany, a new brewery coming to Floyds Knobs, and other tales of the drinking life.

It's late notice, but if you're out and about today between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., drop by Donum Dei Brewery (3211 Grant Line Road in New Albany) for Chili Cookoff to Benefit Apron, Inc.

Let's begin with a gratifying round of self-aggrandizement.

Thanks to Sara "Bar Belle" Havens for the name-drop in this survey of "New Albany’s smoky dives and trendy hives" at Insider Louisville.

In the early ’90s, Roger Baylor transformed (NABC Pizzeria Public House) into a craft-beer mecca, long before craft beer was a big thing around here. And since then, it’s been the spot to try all sorts of styles and brands.

Ironically, the release of Sara's article was concurrent with RateBeer's annual list of very best places in America to have a beer, in which the Pizzeria & Public House yet again was named as Indiana's best brewpub (with Keg Liquors Clarksville capturing another "best bottle shop" citation).

Sara's pub crawl also took her to Jack's, Brooklyn and The Butcher and Hugh E. Bir Cafe. Taken as a whole, her wanderings testify to a rich diversity of drinking options in New Albany, and in spite of my own personal trials and travails, I have to admit I'm proud to have played my role in it -- and look forward to doing so again.

THE BEER BEAT: Have a look at this Pints&Union pub buildout progress report.

Speaking of start-ups, I too was surprised to see a brewery coming soon to Floyds Knobs.

A craft beer boom is looming. Keep an eye out for these 7 new breweries opening this year, by Bailey Loosemore (Louisville Courier Journal)

Our Lady of Perpetual Hops

Location: 3815 Paoli Pike, Floyds Knobs

Anticipated opening: Late spring

Introduction: We first heard of this new Southern Indiana brewery earlier this month, and it's already well on its way to capturing our attention.

The brewery will be located on a 10-acre property near the Valley View Golf Club, where four co-owners plan to eventually build an entertainment campus complete with a taproom, restaurant, sand volleyball courts, outdoor deck and beer garden.

The entire campus isn't expected to be finished until spring 2019. But this year, the company plans to open a small taproom and brewery in an existing building at the site.

CEO Robert Pappas, a chemist who owns Essential Oil University, said Our Lady's beers will be unique for the area.

With help from an experienced brewer, the team has created beers that incorporate essential oils to act as a sort of aromatherapy, Pappas said.

Follow the brewery's process on Facebook.

Upon further reflection, I recall discussing a similar idea with Rob (a longtime pub customer) in 2012 or thereabouts; at the time, he was looking at a farm in Starlight near the Huber winery and distillery. The brewer at OLPH is Kyle Richmer, and I'm enthused that the Knobs will be getting in on the game.

For the record, here is the entire list.

1. Falls City Brewing Co., 901 E. Liberty St., NuLu
2. Bluegrass Brewing Co., South Fourth Street and Broadway
3. Wild Hops Brewery, 1001 Logan St.
4. Our Lady of Perpetual Hops, 3815 Paoli Pike, Floyds Knobs
5. False Idol Independent Brewers, 1025 Barret Ave.
6. Against the Grain, 719 Lynn St.
7. Goodwood Brewing Company, Vine Street

As a closer, ignore the author's lapse (these days my beloved Pilsner Urquell is owned by Asahi of Japan, not the MillerCoors leviathan) and feel good about how far beer has come in the States.

Now, all we need to do is make sense of where we've been. I have a feeling this is something that will be occupying much of my time in the near future.

Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America, by Derek Thompson (City Lab)

Corporate goliaths are taking over the U.S. economy, yet small breweries are thriving. Why?

But what explains the nature of the craft-beer boom? From several interviews with economists and beer-industry experts, I’ve gathered that there appear to be two big reasons—a straightforward cause and a more complex and interesting history.

THE BEER BEAT: V-Grits, False Idol Independent Brewers, their bricks 'n' mortar vegan brewery in development -- and the BSB Hangover Hoedown in 2015.

In the seemingly chaotic but ultimately coordinated way life tends to unfold, I've been working on a Food & Dining story about the Chef Space kitchen incubator in Louisville, where V-Grits Food Co. is on the verge of "graduation."

In fact, I spoke with co-owner Kristina Addington just yesterday during the photo shoot.

V-Grits is committed to making every ingredient from scratch, including its plant-based meats and cheeses. Let us show you that you can still enjoy flavorful comfort food, without animal products. Please use us a resource for your own food journey. We will patiently answer and help with any dilemma you may face, from wondering where your protein will come from, to attending family barbecues.

As has been widely reported recently, V-Grits is partnering with a brewery start-up to be known as False Idol Independent Brewers in a bricks 'n' mortar shared vegan brewery space at the former (and revered) Monkey Wrench at 1025 Barret Avenue.

You can read more about it by following the link below. False Idol is Shawn Steele's idea. Shawn is an enthusiastic vegan and a longtime craft beer advocate who has spent the past couple of years assisting our brewing friend Rick Stidham at Akasha Brewing Company, and learning the ropes. He couldn't have had a finer instructor.

From the moment I first became aware of the V-Grits and False Idol project, while simultaneously embarking on the Chef Space profile, I recalled meeting both Kristina and Shawn at Bank Street Brewhouse for the first time during an NABC event. However, it was fuzzy, so finally it dawned on me to search.

Duh.

The event was on March 1, 2015, as part of the "Gravity Head at BSB" spin-off during the period of having no regular kitchen on site -- the post-Taco Punk, pre-Earth Friends Cafe merger era.

Also for 2015, we continue to experiment with a Sunday afternoon extension of Gravity Head at Bank Street Brewhouse. This Sunday concept isn’t intended to exactly mimic Gravity Head, but to provide a way of gently descending to reentry and the rigors of the workaday world following opening weekend’s excess.

It’s called the 2nd Annual Gravity Head Hangover Hoedown at BSB, and here’s the itinerary (NABC’s Bank Street Brewhouse’s Sunday hours are 12 noon until 9:00 p.m.)

• Special guest beers from Starlight Distribution
• Unique vegan pop-up kitchen with V-Grits
• Debut of NABC Oaktimus in bomber bottles
• Return of BSB’s Build Your Own Bloody Mary bar
• NABC’s customary beers of proven merit
• Live music TBA
• Benefiting a great cause: Uplands Peak Sanctuary

Well, those were the daze. Weren't they?

Of course, this also was the precise time when I resolved to run for mayor, and took a leave of absence from NABC. This temporary expedient became permanent at my discretion shortly thereafter.

Consequently, Gravity Head in 2015 was the last one with my direct participation. I didn't attend in 2016 or 2017; 2018 will be the 20th anniversary, and if my business partners continue to drag their feet in terms of a fair and equitable settlement, I'll probably pass this year, too.

Ah, but I digress.

In my mind, the biggest irony of all is that once I decided to withdraw from the business, Earth Friends was brought in to occupy the Bank Street Brewhouse kitchen.

At the time Earth Friends was a vegetarian restaurant, although not strictly "vegan" as such, and as a contrarian omnivore perpetually fascinated by undervalued niches, I actually thought it was a brilliant idea to pair a vegetarian restaurant with a "craft" brewery.

Of course, I can't speak for the execution of the idea because I wasn't there. Eventually Earth Friends was wholly absorbed into NABC. Bank Street Brewhouse underwent a name change, and at some point meat dishes were added.

So it goes; so it went.

I strongly suspect V-Grits and False Idol will do quite well with this concept, and perhaps a yearly commemorative Monkey Wrench Ale would be appropriate.

INTERVIEW: False Idol Independent Brewers talk about their new venture with V-Grits, by Phillip Olympia (Never Nervous)

Nothing is quite as exciting to me as getting wind that a new micro or nano brewery is opening in Louisville. When I was told that a new couple of brewers were planning to move in to the space that the old Monkey Wrench used to inhabit, my ears naturally perked up as I became anxiously ready to chase that stick off the porch. It’s been a treat to watch Louisville’s beer scene continue to blossom over the last decade plus, so naturally this was welcome news.

The name of the Derby City’s latest nano brewery is False Idol Independent Brewers and they are partnering with V-Grits, a food truck that offers exclusively vegan street food that has been in operation for the last few years. Together, they plan to offer a truly unique dining and drinking experience under one roof. Expect to see them open in a few months in The Highlands at the intersection at Barret and Winter avenues.

To get a better understanding of what these folks are putting together and what there motivations are, I reached out to False Idol co-owners Shawn and Rebecca Steele and Kristina Addington of V-Grits to see if they’d be up for answering a few questions. Thankfully, they obliged …

THE BEER BEAT: I brought my passport for beers at J-town's 3rd Turn Brewery.

Having joined the missus for a superlative Saturday brunch in Midway KY at the Holly Hill Inn, we diverted from the straight route home so I could experience something I'd never previously done -- namely, drinking locally-brewed beer in the epicenter of Jeffersontown.

In fact, I can't remember the last time I found myself in the epicenter of J-town for any reason, alcohol or otherwise. No matter; there's a time and place for everything.

3rd Turn Brewing's repurposed church building is wonderful, and I enjoyed the Marzen and Schwarzbier. It's too bad a mere 15 miles can feel like it's so damn far away.


It's also annoying to catch myself writing about the ideal adaptivity of discarded religious edifices for updated use as breweries and bars (here and here) while neglecting the one closest to me. May this phenomenon proliferate.

So, as a belated and brief overview, 3rd Turn Brewing is owned by four longtime homebrewing buddies in pursuit of good beer and a neighborhood feel. When 3rd Turn opened during J-town's signature Gaslight Festival in the fall of 2015, it was the first Louisville brewery to be established "outside the (I-264) loop."

The 1870s-era church had been used for other purposes prior to acquisition, and many previous so-called improvements had to be undone to make room for the brewery and taproom.

There's no food at 3rd Turn, but several restaurants are nearby and delivery options are available. Liquor can be had, and the taproom is dog-friendly. Finally, "3rd turn" is indeed a horse racing reference, though also applicable to one's own daily drinking regimen.

As a final indicator of my regrettable sloth in getting around to visiting this two-year-old "new" brewery, 3rd Turn already has expanded to Crestwood, 13 miles away from J-town -- this time outside the Gene Snyder Freeway (i.e., I-265) perimeter of Louisville locality demarcation.

Back in September, Insider Louisville's Kevin Gibson visited 3rd Turn's Oldham Gardens.

The four-acre farm in Crestwood that 3rd Turn Brewing acquired last December will open on Friday, having transformed with a 16-handle taproom, outdoor bar and patios, expansive garden and event space.

The brewery complex — although the brewing system has not yet been installed — also includes a small farm where staff will grow herbs, fruit and vegetables that will be used in brewing projects. Its official name is 3rd Turn Oldham Gardens.

Scorecard, please: 3rd Turn is a church brewery and a farm(house) brewery; the J-town location represents urban adaptive reuse, and Oldham Gardens is a countryside beer garden.

Well played, guys.

I'm just sorry it has taken me this long to make the million-mile trek from New Albany.

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: Ethereal, word and brewery.

Recently I've had the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend, and it's been great fun.

Ben came by the house one afternoon and we drove to Louisville for a few beers, and by the time it was finished, we'd judiciously consumed one each at three breweries I'd previously not visited: Monnik, Old Louisville and Mile Wide.

Later his gal Lydia joined us and we had burgers at Grind on a marvelous early summer's night. However, not one of these relaxing interludes form the basis for this week's word, although the conversation was superb and each venue first-rate and worthy of further exploration.

Rather, somewhere along the way Ben mentioned having a beer from another brewery in Lexington, Kentucky: Ethereal Brewing Company.

ethereal

[ih-theer-ee-uh l]

adjective

1. light, airy, or tenuous: an ethereal world created through the poetic imagination.
2. extremely delicate or refined: ethereal beauty.
3. heavenly or celestial: gone to his ethereal home.
4. of or relating to the upper regions of space.
5. Chemistry. pertaining to, containing, or resembling ethyl ether.

Origin of ethereal

1505-15; < Latin aethere(us) (< Greek aithérios), equivalent to aether- ether + -eus adj. suffix + -al1 Related forms

ethereality, etherealness, noun
ethereally, adverb
ethereous, adjective
nonethereal, adjective
nonethereally, adverb

I haven't tasted any of Ethereal's beers, but if they're ethereal, it will be worth the wait.

THE BEER BEAT: Falls City nixes its previous expansion plan, and now the new brewery is slated for NuLu.

There's only one way to the beer garden.

Way back on January 27, I thought we had this Falls City brewery expansion package nicely packed and wrapped, so much so that it inspired a vintage pro-localism rant.

THE BEER BEAT: No selfies necessary, because localism is why I believe the impending Falls City expansion is good news.

 ... To me, this is great news. It brings the brand back home, and the expansion ties into what John Neace and Neace Ventures are doing with Louisville City FC, and in my mind, enhances prospects for the soccer stadium to be in the west end. All I need is for the K & I Bridge to be reopened to foot and bicycle traffic, making my commute to all this easier without a car.

It's still good news, and yes, I still want the K & I to be open for use by humans as well as trains, but I'm not sure the ink was dry on my post in January before rumors commenced that the west end brewery buildout wouldn't be coming to fruition. These reports spiked around the time of Louisville FC's big stadium news.

Louisville City FC set to announce Butchertown stadium location as the Bud Light Limes flow like unabated storm water over at the Roadhouse.

"The ownership of Louisville City FC has 40 acres in the Butchertown neighborhood – off Cabel, Adams and Campbell streets – under contract for a new soccer stadium that would be flanked by other commercial development."

Obviously, it makes little sense for the Neace family to own a brewery and for it not to supply vast amounts of beer for games played by the soccer team, in which they also have an ownership stake. This new projected brewery location is a bare mile from the proposed stadium site.

The current Falls City property (along with 502 Winery and Over the 9) would remain on duty to guard the western flank and give me a place to ride my bike once the K & I is seized by the city of Louisville, removed from the cold dead hands of Norfolk Southern, and restored to public access.

As ever, a boy can dream.

Falls City Brewing Co. announces move to NuLu, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)

Falls City Brewing Company will open a new brewery and taphouse in NuLu later this year, featuring a canning line and outdoor beer garden.

The brewery’s owners announced in January that a new facility would open in Portland, but the deal didn’t go through as planned. The new facility at 901 E. Liberty St. is a property owned by the brewing company’s owner, Neace Ventures.

Construction will begin sometime in June, and the brewery is expected to be fully operational by late autumn.

THE BEER BEAT: A lovely parting glass: "I will never forget the BBC and feel like I am losing an old friend."

As previously noted, Sunday will be the final day of business for Bluegrass Brewing Company in St. Matthews.

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.

I'm going to turn over this post to Timmy Ingram, whose words (posted at Facebook) are well chosen and very much appreciated, but first, how do I know Timmy Ingram?

From BBC St. Matthews, of course, and just like him, I'm grateful for all the good people I met and drank beers with at the bar over the years.

Also like Timmy, I've been thinking about the departed, particularly since the closure was announced -- Kevin, Matt, Patrick, Jim and too damned many others. They aren't forgotten.

I was there for the soft opening in 1993, so I suppose a Sunday trip to St. Matthews is appropriate. "End of an era" is overused, though not this time.

---

An open letter to BBC St. Matthews and Worthogs Members.

I walked through the doors of the BBC St. Matthews during its grand opening over 20 years ago, to find the place energized with excitement. I was so impressed with the scene there, I became a Worthog member soon after, and proudly hoisted mug #151. Although it was broken many times over the years, it was always replaced, each server laughingly blaming the other for the broken or disappearing mug.

In the early years, I marveled at the diversity of these beer drinking patrons. A mechanic, a lawyer, an airline pilot, old dudes, hippies, a cook, musicians and college professors, sitting shoulder to shoulder, engaged in conversation and seemingly unaware of the differences that may separate them. I was also amazed at the unlikely friendships that began over good food and beer from out of towners, from Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburg and Philly, as well as New England. Many of them choosing to stay in Louisville. There were Worthogs from Germany and even Russia. We delighted strangers who happened into the BBC with our kindness and generosity. We teased each other merciIessly, about sports, and politics, and most of the time (ha ha) no one got mad.

I will borrow the word “Craic” from the Irish, describing the atmosphere and the mood of the pub. The BBC definitely had an atmosphere of fun, laughter, music and sometimes mischief. We smoked cigars and pipes, told stories, played pranks, and shared beer paired dinners. I remember the Blessing of the Bock and the Barbecue Cooking contests. I laugh out loud thinking of the unlikely winners with their $20 Hibachi. I remember the Superbowl pots, and some of the more memorable Worthog meetings.

On rare occasion, I had to come in and apologize for my behavior. Two times come to mind, involving Professor Gesser's Mind Numbing Ale and Heine Brothers Stout. Let’s leave it at that.

Over the years, Worthog members and servers came and went. The atmosphere changed. Some of the changes good, and some maybe not so good. The beer changed, the menu changed. Sometimes my fellow Worthogs, as well as myself, did our share of grumbling about it. However, most came back sooner or later, because they simply missed the old crowd.

I think back on the closeness I felt with some of those Worthogs just before Thanksgiving and Christmas as we shared our last Pumpkin Spice or Ebenezer before the Holiday.

I almost forgot about the smoking ban and how we feared that it would “kill off” the bar business. So it goes …

And who can forget the ones we lost. Tony, Don, and Jimmy to name a few. Rest in Peace guys.

I will never forget the BBC and feel like I am losing an old friend. In closing, I will say, I felt the need to put in writing my feelings, and the sadness I am experiencing, is real. I hope that someone can find a way to keep together this special group of people. That’s all I got. Farewell.

Original Worthog member 151

Timmy “Ingy” Ingram, Prospect Kentucky

ON THE AVENUES: The Six Session Beers of Session Beer Day.

ON THE AVENUES: The Six Session Beers of Session Beer Day.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

Thursday, April 7 is Session Beer Day 2016. It's one of my favorite holidays of the year, and so I'll be celebrating in appropriate fashion. After all, there is plenty of time.

I used to be a pro beer drinker. Now I'm a pro bono beer drinker, learning new things every single day, like this: Before you can be bought out, someone must pay you. Remember that. Turns out it's important. Who'd have known?

Meanwhile, here's the session beer story.

A Session Beer Day Brewery Crawl on Thursday, April 7.

On April 7, I'll start before lunch (circa 11:00 a.m.) and traverse downtown Louisville on foot, walking from brewery to brewery and having a session beer at each. Most usually have at least one 4.5% choice on draft. The brewery list, traveling roughly west to east, would be: Falls City (Over the 9), Gordon Biersch, BBC 3rd Street, Against the Grain, Goodwood and Akasha.

For all intents and purposes, session beer consciousness as we know it today originates with Lew Bryson's Session Beer Project.

For our purposes, 'session beer' is defined as a beer that is:

• 4.5% alcohol by volume or less
• flavorful enough to be interesting
• balanced enough for multiple pints
• conducive to conversation
• reasonably priced

Now for the preview, one downtown Louisville brewery at a time.

Within the past month, Kentucky Common has been added to the Falls City brewery's flagship roster. The brewery shares space on S. 10th Street with Old 502 Winery and Over the 9, a gastropub serving house beer and wines as well as a full roster of spirits.

Last year's revised BJCP guidelines include Kentucky Common as an historical beer, with perhaps the clearest description yet offered of a style that remains nebulous in the minds of many -- including mine. For a very long time, I desperately wanted to make a "sour mash" connection, but the evidence simply does not support it.

Modern characterizations of the style often mention a lactic sourness or sour mashing, but extensive brewing records from the larger breweries at the turn of the century have no indication of long acid rests, sour mashing, or extensive conditioning. This is likely a modern homebrewer invention, based on the supposition that since indigenous Bourbon distillers used a sour mash, beer brewers must also have used this process. No contemporaneous records indicate sour mashing or that the beer had a sour profile; rather the opposite, that the beer was brewed as an inexpensive, present-use ale.

Following is Falls City's own description.

Falls City Kentucky Common

What happens when bourbon lovers brew beer

The Kentucky Common is a style of beer that started in Louisville. At one point, more than 75 percent of Louisvillians drank Common before the style disappeared during Prohibition. Today we craft this rich, easy-drinking ale with corn, barley and rye -- just the way it used to be made.

STYLE: Pre-Prohibition Ale
HOPS: Crystal, Perle
ABV: 4.0%
IBU: 20
AROMA: Complex, malty, unique


It's the perfect choice to kick off this inaugural session brewery crawl -- historic, local and tasty.

In 2015, I surveyed Gordon Biersch's Louisville location for Food & Dining Magazine. In recent years, I've come full circle, back to lagers -- and Biersch does good lager.

Consequently, unlike some other national brewery concepts, all Gordon Biersch house beers right here in Louisville, where chain or not, the company helped launch the Kentucky Guild of Brewers, working alongside the state’s independent small brewers.

Brewer Nicholas Landers tells me that a batch of Schwarzbier is on the way, and strictly speaking, it would make a better tipple for Session Beer Day at 4.3% abv (remember, I'm aiming for 4.5% abv and below).

However, it looks as though my "certainly close enough for rock and roll" selection will be Golden Export.

Our lightest, most refreshing lager, delicately hopped with a clean, crisp finish. The demand was so high when it was first brewed in the 1870s, that it was "exported" to other regions.

Original gravity: 11.5° Plato
Alcohol by volume: 5.00%
Bitterness units: 17

The BJCP (2015) has this to say about German Helles Exportbier, and I concur: "Less finishing hops and more body than a Pils but more bitter than a Helles."

Oldtimers like me still think of "Export" in conjunction with brands from Dortmund (DAB and Dortmunder Union), though these aren't seen very often. Arguably the best known regional example of this style is Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, out of Cleveland.

Next stop will be Bluegrass Brewing Company's 3rd Street location, across from the Yum Brands Arena. Has it really been five years? I included the recently opened Bluegrass Brewing Company 3rd & Main location as part of my Food & Dining Magazine column in the 4th quarter, 2010 edition. The issue isn't yet available on line, but I reprinted it here in early 2011.

For the new Arena BBC (300 W. Main), directly south of the KFC Yum! Center, the ever industrious Hagans took on their most labor-intensive start-up project to date, and in a truly venerable structure. Dining, drinking and brewing space to the tune of $1.4 million now occupies the basement and first floor of the seven-story Louisville Orchestra Building, formerly known as the Kentucky National Bank, a splendid 120-year-old example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This was so long ago that Against the Grain didn't yet exist. The AtG boys still worked for BBC, and Sam Cruz showed me the new BBC brewery at 3rd & Main.

Altbier is one of the most delightful experiences you'll ever have during German beer hunting, particularly in Düsseldorf. Trust me. The late Michael Jackson provides background in an excerpt from his pocket guide.

For my purposes today, a comprehensive overview of BBC's Altbier isn't necessary. It should suffice to say that it has been a staple for a very long time, since David Pierce's original tenure at BBC, perhaps following our shared "Sticke" experience at Zum Uerige in 1995.

See? Best by 2001. Like I said, it's been a while since BBC Altbier appeared. For a while, it was tagged as Amber.

Now it's both.

BBC Altbier Amber Ale

Altbier, literally translated as "Old Style" beer, is a classic German ale. BBC Altbier is brewed with additions of Munich, wheat, caramel, and chocolate malts creating a delicate, but flavorful malt profile. This delicious amber colored session beer is balanced with additions of tradtional spicy German hops creating a light and floral bouquet to compliment its complex malt profile.
• ABV: 4.20% • IBU: 24

A few long blocks east on Main Street will bring me to Against the Grain, and what can be said about Against the Grain that Against the Grain hasn't already said about itself?

Well, there's this: In spite of the brewery's image as purveyor of crazed liquid extremities, it maintains a Session tap at its Slugger Field headquarters at all times.

Wanna drink some beer? No more should the light beer drinker fear craft brewed beers! At AtG we brew a beer for the session drinker, the light beer drinker, and simply, the new beer drinker. Our session beers typically contain no higher than 5 percent ABV, and feature a balance between malt and hop characters (ingredients) and, typically, a clean finish - a combination of which creates a beer with high drinkability. In short, one that does what it should. Our session beers are light bodied, delicious, and thirst quenching. Come on in and Drink up!

The AtG website currently lists two choices. Either of them works for me, although I lean toward the Belgian.

“NECKHOLE AMERICAN LAGER”

My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.

We remember the good ol' days, when beers were beers and titties were real. Ya know? With the good tan lines on 'em? Those were the days, and this beer takes ya there. Two-row American Pilsner malt and a hint of Munich malt lend a light, bready body. With just enough Citra to balance and add a hint of fruit, it's easy-drinking. It's uncomplicated. Don't over-think it, just pour it down your neckhole.

ABV: 4.8%
IBU: 70.2
OG: 11.0P

Ironically, I used to work for a brewery that produced a 4% "Tafelbier." It'd be nice to taste another version. By this point in the walk, it may be necessary to procure some pork belly on a stick.

“SHO'NUFF”

The Beer For Bad Mo-Fo's

This Belgian table bier is a traditional entry into the Session category. It is meant to be consumed with food but also stands well on its own. When you need to drink the whole meal and want something with plenty of flavor but don’t want to get shit-twisted from the alcohol, this is a great choice. Look for a smooth malty body with hints of biscuit and rye. The hops are subdued and mostly present as a bittering agent. The yeast plays a prominent role in creating bready and lightly fruity notes.

ABV: 4.0%
IBU: 13.5
OG: 10.8P

After one final long block east on Main, there's Goodwood Brewing Company, located on the Beer Corner of Main & Clay, as mentioned recently here: THE POTABLE CURMUDGEON: Two decades of Beer Corner barrels.

Goodwood’s identity dates to 2015 and a rebranding of the entity once noted for brewing Bluegrass Brewing Company’s beers under license for packaging and distribution. The brewery’s new name is fully intentional, meant to inform beer lovers of the roles played by wood and water.

“We became Goodwood because we are known throughout the region and industry as experts in barrel aged products,” says Goodwood’s CEO, Ted Mitzlaff.

I'm an outspoken advocate of quality lager, and Louisville Lager fits the bill precisely. It also falls perfectly into the session alcohol content range. The shame is that I'll have time for only one, because Akasha will be beckoning, just around the corner in NuLu.

Louisville Lager

PUT GOOD WOOD ON IT

Goodwood Louisville Lager is the first and only beer brewed with 100% Kentucky-grown grains. And, in a tip of the cap to our Slugger-making neighbors downtown, white ash – common in baseball bats – is used to enhance brewing. This results in a light-bodied, perfectly balanced lager with a sweet finish delivered by those Kentucky grains.

4.2 ABV/35 IBU

If all goes as planned, I should be arriving at Akasha Brewing Company around opening at 5:00 p.m. Over at Lew Bryson's Session Beer Project, Akasha's Session Beer Day observance scored some ink from the maestro himself, and I love it.

One of Akasha's owners is Rick Stidham, whom I consider not just a friend, but also one of the most thoughtful and authentic personages in local brewing circles -- and we have so many fine people hereabouts.

When it became sadly evident to me that I'd be unable to continue the tradition of Session Head at NABC, I asked Rick about the chances of Akasha having some session-strength beers on tap for Session Beer Day. He was enthused, and because of his gracious support, the idea of a Session Beer Day Brewery Crawl germinated.

Although I've committed to full pours of small beers on Session Day, one at each stop, the rich bounty at Akasha may compel me to consume halvers, because 3 + 1 = 2.

Akasha American Pale with Brett
Sour Ale/Wild Ale · 4.2% ABV
Funky and fruity, brewed with Nugget and a blend of citrus-fruity hops, fermented with California Ale yeast and six strains of Brettanomyces simultaneously.

Akasha Belgian Blonde
Golden Ale/Blond Ale · 4.5% ABV
Our Belgian Blonde is inspired by, but by no means a clone of, one of our all-time favorite beers from our friend, Yvan: De la Senne Taras Boulba. Dry, hoppy, and quenching.

Akasha English Mild with Brett
Mild Ale · 3.1% ABV
English Milds of long ago had Incidental Brett in them. We put Intentional Brett in ours. Dry, drinkable, light in body, dark in color.

Not only those three, but there's a guest from Monnik Beer Co. in Schnitzelburg, roughly two and a half miles south of Akasha. I'm glad Monnik Mild George (English Brown Ale, 3.5%) will be at Akasha, because after six beers ...

At any rate, 3 + 1 = 2 ... or, four halves to make two full pints. There's also a chance that Rick can join me for some of the afternoon stops. That would be serious fun.

There's a 40% chance of showers in the morning on Thursday, with clouds in the afternoon and a high of 56 degrees. In short, delightful Irish weather for a brewery crawl through downtown Louisville.

I'm @newalbanian on Twitter, and will be using #sessionbeerday as a hashtag. My Instagram account is The New Albanian, and I usually post photos to Facebook.

Holidaze. What's not to love?

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March 31: ON THE AVENUES: Abortion? Wichita, or maybe Targu Mures.

March 24: ON THE AVENUES: Introducing New Albany Craft Beer Week, May 27 – June 4, 2016.

March 17: ON THE AVENUES: Erin Go Blagh -- a timeless classic for a green-hued holiday.

March 10: ON THE AVENUES: A funny thing happened on the way to a city council nightcap.