A baseball card, so to speak.

Beak's Best remained on tap at Louisville Slugger Field on Sunday evening. In dealing with a stadium concessionaire, there are no sure things, and so I can't predict whether NABC will continue as a progressive beer option as the baseball season proceeds. With palpable optimism, our artist in residence, Tony Beard, has produced this baseball-themed homage to Beak's and its namesake, Dr. Donald Barry. Don is returning to New Albany later this week for his annual visit prior to decamping for Europe, where he'll enjoy more favorable exchange rates.

Is tonight the night for NABC at Louisville Slugger Field?

We think so ...

... and to make sure, I'll be attending this evening's opening game of an 8-day, 8-game homestand.

Portable section 115 concessions placement information comes to me from Centerplate itself, via River City Distributing, which puts the location in the same spot as the Browning's tap this year and last. See the Centerplate pricing .pdf for further details.

I don't know what this implies for Browning's. I do know that Centerplate ordered four kegs of Beak's Best, and also expressed interest in purchasing, or already has, kegs from Kentucky Ale. Speaking for myself alone, it still strikes me as best to have more than one craft brew in a stand. In any event, I'm happy not to travel all the way to the berm for a craft draft, as we used to do for Redhook whilst grimacing all the way and back ... and not at the price.

Honestly, I don't know what to expect in all this. The struggle for better beer in the ballpark has lasted for 15 years or longer -- long before NABC had beer of its own to vend -- with periodic (usually short-lived) victories, and plenty of disappointments along the way. Make that: A whole slew of disappointments, and a host of very lean years. Getting better beer into the ballpark has been a professional crusade for so long, I'm not sure what winning the fight would feel like. Is this truly a new era?

I'll abandon my customary jaudiced expression and be there tonight. I might be first in line.

The Beak is Back -- with live music, as Bank Street Brewhouse celebrates NA 1 Night Stand this Saturday, August 29.

The Beak is Back ... and I wrote a press release to mark the occasion!

On Saturday, August 29, NABC’s Bank Street Brewhouse is participating in the inaugural NA 1 Night Stand, a beer walk through New Albany’s revitalizing downtown -- and we're celebrating with Beak's Best and live music.

The Beak is Beak’s Best, NABC’s session-strength American Bitter, which is named in honor of globetrotting historian and educator Don "Beak" Barry. Beak’s Best will be available all day Saturday at the special price of $3.25 for a 20-oz pint.

Like its namesake, Beak’s Best is fond of traveling (albeit in kegs) and will be available in September for distribution in Louisville through River City Distributing, and in Southern Indiana through Cavalier Distributing and NABC. In fact, the Beak debuted in Louisville today at three pubs (and Bob's Old 15-B at a fourth): New Albanian Brewing Co. in Louisville.

We call Beak’s Best an “American Bitter” because of the Cascade hops. Otherwise, there is a thoroughly English underpinning, both in terms of malt and yeast. It's one of the original NABC recipes, dating back to 2002. Our other NABC staples will be on draft, too: Elector, Bob's Old 15-B and Tunnel Vision, among others.

On Saturday during NA 1 Night Stand, there’ll be music on the North Patio, soon to be known as the WCTU Memorial Patio*:

5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.: Clint Ackerman, solo acoustic covers. Clint's appearance takes on a whole new urgency since news broke today that Oasis, the British rock band that both Clint and I adore, is breaking up.

8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.: The Outfit, free jazz from Louisville, and a group (guitar, bass and percussion, I believe) that I'm very much looking forward to hearing for the first time.

Remember also there is no finer kitchen on the Sunny Side than Chef Josh Lehman’s and his crew's, and it will be open until 10:00 p.m. as always, serving the innovative cuisine that has garnered so much acclaim since Bank Street's opening in March, 2009: Chef Josh and his staff are the MVPs of Bank Street's first six months.

Bank Street Brewhouse is helping to redefine downtown New Albany. Come down on August 29 and see how ... and support NA 1 Night Stand.

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* To me, it’s hallowed ground, and begs for the erection of an historical marker, because for at least a half-century prior to being razed in 1955, the house that stood at 417 Bank Street was the headquarters of the New Albany chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Now it is the Bank Street Brewhouse’s patio and parking lot. The WCTU helped give us a ban on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages, and we’re enjoying pints of ale where members once advocated for the legislation of morality.