THE BEER BEAT: Fest of Ale returns on June 2, so please allow me to revive an idea for pre-fest fun next year.

The time has come to show some love for this year's edition of Keg Liquors Fest of Ale on Saturday, June 2, which I'm delighted to do because the event is richly deserving of praise, but before we go there, a few words pertaining to future hopes, with a link's worth of background from last year.

THE BEER BEAT: Fest of Ale is almost here, though New Albany Craft Beer Week wasn't.

In 2016, I took a stab at organizing a New Albany Craft Beer Week to precede Fest of Ale, with the festival itself being the exclamation mark to the preceding week's craft-beer-related frolicking -- tastings, pairings, food, music, education, and whatever else springs to mind for linking together into a week-long program of beer-related entertainment.

Beer weeks are a fine cross-organizational, team-building device; they're fun, people enjoy them, and they're exercised widely. Because beer weeks involve numerous participating bars, eateries and breweries, they can be a bear to organize.

Ours didn't come together in 2017 and probably won't in 2018, but if Andrew Nicholson and Kelly Winslow (especially these two) are reading ... there's always 2019. I'd be happy to give you both the rundown.

Meanwhile, 2018 will be the third year for Fest of Ale at the Riverfront Amphitheater. Gear up and get ready.

Thousands of fun loving beer drinking folks from Southern Indiana and Louisville gather annually, rain or shine for the this popular annual “Fest of Ale” event, presented by Keg Liquors to sample beers from around the world, socialize with friends, and raise funds for our children in need! This grassroots fun Fest promoting independent breweries and businesses offers over 250 amazing craft and import ales for sample, and raises thousands of dollars for the Crusade for Children.

The first big mile marker is the annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale Ticket Presale at The Exchange

TICKET PRE-SALE EVENT AT The Exchange pub + kitchen
Wednesday, April 11th from 5pm-8pm
Save $10 plus the online ticket fee. ONE TIME ONLY.

PreSale Tickets at The Exchange = $30 (Save $10 + online fee)
Tickets on sale Friday, April 13 @ BOTH Keg Liquors Locations = $40 (Save $5 +online fee)
Tickets on sale Friday, April 13 online = $45+ online fee
Tickets day of (if available) = $55

The 13th Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale benefits the Crusade for Children. Location: New Albany Amphitheater
Date: June 2 from 3-7PM. Designated drivers are free to enter.

The Facebook page: Keg Liquors Fest of Ale
The web site: THE KEG LIQUORS FEST OF ALE

Keg Liquors Locations:
New Albany, 4304 Charlestown Rd, New Albany, IN · (812) 948-0444
Clarksville, 617 E Lewis and Clark Pkwy, Clarksville, IN · (812) 283-3988

THE BEER BEAT: Fest of Ale is almost here, though New Albany Craft Beer Week wasn't.

(Apologies for the premature publication)

In terms of unique hits, the 2016 debut in New Albany of Keg's Fest of Ale was one of the top stories of the year.

Keg Liquors Fest of Ale will move to New Albany's Riverfront Amphitheater in 2016.

In terms of media exposure, both traditional and social, no one does it better than Todd, Tisha and their helpers. For this reason, I concede to a degree of sloth in getting the word out in 2017 (see press release below).

No event ever "promotes itself," though not unlike NABC's annual Gravity Head, Fest of Ale comes awfully close. It's an area classic.

This said, regular readers may have noticed a certain absence in the run-up. The fact that nary a word has been breathed to me with regard to the omission probably can be interpreted in several ways. More about these in a moment.

In 2016, I took a stab at organizing a New Albany Craft Beer Week to precede Fest of Ale, and to culminate with it. It's a common promotional device, and one exercised widely. It didn't happen in New Albany this year.

I plead to partial responsibility, citing extenuating circumstances. My mother's final illness and death sapped me tremendously, and there for a little while, I wasn't quite myself. The April "spring break" trip I was sure we'd have to cancel became a coda of sorts, dedicated to recovery. By then it was late April, with too little time to get the New Albany Craft Beer Week's ball back into the air.

Still, I might have thrown something together, and didn't. No one noticed, and that's telling. Perhaps there's no need for such promotion; it certainly doesn't hurt my feelings if this is the case. The right time for it may not have come -- or is "craft" beer's acceptance level such that it isn't needed?

As with the New Albany Restaurant and Bar Association's lack of forward progress, it might be that the owners and managers most likely to spearhead the event are too busy with their everyday working worlds, which is perfectly understandable.

Or, as a dissident and resident civic contrarian, I'm just not the one to take on such an organizational responsibility. Outspokenness comes with a price, and resistance doesn't pay a living wage.

And while I remain a business owner until my partners buy me out (or, as is increasingly likely, lawyers actively intervene), not being involved with business on a daily basis has an isolating effect -- although planning for a new venture continues.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: These aren't complaints, just as dispassionate an analysis as I can muster. In my experience, it's seldom the case that one big reason explains an occurrence. Rather, several little reasons achieve critical mass.

Overall, my verdict is that without a compelling need or demand for a New Albany Craft Beer Week, there was little reason to stage it.

Que sera sera.

For those planning on attending Fest of Ale, enjoy.

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12th Annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale

June 3rd, 2017
3:00 PM -7:00 PM
New Albany Amphitheater

Time is almost up for you to get your tickets for the 2017 Fest of Ale. We are in our second year at the New Albany Amphitheater and it has been a fantastic spot for our festival.

Thousands of fun loving beer drinking folks from Southern Indiana and Louisville gather annually, rain or shine for the this popular annual “Fest of Ale” event, presented by Keg Liquors to sample beers from around the world, socialize with friends, and raise funds for our children in need! This grassroots fun Fest promoting independent breweries and businesses offers over 250 amazing craft and import ales for sample, and raises thousands of dollars for the Crusade for Children.

Tickets are $40 in advance and $50 at the gate on the day of the event. Tickets are available at either Keg Liquors locations, or online at www.kegliquors.com.

Don't miss the area's best beer festival!

Keg Liquors
Keeping Kentuckiana Beer'd since 1976
http://www.kegliquors.com

617 E. Lewis and Clark Parkway
Clarksville, IN 47129
812-283-3988

4304 Charlestown Road
New Albany, IN 47150
812-948-0444

Updated New Albany Craft Beer Week Calendar, 2016.

Kindly be reminded that there'll be daily postings at the New Albany Craft Beer Week blog through June 5. Here's the schedule; there are some good events, and maybe more to come.

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New Albany Craft Beer Week Calendar, 2016

Sunday, May 29
Boomtown Ball & Festival
A New Albanian Brewing Company beer and others will be available for purchase.

Tuesday, May 31
Beer dinner at Gospel Bird with Falls City Beer (details TBA)

Wednesday, June 1
Surf & Turf Tap Takeover (Sierra Nevada and The Exchange)

Thursday, June 2
Monty PINT-thon Night at Floyd County Brewing Company

Saturday, June 4
Keg Liquors Fest of Ale
100+ Breweries, 7 Craft Beer Distributors, 8 Fine Wine Distributors, over 250 craft and import beers, wine, food, charity raffle and more.

Saturday, June 4
The official Keg Liquors Fest of Ale after party will take place at The Exchange pub + kitchen.

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New Albany Craft Beer Week is a celebration of small, independent and traditional in brewing, and the community.

After a bit of fine-tuning, here's a preview with more substance.

New Albany Craft Beer Week: It's a celebration of small, independent and traditional in brewing, and the community.

We're starting small in 2016, and the idea will grow in years to come. The important thing is to get the ball aloft, and not think that event need to be fully formed the first time out.

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

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

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

Earlier in 2016, it was revealed that the annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale will relocate to New Albany’s Riverfront Amphitheater. For the past decade, Fest of Ale has been held in Clarksville.

The 2016 date for Keg Liquors Fest of Ale is Saturday, June 4, and the event is sure to attract around 1,500 craft beer devotees, with room for future growth. As in the past, proceeds are to be donated to the Crusade for Children, and if experience is any indication, there will be stellar selection of craft beer samples.

Another riverside festival dominated local headlines earlier this week, as the city of Jeffersonville announced it would be hosting Abbey Road on the River (an important Beatles-themed music festival) in 2017. Next year it will shift to Indiana from its current home on the Belvedere in downtown Louisville.

My guess is that many readers would rank Abbey Road on the River above Keg Liquors Fest of Ale in approximate order of importance. I don’t think so, and although I’m as much of a Beatles fan as anyone, it is my opinion that New Albany comes out ahead with craft beer.

That’s because there’s quite a lot of craft beer in New Albany these days, which in itself is a statement of fact once deemed unlikely, even by me.

Fest of Ale exists because of craft beer’s explosive growth. Ratings regularly confirm Keg Liquors as a major regional retail player when it comes to craft beer. Craft beer market penetration in Indiana is in the top twenty, nationwide, and there are 120 operational Hoosier breweries – three of them in New Albany.

Taken together, these factors combine to create considerable potential synergy for New Albany. Especially downtown, we’re already is a craft beer hotbed, far more so than Jeffersonville.

Fest of Ale’s presence in New Albany provides the reinforcement of an exclamation mark for what has become a formidable daily craft beer presence.

Just look at a map of downtown New Albany. Draw a line from Floyd County Brewing to Dragon King’s Daughter, then from DKD to Gospel Bird, and finally from Gospel Bird back to FCBC. There are somewhere between 75 and 100 draft spouts inside this triangle – to be sure, not all pouring craft beers, but perhaps as many as 80% are.

That’s big. If you were here ten years ago, you understand how big -- and I’m purposefully excluding the remainder of the city: NABC Pizzeria & Public House, Donum Dei Brewery, Bridge Liquors, Sunset Spirits … the list is large, indeed.

As to why this matters – why the existence of small, independently owned breweries constitutes hopeful and helpful tends – consider these words from an instructive essay in All About Beer magazine.

Breweries aren’t like the average industrial plant. They are people magnets, bringing folks in who are curious to try a pint of locally made IPA. In fairly short order, breweries can create little pockets of prosperity in cities that can (and often do) radiate out into the neighborhood. Pretty soon, other businesses see the bustle and consider moving in, too. It doesn’t hurt that breweries often find run-down parts of towns that have great buildings. Once a brewery moves in and refurbishes an old building, it reveals the innate promise of adjacent buildings to prospective renters.

In New Albany, we can extend this analogy to any number of eateries and bars that have opened during the past decade. They cannot achieve economic development miracles all by themselves, but when community pillars are unable to muster more compelling strategies, food and drink mark a good place to start.

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The advent of Keg Liquors Fest of Ale in New Albany provides an intriguing opportunity to expand our daily municipal celebration of craft beer by incorporating a powerful promotional tool.

It’s called New Albany Craft Beer Week.

Provisional graphic. Mr. Thrasher, we need you.

Many such weeks are honored across America. They vary in size and scope, and range across districts, cities and states, but conceptually, there is relative uniformity.

The idea is to educate and disseminate craft beer consciousness, with an ulterior motive of letting consumers know more about the establishments and people who make it all possible.

In 2016, the New Albany Restaurant & Bar Association (NARBA) already is planning a New Albany Restaurant & Bar Week to bridge the days between Indie Fest (Saturday, September 24) with the Harvest Homecoming Parade and NARBA’s pop-up food and beer garden (Biers on Parade) at the Farmers Market (Saturday, October 1).

New Albany Restaurant & Bar Week in autumn is intended to emphasize food, and now we have a natural linkage in springtime to do the same for craft beer, hence New Albany Craft Beer Week.

At some point down the road, perhaps Gary can organize a wine fest in summer, or Matt something to do with cider in winter. The pairing possibilities are endless.

Though as yet unconfirmed, the city of New Albany’s third annual Boomtown Ball should fall on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, which is May 29. As noted, Keg Liquors Fest of Ale will be on June 4. Consequently, we’ll aim for a New Albany Craft Beer Week kickoff on Friday, May 27.

From May 27 through June 4, there will be numerous opportunities for restaurants, breweries, bars and retailers to build events and promotions around craft beer -- tastings, special releases and beer dinners, perhaps involving wholesale and brewer representatives, who’ll be in town for Fest of Ale, anyway.

Obviously, both Boomtown Ball and Keg Liquors Fest of Ale are stand-alone entities, each with its own playbook for participation. I’m speaking here of weaving complementary craft beer showcases in and around these bigger ticket draws.

This entire idea has risen spontaneously, and NARBA doesn’t have a comprehensive plan for it. However, several of us have been involved with similar undertakings in the past, as I was with Louisville Craft Beer Week’s launch in 2010.

NARBA’s basic task for New Albany Craft Beer Week will be to collect information, direct traffic, coordinate and do the best we can to spread the word. In the coming days, we’ll get to work designing a poster (I’m looking at you, Dave Thrasher) and some rudimentary semblance of a web site or Facebook page.

Owners and operators: Merely plan your event to interest the clientele you already have. This needn’t be nuclear physics. If Bell’s is your big seller, mention New Albany Craft Beer Week to your Bell’s sales rep, and ask for suggestions. They’re eager to serve you.

Take them up on it.

A tremendous opportunity awaits. We can expand New Albany’s footprint on the metropolitan beer map, spread the word about our incredible local food and drink community, and have some fun.

Your ideas are critical, so let me have ‘em.

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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.

March 3: ON THE AVENUES: Since 1960, outside looking in.

February 29: ON THE AVENUES REPRISE: Die hard the Hunter, or the political "impossibility" of rental property registration in New Albany (2015).