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

Look at the head on that!

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

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

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

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

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

 ... then Schlenkerla.

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

I'm very fortunate, indeed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There'll be no regrets.

Louisville Orchestra recap: A big crowd for Rimsky-Korsakov at the Ogle Center on Saturday night (and beers at Pearl Street Taphouse afterward).

Previously: Louisville Orchestra at the Ogle Center on November 11, performing music of Rimsky-Korsakov.

These many years listening to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Festival Overture, and I had no idea he was an atheist. This preview accompanies the video (above).

Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 (1888)

A concert overture by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), based on themes from Russian Orthodox liturgical chant. In particular, Rimsky-Korsakov uses chant melodies from the "Obikhod" collection, referencing a number of biblical passages including Psalm 68 and Mark 16. The intention in this overture is not devotional - indeed, Rimsky-Korsakov was an atheist - but he attempted to capture "the legendary and heathen aspect of the holiday, and the transition from the solemnity and mystery of the evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious celebrations of Easter Sunday morning" (quoted from the composer's autobiography). The piece is also notable for its use of the unusual 5/2 and 3/1 time signatures. This recording was made by conductor Jos van Immerseel and the Anima Eterna Orchestra, which plays on period instruments.

On Saturday, the Louisville Orchestra performed at the Ogle Center on the campus of Indiana University Southeast, performing two of the composer's most popular works.

Both crowd and orchestra were large; there were only a few empty seats scattered among the spectators, and something like 55 musicians on stage, including six (!) percussionists.

As Gerard Schwartz explains, deploying the skills of each one of these musicians is a hallmark of Rimsky-Korsakov's compositions.

The music took me back to the early 1980s, when I made cassette copies of the two works and listened to them while planning adventures in Europe. There was the excitement of a full house, and the enthusiasm of Teddy Abrams. All cylinders, I'm telling you. We love the Neighborhood Series; next up is Brahms, on January 27.

As an added bonus, the LO's new album was being sold in the lobby after the performance, and we snatched a copy ($20.

All In is number one on Billboard.

In our first recording release in nearly 30 years, the Louisville Orchestra reached #1 on the Traditional Classical Chart in Billboard in its debut week. Titled All In, the album was released by the US-based classical label Decca Gold and is the second #1 release for the company since its launch earlier this year.

Graham Parker, President of Universal Music Classics and Decca Gold, says, “We are so thrilled with the success of All In. The city of Louisville fully embraced their orchestra, their music director and the orchestra’s first album in nearly thirty years.”

Released on September 22, All In features a new work composed by Music Director Teddy Abrams, “Unified Field,” as well as Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with Teddy as soloist. Chanteuse Storm Large joins Teddy and the LO for three songs: a Cole Porter classic, one of her own original works, and a song by Teddy.

Teddy says of the album, “We have selected works that deliberately join together styles of music in a pluralistic – or American — way The strength of our country’s art is both its great diversity of expression and our relationship with populism — the music of the people.”

Vocalist Storm Large, who has collaborated frequently with Teddy and the LO, is a musician, actor, playwright, and author. She has performed with Pink Martini, and appeared with the San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and made her Carnegie Hall debut singing Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with the Detroit Symphony, which she also performed with the LO.

The Louisville Orchestra has a long and robust history of commissioning and recording new works, particularly in the early 20th century. Important works by major composers were commissioned, premiered, and recorded for worldwide release on First Edition Records. For generations, these recordings made the Louisville Orchestra revered as a leading voice in contemporary orchestral music around the world. With All In, Teddy and the Louisville Orchestra revive a legacy and continue the quest to be the “Most Interesting Orchestra on the Planet.”

Following the concert, we enjoyed a nightcap (Bell's Double Cream Stout) at Pearl Street Taphouse in Jeffersonville. It's becoming our go-to place; downtown New Albany has much to offer that Jeff doesn't, but not a draft beer list as good as Pearl Street Taphouse's. As an aside, Parlour has a fine list, too.

I miss the old days at the Public House, when Sidney and a select contingent of his orchestral mates would drop by for pints following their gigs. Fun times, indeed.

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

I'm delighted for Kelly and Teri that Pearl Street Taphouse (that's downtown Jeffersonville, folks, not downtown New Albany) has come out of the gate so strong. Now comes the long haul ... and best wishes for it.

If all goes as planned, my inaugural visit to Pearl Street Taphouse will be on Wednesday during a projected pub crawl of Jeffersonville.

Pearl Street Taphouse slings good beer, and the food follows suit, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)

 ... Along with the focus on craft beer, with 24 taps, there’s also a concise menu I found to be surprisingly tasty based on a couple of visits. It’s more than just beer at Pearl Street, even if the menu is a fairly simple thing with bar snacks, sandwiches and a couple of salads.

In a previous article at IL, Gibson shared the back story.

In a former home in downtown Jeffersonville — a structure that has survived fires and the 1937 flood — a new craft beer-themed bar, Pearl Street Taphouse, will open Saturday, Dec. 3.

The building, owned by Jeffersonville Main Street Inc., originally was two blocks away, but it is one of four homes moved and zoned for commercial use by the nonprofit revitalization organization. After Pearl Street Taphouse owners Kelly Conn and Teri Taylor looked for locations for their venture in the Highlands and in downtown New Albany, Conn one day decided to check out the building at 407 Pearl St.