Whole lotta steamboats goin' on.

On Friday evening, I took a respite from Harvest Homecoming to pour beer samples in Jeffersonville at the Howard Steamboat Museum's annual fundraiser.

Next weekend, it will be steamboats yet again, this time upriver in Madison as the town hosts a celebration commemorating the bicentennial of the first steamboat journey up the Ohio River and back by Nicholas Roosevelt in 1811. Hanover College’s River Institute is coordinating a series of steamboat bicentennial events.

At the Soup, Stew, Chili and Brew in Madison next Saturday (October 15), NABC will unveil a "Steamboat Common" beer brewed collaboratively with our fellow Hoosier brewers at Great Crescent (Aurora) and Main Street (Evansville). The eating and drinking runs from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with festivities including tasting and judging soup, stew and chili, and live music. The Steamboat Common formulation likely will be the model for NABC's New Albany bicentennial beer, coming in 2013.

Lastly, keep this book in mind: “Full Steam Ahead: Reflections on the Impact of the First Steamboat on the Ohio River 1811-2011” from the Indiana Historical Society Press. It is a book of essays edited by Rita Kohn, the Hoosier state’s First Lady of craft beer appreciation, who to the surprise of no one was the motive force behind NABC's commemorative brewing of Steamboat Common. As always, we'll drink a toast to Rita with the tapping of the very first keg.

Rita Kohn and "True Brew" at Bank Street Brewhouse this afternoon, 4:00 p.m.

Don't forget: "True Brew" author Rita Kohn is at Bank Street Brewhouse today at 4:00 p.m.: Buy the book, she signs it, and we'll all enjoy a Progressive Pint.

Rita Kohn and "True Brew" in NA on August 7th. Buy it, she signs it, and we'll all enjoy a Progressive Pint.

"True Brew: A Guide to Craft Beer in Indiana" is a wonderful account written by a fascinating lady (and prolific writer). Rita's testimony was central as "Sunday growler" legislation progressed. Not a politician dared contradict her, and it was inspiring. Here's Rita, photographed by me earlier this summer during a brewers guild meeting at the Broad Ripple Brewing Company. The proud author poses with an advance copy of her book.

Rita will be in town on the 7th to autograph, discuss and help sell copies of her book. The appearance is courtesy of Destinations Booksellers, with whom NABC is promoting it. We decided to do it at Bank Street Brewhouse for a very simple reason: What good is a book about beer, without beer? Trust me when I say that even if you don't like beer, you'll want to come and meet Rita.

Rita's book has inspired me to try my hand at an extended volume, perhaps collected essays. How's this for a title: "Everything You Know About Beer Is Wrong."

Or, "Lite Never Makes Right."