PINTS & UNION PORTFOLIO: NABC's Naughty Claus makes a pre-Christmas visit.

Tony's Saturnalia
artwork, 2011 edition.

Many regular readers know that my 15 minutes of fame (and about as many loose farthings of "fortune") derive from a quarter-century's tenure as co-owner of the New Albanian Brewing Company's original Pizzeria & Public House -- originally Sportstime Pizza and Rich O's, as they're still referenced colloquially.

NABC's Bank Street Brewhouse project came 17 years into this gig, and it proved to be somewhat less enduring, at least from a financial standpoint. Creatively and artistically, I'll still put BSB up against anyone and anything, rather like a rock band that made critically acclaimed albums but never found enough of an audience to fill stadiums.

But in capitalism, one always is obliged to follow the money, and after ten years at BSB the trail went cold. As Kurt Vonnegut wrote, "so it goes."

Back in the salad days, having brewer extraordinaire David Pierce working in the Bank Street Brewhouse meant a succession of excellent beers, both everyday and seasonal, and of course David had ample assistance from Jared Williamson, Jesse Williams, Josh Hill, Pete Fingerson, Ben Minton and numerous others along the way.

However it was Jesse and Jared who produced the the first Naughty Claus (spiced) Winter Warmer all the way back in November of 2006, working at the original pub brewery on Grant Line Road. Naughty Claus Mach I debuted at the holiday season draft beer fest known as Saturnalia.

NABC’s Saturnalia is our time to emphasize festive draft beers for the holidaze ...

In pre-Christian Rome, Saturnalia was the annual winter solstice celebration coinciding with the feast days for Saturn (the god of sowing and the harvest), Consus (god of the storage bin) and Opa (goddess of plenty).

Many of our contemporary winter holiday traditions derive from Saturnalia’s pagan roots, including the hanging of wreaths and garlands, donations to the needy, prayers for peace, time off work to be enjoyed with family, and of course eating, drinking and merriment.

NABC pays tribute to these ancient pagan origins with Saturnalia. Dozens of special kegs from the USA and around the world – some rare, some seasonal and others just plain festive – will be pouring at our Pizzeria & Public House.

When the doors open at 11:00 a.m. on our new Saturnalia kick-off day, Plaid Friday (November 23), the first wave of sacrificial Saturnalia selections will be tapped in the traditional, ritualistic manner, and the hedonistic pleasures will begin. The remaining kegs will be deployed as the days pass, and the revelry is expected to continue throughout the month of December.

To be perfectly honest, I miss the institution of Saturnalia a great deal. For the general public Gravity Head was the thing, but I persist in thinking that Saturnalia represented my best-ever work as a beer gatherer.

It afforded the opportunity to make a principled point about the pagan traditions we tend to associate with Christmas, as well as providing an excuse to assemble a broader range of seasonal beers than merely "all-hoppy" or "all-heavy." There was a little something in beer for everyone with Saturnalia, and in some as-yet-determined modified format, I'd like to do it again -- maybe with bottles and cans this time next year at Pints&union.

When Bank Street Brewhouse got underway, brewmaster David modified the Naughty Claus recipe, and from 2011 to his departure (circa 2015) it remained the same each year. Josh succeeded David, and now the ale is fashioned by Ben, full-circle, back at the garage brewery from whence it came.

I got a keg from Ben, and it's on tap at Pints&union (starting Friday, December 20 for a very limited engagement).

After a small tasting while engaged in changing the keg, I suspect it has undergone further changes. It tastes good to me, and that's that. These words appeared on a sales sheet I wrote some time around 2012. I'd expect the 2019 version to be in this approximate ballyard.

As Chico Marx once presciently observed, there ain’t no sanity clause, and that’s why restricting one’s choices to either naughty or nice in the sense of holiday largesse is to commit the fallacy of the excluded middle.

In our view, chimneys and voyeurism go together much like Chico’s great uncle Karl and Charles Dickens, author of “A Christmas Carol,” because what is this most materialist of capitalist shopping seasons if not the pretext for a much overdue dialectic?

And then there is the man of the hour himself, Mr. Claus, and he needs his daze off, too, just like the rest of us. NABC’s annual ale in his honor debuted in 2006, and since 2011, the recipe has held fast, as formulated by our director of brewing operations, David Pierce, whose first batch of Christmas ale at the Silo brewpub in 1992 predates the birth of today’s Naughty Claus drinkers of a certain, youthful legal age.

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Naughty Claus

X-mas Spiced Ale

ABV: 8%

IBU: 12

Color: Orange to amber/brown.

Flavor: Medium- to full-bodied. Malty/fruity backdrop, classic Christmas spiced character (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange peel).

Compare to: Great Lakes Christmas Ale, Old Fezziwig.

Description: Quintessential X-mas. Malts include Rahr pale, Castle aromatic and Crisp medium crystal, with Hosey autumn gold and midsummer day honeys. Hops are German Hallertauer Magnum. Sweet and bitter orange peel, fresh ground ginger, Vietnamese cinnamon and West Indies nutmeg are the spices (with dry-gingering in the Brite tanks). NABC’s house Chouffe yeast completes the scene. 

Recipe suggestion: Seeing as Naughty Claus shadows the Wassail bowl, it isn’t an easy call, but since turkey and ham with all the trimmings are common Christmas meals, why not start there?

In early December the Courier-Journal's Dhalia Ghabour included Naughty Claus in a list of "12 Days of Christmas Beers."

This Belgian spiced ale, Naughty Claus, carries a swirl of flavor from cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, honey and bitter orange peel. Released on Dec. 18, the beer is a dark golden color with a medium mouthfeel, according to brewer Ben Minton. It's available on tap only at New Albanian Brewing Co. — and limited to eight kegs.

"You'll get an up-front spicy characteristic, sort of gingerbread flavor, but also the back taste of the Belgian yeast that Belgians will have," said manager Sarah Howell. "It's a really great one with pizza and sweet desserts."

Saturnalia in 2020? Somehow, some way.

John Campbell's doing?

The week to come.

It is the week of Thanksgiving (where did the year go?), and a burgeoning slate of activities. Following are NABC's choices. Remember that both NABC locations will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.

Naughty Claus is coming to New Albany on Thanksgiving week.

Black Friday is out: Indie shopping is in, and Plaid Friday is November 23.

Saturnalia Winter Solstice MMXII at the Pizzeria & Public House begins on Friday, November 23.

Holly Jolly Beer Trolley after Jingle Walk, and a Naughty Claus correction.

Saturnalia Winter Solstice MMXII at the Pizzeria & Public House begins on Friday, November 23.

It’s almost time for Saturnalia Winter Solstice MMXII, which kicks off on Plaid Friday, November 23, at NABC’s Pizzeria & Public House. This is the ninth edition of Saturnalia, which first took place in 2004.

Saturnalia is my personal favorite of the draft festivals we persist in staging (if a bit less grandly than in the past), although this might yet change if we’re able to resume the Sandkerwa showcase the way I’d most like to do it. By late summer of 2013, it might be possible, but more on that another time.

The primary reason why I enjoy Saturnalia has nothing whatever to do with approaching weeks being the “most wonderful time of the year.” Rather, it’s the freedom and fun afforded by the fest’s concept, enabling us to assemble a special short-term draft list unbound to a specific style territory, i.e., all hoppy, as with Lupulin Land, and all more highly alcoholic during Gravity Head.

For Saturnalia, we always try to find representative samples of winter and seasonal styles (themselves pleasingly varied, stylistically) and augment them with others that strike us as somehow festive in purely subjective ways.

Not only is it fun, but it’s also educational, providing me with frequent polemical opportunities to pontificate about the importance of unleashing our innermost pagans. Following is the boilerplate program information and beer descriptions in text format. You can view and print the program here. A slight, late change is the vintage of the Struise Tsjeeses Reserva; it is 2011, not 2012.

http://web.newalbanian.com/pizzeriaandpub/download/saturnalia_program_2012.pdf

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NABC’s Saturnalia is our time to emphasize festive draft beers for the holidaze, featuring NABC’s winter seasonals: Naughty Claus, Solidarity and Bonfire of the Valkyries (the latter slated to appear early in 2013, shortly after Saturnalia’s conclusion).

In pre-Christian Rome, Saturnalia was the annual winter solstice celebration coinciding with the feast days for Saturn (the god of sowing and the harvest), Consus (god of the storage bin) and Opa (goddess of plenty).

Many of our contemporary winter holiday traditions derive from Saturnalia’s pagan roots, including the hanging of wreaths and garlands, donations to the needy, prayers for peace, time off work to be enjoyed with family, and of course eating, drinking and merriment.

NABC pays tribute to these ancient pagan origins with Saturnalia. Dozens of special kegs from the USA and around the world – some rare, some seasonal and others just plain festive – will be pouring at our Pizzeria & Public House at 3312 Plaza Drive.

When the doors open at 11:00 a.m. on our new Saturnalia kick-off day, Plaid Friday (November 23), the first wave of sacrificial MMXII Saturnalia selections will be tapped in the traditional, ritualistic manner, and the hedonistic pleasures will begin. The remaining kegs will be deployed as the days pass, and the revelry is expected to continue throughout the month of December.

Pricing and portion sizes vary according to alcohol content and style. During the festival’s run, information and updates will appear on our web site, www.newalbanian.com and Facebook page. Always check the blackboards for the daily Saturnalia lineup.

NABC’s Naughty Claus 2012 will open Saturnalia MMXII in late November, and our Solidarity closes it after Christmas. All the rest of our house-brewed beers will continue to pour throughout. Saturnalia’s run.

Anchor Christmas Ale (“Merry Christmas & Happy New Year”), 2012 Vintage
This holiday ale’s recipe has differed a tad each year since inception in 1975, but the conceptual links with trees (on the bottle label) and the winter solstice have endured throughout. 5.5% abv.

Boulder Never Summer Ale
American seasonal ale brewed with 2-row barley and British dark caramel malt; Nugget, Willamette and Cascade hops; and a “top secret brewmaster’s spice,” all on behalf of “the drinking town with a skiing problem.” 5.94% abv.

Boulevard Saison-Brett
The base beer is Tank 7, Boulevard’s “farmhouse” ale. Saison-Brett takes Tank 7 an edgy step further; it is dry-hopped, introduced to wild Brettanomyces yeast, and aged a bit. We’ve aged it more.
8.5% abv.

Boulevard Nutcracker Ale
It’s a classic winter warmer, but with a distinctly American twist of freshly harvested Chinook hops, flown to the brewery from the Pac NW. 5.8% abv.

Breckenridge Christmas Ale
Dark mahogany in color (two row, caramel, chocolate, black malts) with Chinook and Mt. Hood for balance. Very Colorado, with a healthy 7.4% abv.

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 2011
Chocolate’s the point, although there’s none. Intensely roasted malts and skullduggery are the culprits. Probably better saved for Gravity Head, but the Publican loves Imperials. 10.1% abv.

Clipper City “Heavy Seas” Winter Storm
There is a presumption of “Imperial ESB” in this ale, with four malts and five hops (Magnum, Fuggles, Cascade, Centennial and Chinook). Dry hopped. 7.5% abv.

Corsendonk Christmas Ale
Among the more consistent of Abbey-style producers, Corsendonk’s annual Christmas Ale never ceases to be anticipated. Is that a hint of coriander amid the ruby-chestnut elegance? 8.5% abv.

Delirium Noël
Noël, from the venerable, family-run Huyghe brewery near Ghent, blends the cleanness of Delirium Tremens (golden) and Delirium Nocturnum (dark) into a unique third way, albeit a shade stronger, prompting the brewery to remind us that it “requires a responsible consumption.” 10% abv.

Great Divide Belgian-Style Yeti
Allegedly equal parts Rocky Mountain abominable snowman and wayward Belgian monk, with fruitiness and spiciness delightfully crossing over into Great Divide’s recipe for Imperial Stout. 9.5% abv.

Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti
The usual Yeti hopping is muted; cocoa nibs peek through, combining with vanilla from the oak chips and a hint of cayenne pepper. 9.5% abv.

Great Divide Hibernation Ale
It’s a winter ale, but one that is lagered for three months prior to release. Perhaps overshadowed by some of today’s extreme microbrews, but enduring, unique and worthy in its own right - deep, nutty and smooth. 8.1% abv.

Great Divide Wolfgang Doppelbock
Colder weather fairly begs for Doppelbock, and while this one is from Denver, it is brewed in the textbook Bavarian dark lager style. It’s worth remembering that in Franconia, both Doppelbock and Helles Bock are pre-Christmas specialties, not Lenten fast-beaters. 8% abv.

Handbryggeriet Nissefar
Translation: Magic Gnome Ale (Norway). This vivid testimonial to the power of creative malting is brewed only for Christmas, and like an Old Ale should, it exudes holiday “chocolate, caramel and raisins.” 7% abv.

Mikkeller Ris a la M'ale
Sources describe a dessert beer “modeled after a traditional Danish dessert called risalamande.” Accordingly, each dessert ingredient is used: Rice, salt, sugar, vanilla, milk, cream and almond and cherry extract.” We’re expecting sweet/tart and cherryish. 8% abv.

NABC Naughty Claus
Santa needs daze off, too
A rich, full-bodied holiday spiced seasonal, as designed by David Pierce, director of brewing operations at NABC. Malts include Pale, Belgian Aromatic and Simpsons Crystal Medium malts, with Hosey honey added. Hops are German Hallertauer and Magnum. Orange Peel, Sweet Ginger Root, Cinnamon and Nutmeg are the spices (with dry-gingering in the Brite tanks). NABC’s house Chouffe yeast completes the scene. 8% abv.

NABC Solidarity
Solidarity or Death
Baltic Porter is the best way to tip your hat to the activists in the Solidarity independent trade union, and a robust reminder of Baltic foresight in activism and strong beer. 8.5% abv.

New Belgium Snow Day Winter Ale
The brewers looked to a massive snow storm for
inspiration: “This beer is the deep garnet of a roasted walnut and presents a creamy tan head, floating artfully atop.” Must be something about Colorado. 6.2% abv.

New Holland Dragon’s Milk
Aged in bourbon barrels for four months, with accompanying vanilla notes, and a name that derives from historical examples of English special strong ale reserved for the privileged. 10% abv.

N’Ice Chouffe
Thyme, vanilla, orange peel and candi sugar are among the spices used to accent a dark and brawny winter seasonal, brewed in the hills of the Ardennes. 10% abv.

People's Batch 100 “Captain Black Strap Stout”
Our friends at the Lafayette, Indiana brewery speak: “It's an American Imperial Stout brewed with flaked oats, honey malt, chocolate malt, black malt, caramalt, smoked malt, and black strap molasses.” 86 IBUs and 9% abv.

Ridgeway Lump of Coal
Returning after a very long absence (2004 may well have been the last time for us) is Ridgeway’s atypical British holiday stout - dry, in the Foreign Extra Stout mold, and not just another Imperial Stout. 8% abv.

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
It is indeed difficult to imagine another seasonal ale that symbolizes the holidays better than Celebration Ale. A recurring seasonal favorite, with generous doses of Chinook (for bittering), Cascades and Centennial hops, dry-hopped, but not neglecting delicious maltiness. 6.8% abv.

Stone Vertical Epic 11.11.11
Stone’s tasting notes tell the tale: “Upfront the banana yeast-derived flavors are blended very nicely with toasted and toffee-like malt flavors, fruity esters, and balanced hints of cinnamon. Mid palate the Perle and Pacific Jade hops and the Hatch green chili flavors come through. The beer finishes dry, and bitter with just the tiniest hint of chili heat and a touch of alcohol.” 9.4% abv.

Struise Tsjeeses Reserva 2011
One thing’s for sure: The name means Jesus in Flemish, as in “Tsjeeses, what a beer!” Apart from this, Tsjeeses might be a Strong Belgian Pale, or a steroidal Tripel. When barrel-aged, it is known as “Reserva.” 10% abv.

Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Xmas Porter
Who else but Three Floyds Brewing Company would devise a porter with English chocolate and Mexican sugar (or vice versa, or both, depending on the source) that reeks of piney hop essence and is built on a malty foundation? No one. 7.5% abv.

Troubadour Imperial Stout
The Belgian brewery known as “The Musketeers” promises a bitter chocolate impression with a drier finish in an Imperial Stout with a “Belgian touch.”
9.2% abv.

Troubadour Magma
How might one describe a “Tripel IPA”? Here is how “The Musketeers” brewery does it: “The hop bitterness of an American IPA with the fruity characteristics of a Belgian triple.” A Zythos fest award winner. 9.3% abv.

Two Brothers Hop Juice
A case study in Double IPA: A big malt backbone and a marked citrusy, piney hop character (100.1 IBUs). Made in Chicagoland. 9.9% abv.

About as close to those alien words as I care to get.

Thanks to Tom Lewis for the gift of matryoshka dolls. The symbolic Saturnalia tree looms overhead, and somewhere, people are drinking their way through the weekend.

Peggy DeKay would disapprove, but NABC's Saturnalia Winter Solstice draft festival continues.

The second weekend of Saturnalia MMVIII will be underway tomorrow.

Current Saturnalia draft lineup (subject to updating).

Friday's cask-conditioned firkin will be Harvey’s Christmas Ale.

As was the case last weekend, NABC’s new Beer Manager, Mike Bauman, has sifted through the vintage beer cellar as well as uncovering some bottled overstocks, glassware, and other items. He’s set up a Beer Cellar Christmas Shoppe in the rear of Prost (entrance from Rich O’s) and will be offering the merchandise at these times:

Friday, December 19 from 3 to 8 p.m.
Saturday, December 20 from 3 to 8 p.m.

Saturnalia is out of the gate, with a Beer Cellar Christmas Shoppe today and tomorrow.

Saturnalia MMVIII is under way.

The Saturnalia MMVIII starting lineup is revealed.

Also of note, NABC’s new Beer Manager, Mike Bauman, has sifted through the vintage beer cellar as well as uncovering some bottled overstocks, glassware, and other items. He’s set up a Beer Cellar Christmas Shoppe in the rear of Prost (entrance from Rich O’s) and will be offering the merchandise at these times:

Friday, December 12 from 3 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, December 13 from 3 to 6:30 p.m.

Shoppe hours on the weekend of Dec. 19 & 20 will be announced next week after we see what's left to sell.

Smoking cigars on the porch while it rains, with black coffee and very few regrets.

My friend John Freyer, the regional representative of the innovative Dogfish Head craft brewery in Delaware, was in town last night for a hootenanny, which is a fun way of describing a vertical Dogfish ale tasting jazzed up with a chilled buffet of Thanksgiving-style “leftovers” and accompanied by a bit of education and an evening’s conviviality.

Not only is John a craft beer business veteran and someone who’s been through all the madness that we’ll be experiencing when NABC’s downtown production brewery opens (bankers, if you’re reading and have cash to lend, call me immediately), but he’s also a diehard baseball fan who has co-authored books on our favorite game. After the hootenanny, we chewed the fat at the bar and vowed to collaborate on a baseball & beer companion. It was a blast.

I’m fortunate to make a living from my lifelong hobby of drinking beer, preferably in my natural habitat, the pub. Yes, it’s a business, and we need to make a profit to survive. But, at the end of the day, intangibles matter more to me. Being in a position to bring people like John to New Albany, and to have people come from miles around to sample beers and share knowledge, is what keeps me coming back for more, and helps me to tolerate the throbbing in my knees this a.m.

Of course, there’s a valid point to be made with respect to my attention to detail when it comes to money, in the sense that if I ran a tighter ship both personally and professionally, there’d be more lucre left over for the Confidentials. Truthfully, it doesn’t bother me, because I’d rather be good at what I do, and what I do is teaching and memory creation. Legacies don’t have to be built on wealth, even when they’re accruing from a for-profit business.

None of us will be taking it with us.

Legacies in my line of work are about doing what you can, while you can, as best you can, and creating memories that are impervious to calculations of interest and percentages. If twenty years from now, someone smiles because they recall good times at the pub, then that’s the best return of all on our investment. In all honesty, I can’t say that I give a damn about the money beyond what it takes to survive. You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes … well, you know the rest of the Jagger/Richards axiom, don’t you?

NABC’s annual celebration of winter seasonal and holiday draft from America and the world begins on December 12. It’s my favorite festival of all the ones we stage and attend every year, primarily because so many people I haven’t seen in a while come back for the holidays, and these beers provide the festive accompaniment to the joys of reconnecting with old pals, sharing the war stories, and remembering the ones who no longer are with us. It was a bad year in the sense of losses, and I’m carrying a grudge against the Grim Reaper, but tomorrow’s another day, and the forthcoming year another year. You do your best, and keep fighting.

Here are the links to Saturnalia information posted at my other blog.

American micro draft lineup, descriptions, links for Saturnalia Winter Solstice MMVIII (begins December 12).

Imported draft lineup, descriptions, links for Saturnalia Winter Solstice MMVIII (begins December 12).

Saturnalia explained: Festive draft beers for the winter solstice, coming December 12.

Roger's believe-it-or-not: Saturnalia's planned and ready, a full month ahead of opening night.