ROGER'S DIARY OF THE END TIMES: Brewpub kombucha and chain atrocity proposals.

Conniving censorial and prohibitionist local do-gooders might continue to drag me into the fray now and then, kicking and screaming (but always factual), but my stated goal is to devote my sabbatical to exploring other nooks in the periphery.

As Democrats and Republicans exhibit precisely the same behavior and expect (accurately) that we'll continue to choose one and reject the other, when their corruption is all-inclusive ... well, obviously we're living in the end times.

Last week it was designer ice for your high-end hootch. This week, just two small items relative to taste, or the absence of it.

Josh Noel writes about beer (and other beverages) for the Chicago Tribune. If you're interested in beer and you frequent the Twitter neighborhood, he's a good follow https://twitter.com/hopnotes. Noel reports the ongoing degradation of better beer's once bright promise.

It gets worse. My fellow males always have embraced cluelessness as a birthright, but who knew that Valentine's Day proposals at Olive Garden are a thing?

As legendary baseball manager Casey Stengel is reputed to have asked his woefully inept 1962 New York Mets, "Does anybody here know how to play this game?"

THE BEER BEAT: Some great ink for Floyd County Brewing Company.

As Kevin Gibson points out (excerpt below), downtown New Albany has become quite the competitive restaurant market.

I know from experience just how hard it is to balance the time, effort and money needed for a winning restaurant with the very same resources necessary to operate a brewery.

Crucially for Floyd County Brewing Company, the business is a classic brewpub model. The beer is brewed and consumed in-house. It's the right model for the here and now. The object is to dial in the beer at FCBC's home base, and then become a can't miss destination for local beer lovers.

If folks are teetotalers and come for the fish and chips with iced tea, that's a lovely bonus.

I've yet to try Cloud 10, but hope the chance will arise. Just last week I met friends for lunch at FCBC and had a pint of Gog Ma Gog, which is my favorite Jeff Coe brewhouse creation to date.

It comes in at the top end (6.5% abv) of what currently is known as Strong Bitter, a category that includes the forever glorious Fuller's Extra Special Bitter, but now embraces a broader range of hoppy and stronger English-style ales than before. Jeff captured the "Englishness" with Gog Ma Gog, and although it needs some fine-tuning, my Stupor Bowl growler was a memorable accompaniment to ignoring the game.

It struck me during last week's lunch that while New Albany may lack an Irish-themed pub, FCBC's decor certainly has the requisite feel. In terms of familiarity, this can only help the effort.

I'm delighted to see FCBC doing well.

Floyd County Brewing on a roll in competitive downtown New Albany, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)

Breaking sales records has become a regular occurrence at Floyd County Brewing Company, per owner Brian Hampton.

The Medieval-themed brewery and restaurant, which opened in fall of 2015, has been setting new records “two or three times a week” in recent weeks, Hampton tells Insider. He says he doesn’t know precisely why, but he isn’t complaining.

One recent surge coincided with a new beer on tap called Cloud 10. Created by brewer Jeff Coe, it is a Northeast IPA, a style that recently came to the local market by way of a successful release from Mile Wide Beer Co.

“It was by far the best seller” on a recent record-breaking night, Hampton says.

I had visited the brewery not long after it opened and found the food to be quite good but the beer to be hit and miss.

After hearing of Cloud 10 and the surging popularity of the place, which is in direct competition with ballyhooed restaurants such as The Exchange Pub + Kitchen, Gospel Bird, Brooklyn and the Butcher, Toast on Market, and others, I decided to return.

I’m glad I did.

Beer Tuesday 1: NABC's Pizzeria & Public House in USA Today list of top RateBeer brewpubs.

I knew about this USA Today article only because the reporter e-mailed me last week for information, but whatever my personal views about the newspaper, make no mistake: Localism's the object, but it's always a pleasure to have one's business mentioned in a national publication. Moreover, the manner of this topic's framing is wonderful.

In an odd sort of way, given that the newspaper's source is a vast and detailed on-line beer ratings aggregator, the tiny details are less significant than the broad generality, and the heading itself undoubtedly makes the central point for those who may not have been aware of such a phenomenon as a brew pub: "Brewpubs offer great beer, good food and local flavor."

That's right.

Using the word "local" in this context absolutely makes my day.

At USA TODAY's request, (Joe "Rate Beer") Tucker chose 20 favorite brewpubs or taprooms for beer quality and 18 favorites where the food stood out. He chose only brewpubs that serve food and their own brand of beer.

"Unlike traditional restaurants, these are social establishments that are places to relax, sample the local flavors and enjoy some conversation," Tucker says.

The West and the Midwest are tied at seven for the most brewpubs or taprooms on Tucker's list of favorites for beer quality.

Does it surprise you that the Midwest ranks highly? It shouldn't.

You'll note that among Indiana breweries, our world-renowned friends at Three Floyds in Munster rightfully merit inclusion in the "Where the (best) beers are" category, while NABC makes the "Tucker's best brew pubs/taprooms for food quality" list.

Our inclusion is based on the Pizzeria & Public House's perennially solid ratings, for which I thank all of our patrons. Note that NABC's original location shares a significant trait with the Three Floyds brewpub, in that our own beers are dispensed side by side with high quality guests drafts. You can get away with that only if your own beers are quite good.

Brewpubs offer great beer, good food and local flavor, by Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

Peter Krein heads to local brewpubs during his free time on business trips, and "there are literally hundreds of places" he can recommend.

Among his favorites are The Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh, Omaha's Upstream Brewing Company and Elevator Brewery and Draught Haus in Columbus, Ohio.

Brewpubs often have "outstanding food, so, when I arrive in a new town, I seek them for food and a great, new beer," says Krein of Carlsbad, Calif., who works in the medical device industry and spent about 175 nights away from home on business trips last year. "Every city has great beer makers, and, if their brewpubs are suitable, I sometimes entertain clients there."