Thursday, July 27, 2006

Publicanista! ... July 27, 2006.


In this edition of Publicanista!:

I. SPEAK EASY ART SHOW A SMASHING SUCCESS.

II. YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED …

III. NABC BREWERY NEWS: BREWERS OF INDIANA GUILD FESTIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS THIS SATURDAY.

IV. RECENT NEWS AND ARTICLES AT THE POTABLE CURMUDGEON’S BEER BLOG.

V. DRAFT BEERS: OUR LIQUID, DAILY BREAD, ON TAP AT RICH O’S AND SPORTSTIME.

VI. EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.

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I. SPEAK EASY ART SHOW A SMASHING SUCCESS.

Here are views of last Saturday's Speak Easy Art Show at the Public House.

For the record, I'm deeply impressed with the efforts of our artistic young employees, who tranformed the Prost special events wing into the place to be on a New Albanian afternoon in July. I'm told that a few of the works were sold ... and that's a great bonus.

There'll be more such events.



II. YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED …

The front keg box behind the bar at Rich O’s Public House, traditional home of draft Guinness and Pilsner Urquell, is being replaced. Accordingly, we’ve moved the Guinness to the rear keg box and the Urquell to the main bank of walk-in taps.

The soon to be retired keg box was purchased “gently” used in 1992, and the compressor was replaced circa 2000. But the structure itself is rotting away, and although we’ll keep it for potential future outdoor use, it’s time for a change.

This is one reason the chalkboards are a bit scant, with another being the time of year; business is lighter in summertime, so I usually scale back the taps. By September, there’ll be a new keg box and the usual 33 beers on tap.

III. NABC BREWERY NEWS: BREWERS OF INDIANA GUILD FESTIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS THIS SATURDAY.

Remember to visit the events section below for updates on summer fests and coming attractions. Next up is the annual Brewers of Indiana Guild (BIG) Festival in Indianapolis on July 29 -- this Saturday.

For details, visit the Guild's website.

I'm not exactly sure when the third of NABC's summertime "gruit" ale series will be ready to tap, but any day now you'll see:

Strathpeffer Heather ... 90% Simpson's Golden Promise two-row and heather flower honey, with heather (i.e., a shrubbery) added throughout the brewing and maturation processes. Gold in color. Named for the town in Scotland where a Pictish eagle is famously carved into a large stone. Circa 8% abv.

See: Tony's artwork for NABC Artemsia, Jenever.

For a listing of where our beers can be found, see NABC outside accounts in Southern Indiana.

IV. RECENT NEWS AND ARTICLES AT THE POTABLE CURMUDGEON’S BEER BLOG.

Here are recently posted articles:

How we operate: Beercycling in Central Europe, 2006.

UPDATED: Previews: Lupulin Land & Saturnalia (2006) and Gravity Head (2007).

Yesterday's "Speak Easy Art Show" at Rich O's.

Wine and Beermakers Supply owner battling cancer.

BBC among the restaurant forum threads.

Rich O's medals in Rate Beer's "Best Beer Bars in the United States."

Rich O's Public House cracks the Top 20 in Beer Advocate rankings.

V. DRAFT BEERS: OUR LIQUID, DAILY BREAD, ON TAP AT RICH O’S AND SPORTSTIME.

Our NABC beers.
Brewed in New Albany by NABC’s Jesse Williams, with assistance from Jared Williamson.

Artemsia Ale ... Brown ale brewed with 80% Simpson's Golden Promise two-row and molasses, and flavored with mugwort (the "dream herb," related to sagebrush and a cousin of wormwood), sweet orange peel and chamomile. 4.5% abv.

Bob's Old 15-B ... We're calling it a robust, brown Porter precisely because style definitions were meant to be bent.

Croupier IPA ... Jesse's homage to our casino employee clientele is modeled on the English interpretation, with a few American flourishes.

Community Dark ... Based on English Mild, and our light-bodied dark quaffer. 5% abv.

Elector ... Making Democracy pointless since 2002; English malt, American hops. 7.2% abv. Double Red?

Jenever Rye ... 80% Simpson's Golden Promise two-row and rye, with crushed juniper berries in the mash and the hopback. Golden orange. Circa 7% abv.

Guests from near and far.
Market pricing.

Staples:

Arrogant Bastard

Alpha King

Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

Guinness Stout

Lindemans Framboise

Pilsner Urquell

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Smithwick’s Irish Ale

Spaten Premium Lager

Sprecher Root Beer (non-alcoholic)

Upland Wheat

Rotating (limited engagement)

BBC Jefferson’s Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

Celebrator Doppelbock

Founders Black Rye

Founders Red's Rye

Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale

Rogue Dead Guy

Stone Smoked Porter

Warsteiner Premium Dunkel

Weihenstephaner Weissbier Dunkel

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier

Bullpen:

Gulden Draak

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine

VI. EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.

General business hours:

Sportstime Pizza opens at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday. Rich O’s opens at 3:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and at 1:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. We are not open on Sunday except during special events. The same food and beer is available at all times in both rooms, so you may have lunch and a beer in the Sportstime Pizza dining area during those hours when Rich O’s isn’t open. The brewery is available for a look-see if one of us is around and we’re not busy.

Rich O's: The front dining rooms at Rich O's are designated as non-smoking areas. The bar area and Red Room are open for smoking (cigarettes, cigars, pipes). We strongly discourage clove cigarettes, which are divisive even among smokers.

Sportstime: Smoking is permitted in the entirety of Sportstime Pizza.

2006/2007 events:

Weekly on Wednesday evening @ 7:00 p.m.

Drinking Liberally (New Albany & Southern Indiana) meets in the Red Room each Wednesday. Contact organizer Lacy Davis for details.

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Saturday, July 29

Brewers of Indiana Guild (BIG) Festival in Indianapolis

For details, visit the Guild's website.

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Saturday, August 12

Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison, Wisconsin.

It’s one the top three beer fests in the nation, a perennial box-office sell-out, and certainly the big event with the most relevance to NABC. Web site information is dated, but will be revised later in 2006.

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Saturday, August 19

SWIRCA Craft Brewer's Festival in Evansville, Indiana

The event is at the Casino Aztar, and NABC's participation is tentative owing to the already busy August festival.

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Saturday, August 26

Brew At the (Louisville) Zoo

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Friday, October 13

Lupulin Land Harvest Hop Festival

We’ll be exceeding OSHA’s legal limits on IBU’s per square foot of floor space when Lupulin Land 2006 begins on Friday, October 13. It is our fifth harvest hop celebration, and a good occasion for Kentuckiana’s hopheads to unite over a pint or two of America’s most bitter beer.

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Friday, December 15

Saturnalia MMVI

NABC, Rich O’s Public House and Sportstime Pizza pay tribute to the ancient pagan origins of Christmas with Saturnalia, a draft beer festival showcasing seasonal specialties and festive ales.

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Friday, March 9, 2007

Gravity Head 2007

The ninth edition of our annual festival celebrating the brewing world’s biggest and best will kick off from its customary March starting time.

Credits:

Thanks to Jim Bell for his photographic prowess, which we share with you from time to time.

Readers who aren’t as familiar with our business should go to http://www.newalbanian.com/ and http://www.richos.com/ for more information.

NABC is a member of the Brewers Association and Brewers of Indiana Guild.

Questions or comments about editorial content should be directed to Roger A. Baylor, who also writes The Potable Curmudgeon and NA Confidential blogs.

THE END.

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