In this edition of Publicanista!:
I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: SANDKERWA, OR A NEW DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL UP MY SLEEVE.
II. FROM THE HAND PULL: WE'LL TRY AGAIN FOR BBC APA TOMORROW, WITH NABC SPECIALS IN THE QUEUE.
III. NABC BREWING NEWS: ST. RADEGUND IS BACK, AND BONFIRE OF THE VALKYRIES SOON TO FOLLOW.
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. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: HAMBLETON TOLERATION ALE, A "GLUTEN-FREE" IMPORTED CHOICE.
VII. EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.
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NOTE: We'll be closed next Thursday, November 23, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Regular hours will return next Friday & Saturday.
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I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: SANDKERWA, OR A NEW DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL UP MY SLEEVE.
This past August, our biking group began its Central European program of roadwork with three “training” days in Bamberg, a city that most of you know remains my favorite in all of Europe, and is the thriving epicenter of the remarkably prolific craft brewing region of Franconia. We enjoyed fortunate timing, as the city’s annual Sandkerwa was winding down.
The weekend festival, which dates back at least half a century and originated as a modest neighborhood parlor fete, now takes place throughout the venerable, narrow streets and flower-festooned petite squares in the UNESCO-listed old town, just below the stunning hilltop cathedral and ecclesiastical area and near the famous island-built town hall that splits the Regnitz ...
Read the rest here: Coming in August, 2007: Sandkerwa NA. Here's the scoop.
II. FROM THE HAND PULL: WE'LL TRY AGAIN FOR BBC APA TOMORROW, WITH NABC SPECIALS IN THE QUEUE.
Last week I wrote that, "Cooler weather has returned, and cask ale is back in season," but it was too warm last Friday to tap the long-anticipated firkin (10 gallons) of cask-conditioned BBC Beer Company (Main & Clay) American Pale Ale. We're aiming again for tomorrow (Friday, November 17).
After the APA, the brew crew has a surprise: An aged and fully cask-conditioned firkin of NABC St. Radegund Bitter. Jesse and Jared also have filled a pin (5 gallons) with the forthcoming black smoked beer, Bonfire of the Valkyries.
My first stab at ordering firkins from B. United's list was late (my fault), and Shelton Brothers isn't shipping its casks to Indiana because of transportation issues. Consequently, it's a coin flip as to when Britich cask ales will begin arriving.
For more information on cask-conditioned ale:
Horse Brass Pub (where our friend Biscuit works when not skipping town)
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)
Warm, Flat and Boring -- the Truth About Cask Ale, from Rate Beer.
III. NABC BREWING NEWS: ST. RADEGUND IS BACK, AND BONFIRE OF THE VALKYRIES SOON TO FOLLOW.
A new batch of St. Radegund -- in essence, a recalibrated Beak's Best -- also has been brewed and is back on tap now. Owing to an alcohol content in the mid-5's, St. Radegund probably is best regarded as a Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale).
Jesse and Jared have brewed a unique black-colored smoked lager (California Common yeast) with Weyermann smoked malt from Bamberg and Noble hops. It will be called Bonfire of the Valkyries, and is without precedent in classical style guidelines.
A higher-gravity "Winter Warmer" has been put to bed. Look for details soon.
IV. RECENT NEWS AND ARTICLES AT THE POTABLE CURMUDGEON’S BEER BLOG.
Here are recently posted articles:
Sometimes the show can't -- and shouldn't -- go on.
NABC mourns the loss of Andrew Johnson, an employee and friend.
Attention MSNBC: I got your top ten cities for beer lovers.
Coming in August, 2007: Sandkerwa NA. Here's the scoop.
UPDATED: BARD is underway and my eyes are killing me.
Jealousy rages as Big Kim conquers Bamberg - again.
Read the November newsletter of the Brewers of Indiana Guild.
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 (on tap during Lupulin Land 2006).
Brewed in New Albany by NABC’s Jesse Williams, with assistance from Jared Williamson.
Bob's Old 15-B ... We're calling it a robust, brown Porter precisely because style definitions were meant to be bent.
Community Dark ... Based on English Mild, and our light-bodied dark quaffer. 5% abv.
Croupier IPA ... Jesse's homage to our casino employee clientele is modeled on the English interpretation, with a few American flourishes.
Elector ... Making Democracy pointless since 2002; English malt, American hops. 7.2% abv. Double Red?
Homecoming Common ... Stylistically indeterminate, session "steam beer" variant, amber in color, and with less hop bite than most NABC beers. An autumn pounder.
Hoptimus ... Brewed with Simpson's Golden Promise malt; Northern Brewer, Fuggles and Cascades hops; and fermented with the house London ale yeast. It is dry-hopped in the kegs with Fuggles and Cascades. The OG is 1.094, and IBU's are somewhere around 100.
St. Radegund Bitter ... Classic British character in the ESB range.
Guests from near and far (on tap during Lupulin Land 2006).
Market pricing.
Staples:
Sprecher Root Beer (non-alcoholic)
Rotating (limited engagement).
BBC Jefferson’s Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout
Bell’s Hop Slam Imperial IPA (2006 Lupulin Land listed selection)
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (2006 Lupulin Land listed selection)
Great Divide Hercules Double IPA (2006 Lupulin Land listed selection)
Rogue Festive Ale (Saison w/Belgian yeast)
Rogue "John's Locker Stock" Hop Heaven
Shmaltz Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. (2006 Lupulin Land listed selection)
In the bullpen.
Mojo IPA (Boulder Brewing Co.)
VI. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: HAMBLETON TOLERATION ALE, A "GLUTEN-FREE" IMPORTED CHOICE.
It's been a long time coming, but finally Hambleton Toleration Ale is on the shelf. An article from The Press (York, UK) sheds light on why it took so long, and why a United States government is pusruit of international terorism always has time to quibble over the use of "gluten-free" on a product label:
Nick Stafford, who with his wife, Sally, started the (Hambleton) brewery in 1991, said: "In the absence of an agreed definition of gluten free' approved by the US Food And Drug Administration, the brewery had to re-brand the beer and focused on communicating drinker benefits by calling it Toleration'.
"We were allowed to describe the process, but not use the word free' - for instance we could explain that it was made from sugar and not from barley sugar or rye.'
Hambleton's importer is B. United, which offers further information on the ale.
Owing to the relatively high wholesale price, I have Toleration Ale at $6.75 for a half-liter bottle, with only a dollar off for carry-out.
Now also in stock ...
Barley Island Black Majic Java Stout (12 oz) ... Indiana's sole Great American Beer Festival 2006 medal winner brought home a silver in the coffee-flavored beer category. Read more here.
Boulder Beer: "The GABF 25th Year Beer" (22 oz) ... the brewery and the festival have grown side by side, and with a quarter-century gone, there's a celebratory English-style ESB to remember the good times.
North Coast Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale (750 ml) ... brewed under the reasonable premise that America has a Monk of its own -- jazz legend Thelonious -- and could use an abbey ale inspired by the same. It's a fine one, and my pal Graham and I encountered it earlier this year while in California.
Remaining stocks of previously listed bottles:
BBC Professor Gesser's Mind Numbing Ale
Founders Bad Habit Belgian Quad
Don't forget to check the chalkboard in the front room at Rich O’s for bottled specials and seasonals. These are the bottled beers not carried on the everyday bottled list, and represent a wide variety of flavors and textures for your tasting enjoyment.
VII. 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.
Smoking.
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.
Wi-Fi.
Both dining areas are hotspots. Please observe proper etiquette when using our Wi-Fi service, and do not disturb or offend others with the Anheuser-Busch web site or other examples of web-borne smut.
2006/2007 events: 
Weekly on Thursday evening @ 7:00 p.m.
Drinking Liberally (New Albany & Southern Indiana) meets in the Red Room each Thursday. Contact organizer Lacy Davis for details.
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Thursday, November 30
We're putting together a Schlafly beer tasting for the Thursday after Thanksgiving. Schlafly is a microbrewery of long standing located in St. Louis, and recently it has broadened distribution to Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. A friend, John Campbell, is now my Schlafly sales rep, and Mitch Turner, who many will remember from his days at Pipkin Brewing in Louisville, is John's boss. They'll be bringing brewers and other company employees to our Prost special events room to sample the brewery's everyday beers and a few special releases. Details to follow.
Next spring, in conjunction with Gravity Head 2007, we hope to host a book signing by Tom Schlafly, the microbrewery's founder and namesake, and the author of "A New Religion in Mecca: Memoir of a Renegade Brewer in St. Louis." This event will take place later in March, 2007, so stay tuned for more information.
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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.
Preliminary keg orders for Saturnalia MMVI.
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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.
Preliminary keg orders for Gravity Head 2007.
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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