In this edition of Publicanista!: 
I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: COMING NEXT TUESDAY, ANOTHER NA (NON-ALCOHOLIC) ELECTION DAY, AND ANOTHER NABC ELECTOR NIGHT.
II. SPEAKING OF CANDIDATES ... BARON HILL TO DROP IN ON DRINKING LIBERALLY.
III. LUPULIN LAND HARVEST HOP FESTIVAL 2006 FINAL UPDATE.
IV. NABC BREWING NEWS: EXPERIMENTS IN COLORING SMOKE BLACK, AND A RETURNING ENGLISH FAVORITE.
V. SCHLAFLY BREWING COMPANY TASTING IN PROST ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30.
VI. RECENT NEWS AND ARTICLES AT THE POTABLE CURMUDGEON’S BEER BLOG.
VII. DRAFT BEERS: OUR LIQUID, DAILY BREAD, ON TAP AT RICH O’S AND SPORTSTIME.
VIII. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: FOUR EXCELLENT MICROBREWS FROM BARLEY ISLAND, BOULDER, NORTH COAST AND STONE.
IX. EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.
I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: COMING NEXT TUESDAY, ANOTHER NA (NON-ALCOHOLIC) ELECTION DAY, AND ANOTHER NABC ELECTOR NIGHT.
Another election day arrives on Tuesday, November 7, and with it eleven hours of state-mandated prohibition against the sale of demon rum.
Presumably, this unwelcome vestige of an otherwise discredited social policy serves as a bulwark against the horrific possibility that unscrupulous politicos or their conniving agents might swap half-pints of Kessler (or a similarly valued slopping spree at Hugh E. Bir’s) in exchange for a poor wretch’s vote.
As there exists no commensurate prohibition against the sale of strong black coffee, chocolate-covered Krispy Kremes and hickory-smoked bacon, apparently the veiled but very real threat of breakfast-induced bribery is not worthy of the same scrutiny as that posed by the insidious grape and the grain.
If you’re hopelessly intoxicated after ingesting that half-pint of Kessler, are you really any more destructive to democracy than the perfectly sober voter who is following instructions provided by a fundamentalist preacher who has promised not temporal inebriation, but a favorable reference when the time comes to take up residence in heaven?
Next Tuesday, Sportstime Pizza will be open as usual at 11:00 a.m. for a very dry lunch.
Rich O's Public House opens at 6:00 p.m., and because these mid-term elections hold the promise of high entertainment value, we'll be breaking with policy and plugging in a television set or two. Also, beginning at 6:00 p.m., the first 50 customers (that's right - one per state in the Union) buying a pint of NABC Elector at the regular price will have it served in a signature glass, and get to keep the glass afterwards (we pour, you rinse).
II. SPEAKING OF CANDIDATES ... BARON HILL TO DROP IN ON DRINKING LIBERALLY.
Earlier this week, I learned that Democratic congressional hopeful Baron Hill will make an appearance during the weekly meeting of Drinking Liberally (New Albany & Southern Indiana) this Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. at Rich O’s Public House.
Baron Hill to visit this Thursday’s meeting of Drinking Liberally at the Public House.
III. LUPULIN LAND HARVEST HOP FESTIVAL 2006 FINAL UPDATE.
Lupulin Land 2006 is winding down, and bearing in mind that there have been multiple kegs of many listed selections, it's fair to say that thousands of IBUs have been consumed since the October 13 starting gun sounded.
Here's the current draft lineup and the current status of keg orders.
Don't forget that we have Lupulin Land 2006 t-shirts in stock, at $15 each.
On tap now:
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
- Great Divide Hercules Double IPA
- Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale
- Houblon Chouffe
- Poperings Hommel Bier
- NABC Hoptimus
- Shmaltz Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A.
- Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale
Our usual suspects (hoppy ales always on tap):
- Alpha King
- Arrogant Bastard
- Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
- NABC Croupier IPA
- NABC Elector
- Pilsner Urquell
- Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Order and availability status:
Bell’s Hop Slam Imperial IPA probably will be here by Thursday, November 2 (today).
To allow for conditioning, the firkin of cask-conditioned BBC Beer Company (Main & Clay) American Pale Ale will not be tapped before November 6.
Already gone:
- Avery Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale
- Bluegrass Brewing Company (St. Matthews) Ultra/aka Homewrecker (cask-conditioned)
- Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale
- Harpoon IPA
- Jever Pilsener
- NABC Oaktimus
- Rogue I2PA
- Rogue JLS Integrity IPA (2006 Redux)
- Rogue Juniper Pale Ale
- Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner
- St. Georgenbrau Keller Bier
- Stone Ruination IPA
- Two Brothers Heavy Handed
IV. NABC BREWING NEWS: EXPERIMENTS IN COLORING SMOKE BLACK, AND A RETURNING ENGLISH FAVORITE.
Using the California Common yeast that fermented Mt. Lee (now depleted) and the Homecoming Common (now on tap at NABC and Bistro New Albany after an exclusive run during bNA's Harvest Homecoming beer garden), Jesse and Jared have brewed a unique Schwarz Rauch Bier that will be ready for consumption later in November. This black-colored smoker was brewed with Weyermann smoked malt from Bamberg, and is without precedent in classical style guidelines.
A new batch of St. Radegund -- in essence, a recalibrated Beak's Best -- also has been brewed, and we'll be seeing firkins of it on the hand pump now that the weather has cooled and cask ale season has returned. 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).
V. SCHLAFLY BREWING COMPANY TASTING IN PROST ON 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.
VI. RECENT NEWS AND ARTICLES AT THE POTABLE CURMUDGEON’S BEER BLOG.
Here are recently posted articles:
Flashback: Letting the pints speak ... in 1994.
Baron Hill to visit this Thursday’s meeting of Drinking Liberally at the Public House.
A must-read: "The Perils of Globeerization," from Foreign Policy in Focus.
Moths gravitate to the Lite ... beer aficionados prefer the beer in the glass.
What makes a draft list impressive?
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.
VII. 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.
Guests from near and far (on tap during Lupulin Land 2006).
Market pricing.
Staples:
Sprecher Root Beer (non-alcoholic)
Rotating (limited engagement -- most will be off tap at the beginning of Lupulin Land 2006).
BBC (Main & Clay) Alt (non-Randall)
BBC Jefferson’s Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout
See above for the complete Lupulin Land lineup.
In the bullpen.
Rogue Festive Ale (Saison w/Belgian yeast)
VIII. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: FOUR EXCELLENT MICROBREWS FROM BARLEY ISLAND, BOULDER, NORTH COAST AND STONE.
Now 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.
Stone 10th Anniversary India Pale Ale (22 oz) ... read the Curmudgeon's comments here. There is a very limited supply of these (18 bottles), and then no more.
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.
IX. 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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Tuesday, November 7
Election/Elector Day
Sportstime Pizza will be open as usual for a very dry lunch owing to laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol while the polls are open, under the dubious wisdom that those afflicted with sobriety vote more intelligently than others who profess intoxication.
Rich O's Public House opens at 6:00 p.m., and because these mid-term elections hold the promise of high entertainment value, we'll be breaking with policy and plugging in a television set or two. Also, beginning at 6:00 p.m., the first 50 customers (that's right - one per state in the Union) buying a pint of NABC Elector at the regular price will have it served in a signature glass, and get to keep the glass afterwards (we pour, you rinse).
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Thursday, November 30
Schlafly Brewing Company Tasting in Prost
We're putting together a Schlafly beer tasting for the Thursday after Thanksgiving. See article above.
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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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