Thursday, December 28, 2006

Publicanista! ... December 28, 2006.


In this edition of Publicanista!:

I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: WARTS AND ALL, THE NEW NABC WEB SITE IS UP AND RUNNING.

II. THE INIMITABLE STEVE POWELL PLACES A MUSIC TRACK WITH DAWN AND DREW.

III. CONTINUE UNLEASHING YOUR INNER PAGAN AS WE “SATURNALIA MMVI,” OUR WINTER SOLSTICE DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL, ROLLS FORWARD.

IV. WILL YOU BE ENTERING THE CONTEST TO DETERMINE THE (YOUR NAME HERE)FEST 2007 WINNER? READ ON.

V. FROM THE HAND PULL: NABC STRATHPEFFER TO POUR TOMORROW.

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: RARE ITEMS FROM DE DOLLE, THREE FLOYDS AND STONE NOW ON THE BOARD.

IX. EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.

----

NOTE: NABC, Rich O's and Sportstime are closed on New Year's Eve (Sunday, December 31, 2006) and New Year's Day (Monday, January 1, 2007). We'll reopen for business as usual on Tuesday, January 2.

----

I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: WARTS AND ALL, THE NEW NABC WEB SITE IS UP AND RUNNING.

You're invited to take a glance at the updated web site: www.NewAlbanian.com.

Beginning in November with a 30-day trial version of Dreamweaver and a "Easy Steps" guide loaned to me by a friend, I started from scratch and rebuilt the site completely. All the necessary and raw information is there, sans bells and whistles, although in the end, I made quite a few mistakes that render the appearance different depending on the monitor used.

No matter that a 3rd grader would have known better; it's great to finally have it updated, and I anticipate continuing to tweak the site until I get it right.

My personal favorite section is the Frequently Asked Questions. Elsewhere, there'll be photos of Amy and Kate once each provides them, and perhaps expanded bios of the lifers. The "past" festivals section will have .pdf files of the programs. I'll do a better job sizing pictures ... and so on, and so forth. For now, please peruse and forward suggestions.

II. THE INIMITABLE STEVE POWELL PLACES A MUSIC TRACK WITH DAWN AND DREW.

As preface to this item, Wikipedia says:

The Dawn and Drew Show is a podcast by married couple Dawn Miceli and Drew Domkus. The couple live in Wayne, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Their show was one of the first to become part of the PodShow network and has become one of the most famous podcasts to date. The show is described as 'two ex gutter punks fall in love, buy a retired farm in Wisconsin and tell the world their dirty secrets... always profane, rarely profound.

There is no Wikipedia entry for our own Steve Powell, but most of you know him as an insanely talented server/bartender at the Public House. Recently a song composed and performed by Steve made it to Dawn and Drew for episode #463. The "Sugar-Glider" song is at approximately the 11.5 minute mark of the episode.

Conversely, you can hear it and other of Steve's sounds at his web site: The Powell Project.

We've been talking about an NABC podcast in 2007, and Steve's eager to get started. Is the world ready? Stay tuned to find out.

III. CONTINUE UNLEASHING YOUR INNER PAGAN AS WE “SATURNALIA MMVI,” OUR WINTER SOLSTICE DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL, ROLLS FORWARD.

Sacrificial Saturnalia selections for MMVI are steadily being tapped in a requisite, ritualistic manner … and the hedonistic pleasure is ongoing. The remaining kegs are being tapped as needed as the first wave depletes … and so it will proceed past New Year’s into January, 2007.

During the festival’s run, information and updates will appear on these web sites:

Potable Curmudgeon ... Publicanista! ... NABC

**SATURNALIA MMVI - ON TAP NOW**

GERMANY

Aventinus Weizen Doppelbock
Spezial Rauchbier

JAPAN

Kiuchi Hitachino Nest Red Rice

UNITED KINGDOM

Hambleton Nightmare Yorkshire Porter
Ridgeway Lump of Coal

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Anchor Christmas Ale (“Merry Christmas & Happy New Year”)
BBC Hell for Certain
*Bell’s Hell Hath No Fury
*NABC Bonfire of the Valkyries (third keg)
*NABC Naughty Claus (fourth keg)
New Holland Blue Goat Doppelbock
New Holland Dragon’s Milk
Pyramid Snow Cap
Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve (second keg)
*Shmaltz Monumental Jewbelation 5766 (second 1/6 keg)
Stone Double Bastard
Upland Winter Warmer

Go here to get the lowdown on transits, scratches and what's yet to come:

Part 2: A few random Saturnalia notes and observations, and the Scratch Report.

Note: Our annual keg of Stone’s Oaked Arrogant Bastard (not listed for Saturnalia) unexpectedly arrived, and it will be pouring this weekend (by Friday, December 29).

IV. WILL YOU BE ENTERING THE CONTEST TO DETERMINE THE (YOUR NAME HERE)FEST 2007 WINNER? READ ON AND ENTER, DAMN IT.

The (Your name here)Fest is a consumer’s choice beer fest, with the Publican attempting within reason and various distribution constraints to assemble an annual contest winner’s ideal draft lineup. The first was DaveFest, named for Dave Siltz, which took place earlier in 2006.

The next (Your name here)Fest will be held in late May, 2007, and the competition has started. To read the rules for entering:

Here are the contest rules for (Your name here)Fest in May, 2007.

V. FROM THE HAND PULL: NABC STRATHPEFFER TO POUR TOMORROW.

As part of the forthcoming Saturnalia festivities, NABC Strathpeffer (heather/gruit ale) is next up for the hand pull. It'll be tapped and ready on Friday, December 29.

There also are two cask-conditioned English ales on order from B. United International, but I'm learning from the past and will wait to preview them until the firkins are in my grubby little hands.

For more information on cask-conditioned ale:

Horse Brass Pub (where our friend Biscuit used to work)
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)
Warm, Flat and Boring -- the Truth About Cask Ale, from Rate Beer.

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

Here are recently posted articles:

Part 1: A few random Saturnalia notes and observations.

Velocity on beer: It's like Jerry Falwell on morality.

NABC graphics: Bonfire of the Valkyries and Naughty Claus.

FLASH: Bistro New Albany will be open on New Year's Eve.

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.
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.

Bonfire of the Valkyries ... Black lager meets smoked lager, and the Publican is happy.

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?

Hoptimus ... Massive.

Naughty Claus ... Winter warmer with orange peel and cinnamon.

St. Radegund Bitter ... Classic British character in the ESB range.

Guests from near and far.
Market pricing.

Staples:

Alpha King

Arrogant Bastard

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).

All rotating taps are currently filled with Saturnalia MMVI listed selections (above).

In the bullpen.

Bunches o' Saturnalia beers, of course. Also, these ...

Barley Island Barfly IPA

Browning's Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Oaked Arrogant Bastard

Rogue Dead Guy

Upland Oktoberfest

VIII. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: RARE ITEMS FROM DE DOLLE, THREE FLOYDS AND STONE NOW ON THE BOARD.

Limited supplies of a handful of very special beers meant to help provide some small measure of holiday cheer are currently available.

Aventinus Eisbock 2005 (11.2 oz)

Three Floyds Behemoth Barley Wine (22 oz)

Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA (22 oz)

De Dolle Extra Special Export Stout (11.2 oz)

De Dolle Stille Nacht Special Reserva 2005 (11.2 oz)

Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard (12 oz)

Stone Double Bastard (22 oz)

Spezial Rauchbier (16.9 oz)

Remaining stocks of previously listed bottles (many running very low):

N'Ice Chouffe (750 ml) (more on January 10)

Farsons Lacto Milk Stout (11.2 oz)

Hambleton Toleration Ale (gluten-free; 16.9 oz)

BBC Professor Gesser's Mind Numbing Ale (750 ml)

Le Baladin Wayan (750 ml)

North Coast Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale (750 ml)

Podkovan Dark Lager (16.9 oz)

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.

----

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.

----

August, 2007

Sandkerwa NA

Coming in August, 2007: Sandkerwa NA. Here's the scoop.

----

Credits:

Thanks to Jim Bell for his photographic prowess, which we share with you from time to time, and which features prominently at the NABC web site.

Readers who aren’t as familiar with our business should go to http://www.newalbanian.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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Thursday, December 21, 2006

Publicanista! ... December 21, 2006.


In this edition of Publicanista!:

I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: IN WHICH BISCUIT PROVIDES A REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN BEER PARADISE.

II. COME UNLEASH YOUR INNER PAGAN AS WE CONTINUE “SATURNALIA MMVI,” A WINTER SOLSTICE DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL.

III. FROM THE HAND PULL: NABC ARTEMSIA POURING, NABC STRATHPEFFER NEXT IN THE QUEUE.

IV. NABC BREWERY NOTES: HOPTIMUS READY TO RETURN; KAISER 2ND REISING PRE-PROHIBITION PILSNER CURRENTLY AGING.

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

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

VII. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: RARE ITEMS FROM DE DOLLE, THREE FLOYDS AND STONE NOW ON THE BOARD.

VIII. EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.

----

I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: IN WHICH BISCUIT PROVIDES A REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN BEER PARADISE.

Phil “Biscuit” Timperman phoned this morning from Brugge, Belgium, where he and his girlfriend are a week into their three-week European holiday excursion.

He conveys Christmas greetings to all his friends here in the Louisville metro area, which he departed six or more years ago to put down roots in Portland, Oregon. Recently Phil quit his job at Portland’s famed Horse Brass Pub, and intends to open his own establishment. We wish him luck.

Next stop for the couple in their jaunt across the pond is Brussels, and then a trek by train to Bamberg is planned. Smoked beer for Christmas? Don’t mind if I do. By Friday, a keg of Spezial should be tapped at the Public House … and diets, be damned.

Happy holidaze ... Bona Saturnalia!

II. COME UNLEASH YOUR INNER PAGAN AS WE CONTINUE “SATURNALIA MMVI,” A WINTER SOLSTICE DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL.

In pre-Christian Rome, Saturnalia was the annual winter solstice celebration that originally coincided with the feast days for Saturn (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 on earth, time away from work to be enjoyed with family, and of course eating, drinking and merriment.

Rich O’s Public House and Sportstime Pizza pays tribute to these ancient pagan origins with the Saturnalia, a draft beer festival which began on December 15 and is scheduled to last past Christmas and New Year’s into January of 2007.

Sacrificial Saturnalia selections for MMVI are steadily being tapped in a requisite, ritualistic manner … and the hedonistic pleasure is ongoing. The remaining kegs are being tapped as needed as the first wave depletes … and so it will proceed past New Year’s into January, 2007.

During the festival’s run, information and updates will appear on these web sites:

Potable Curmudgeon

Publicanista!

NABC (under reconstruction)

Saturnalia starting lineup.

The first weekend of Saturnalia MMVI has concluded.

**SATURNALIA MMVI - ON TAP NOW**

BELGIUM
N'Ice Chouffe (second 1/6 keg)

GERMANY
Mahr’s Christmas Bock

JAPAN
Kiuchi Hitachino Nest Red Rice

UNITED KINGDOM
Harviestoun Old Engine Oil

Ridgeway Seriously Bad Elf

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BBC Hell for Certain

Great Divide Hibernation Ale

NABC Artemsia (cask conditioned, on the hand pump)

*NABC Bonfire of the Valkyries (third keg)

*NABC Naughty Claus (third keg)

Pyramid Snow Cap

Rogue Chocolate Stout (second keg)

Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve

*Shmaltz Monumental Jewbelation 5766 (second 1/6 keg)

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (third keg)

Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Xmas Porter

Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA

Upland Winter Warmer

**SELECTIONS STILL TO COME**

BELGIUM

FRANCE

GERMANY

JAPAN

UNITED KINGDOM

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

**SACRIFICED TO THE SOLSTICE**

Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar

Delirium Noel

III. FROM THE HAND PULL: NABC ARTEMSIA POURING, NABC STRATHPEFFER NEXT IN THE QUEUE.

As part of the forthcoming Saturnalia festivities, there'll be cask-conditioned NABC Artemsia (mugwort/gruit ale) and NABC Strathpeffer (heather/gruit ale).

NABC Artemsia is first up, beginning on the 15th.

There also are two cask-conditioned English ales on order from B. United International, but I'm learning from the past and will wait to preview them until the firkins are in my grubby little hands.

For more information on cask-conditioned ale:

Horse Brass Pub (where our friend Biscuit used to work ... SEE ABOVE)
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)
Warm, Flat and Boring -- the Truth About Cask Ale, from Rate Beer.

IV. NABC BREWERY NOTES: HOPTIMUS READY TO RETURN; KAISER 2ND REISING PRE-PROHIBITION PILSNER CURRENTLY AGING.

The next batch of Hoptimus is slated to return as soon as a tap opens, and a batch of Kaiser 2nd Reising has begun its aging process and is still a few weeks away from being finished.

Response to Bonfire of the Valkyries and Naughty Claus has been gratifying, and they've been the fastest movers during Saturnalia MMVI. See Tony's cover art here: NABC graphics: Bonfire of the Valkyries and Naughty Claus.

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

Here are recently posted articles:

Velocity on beer: It's like Jerry Falwell on morality.

FLASH: Bistro New Albany will be open on New Year's Eve.

Craft this, craft that -- and no fundamental difference between the two.

Times change, and so does A-B.

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.

VI. 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.

Bonfire of the Valkyries ... Black lager meets smoked lager, and the Publican is happy.

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?

Naughty Claus ... Winter warmer with orange peel and cinnamon.

St. Radegund Bitter ... Classic British character in the ESB range.

Guests from near and far.
Market pricing.

Staples:

Alpha King

Arrogant Bastard

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

Great Divide Titan IPA

(See Saturnalia beers listed above)

In the bullpen.

Bunches o' Saturnalia beers, of course. Also, these ...

Barley Island Barfly IPA

Browning's Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Rogue Dead Guy

Upland Oktoberfest

VII. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: RARE ITEMS FROM DE DOLLE, THREE FLOYDS AND STONE NOW ON THE BOARD.

Limited supplies of a handful of very special beers meant to help provide some small measure of holiday cheer are currently available.

Aventinus Eisbock 2005 (11.2 oz)

Three Floyds Behemoth Barley Wine (22 oz)

Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA (22 oz)

De Dolle Extra Special Export Stout (11.2 oz)

De Dolle Stille Nacht Special Reserva 2005 (11.2 oz)

Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard (12 oz)

Stone Double Bastard (22 oz)

Spezial Rauchbier (16.9 oz)

Remaining stocks of previously listed bottles (all running very low):

N'Ice Chouffe (750 ml)

Farsons Lacto Milk Stout (11.2 oz)

Hambleton Toleration Ale (gluten-free; 16.9 oz)

BBC Professor Gesser's Mind Numbing Ale (750 ml)

Le Baladin Wayan (750 ml)

North Coast Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale (750 ml)

Podkovan Dark Lager (16.9 oz)

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.

VIII. 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.

----

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.

----

August, 2007

Sandkerwa NA

Coming in August, 2007: Sandkerwa NA. Here's the scoop.

----

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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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Publicanista! ... December 14, 2006.


In this edition of Publicanista!:

I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: PENNIES, NICKELS & DIMES.

II. BONA SATURNALIA! COME UNLEASH YOUR INNER PAGAN AS WE PRESENT “SATURNALIA MMVI,” A WINTER SOLSTICE DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL BEGINNING DECEMBER 15.

III. FROM THE HAND PULL: SATURNALIA CASKS COMING.

IV. NABC BREWING NEWS: BONFIRE OF THE VALKYRIES AND NAUGHTY CLAUS WINTER WARMER KEGGED FOR SATURNALIA.

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

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

VII. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: NEW ITEMS ON THE BOARD NEXT WEEK.

VIII. EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.

----

I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: SATURNALIA OPENS TOMORROW.

Here are the starters. Read on for more details. * signifies that it hasn't been served on draft previously.

BELGIUM
Delirium Noel
N'Ice Chouffe

GERMANY
Mahr’s Christmas Bock

JAPAN
Kiuchi Hitachino Nest Red Rice

UNITED KINGDOM
Harviestoun Old Engine Oil

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BBC Hell for Certain
Great Divide Hibernation Ale
NABC Artemsia (cask conditioned, on the hand pump)
*NABC Bonfire of the Valkyries
*NABC Naughty Claus
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar
*Shmaltz Monumental Jewbelation 5766
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Xmas Porter
Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA
Upland Winter Warmer

II. BONA SATURNALIA! COME UNLEASH YOUR INNER PAGAN AS WE PRESENT “SATURNALIA MMVI,” A WINTER SOLSTICE DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL BEGINNING DECEMBER 15.

In pre-Christian Rome, Saturnalia was the annual winter solstice celebration that originally coincided with the feast days for Saturn (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 on earth, time away from work to be enjoyed with family, and of course eating, drinking and merriment.

On Friday, December 15, Rich O’s Public House and Sportstime Pizza pays tribute to these ancient pagan origins with the kick-off of Saturnalia, a draft beer festival scheduled to last past Christmas and New Year’s into January of 2007.

For NABC’s third Saturnalia celebration, I’ve gathered more than 40 special kegs of beer – some rare, some seasonal and others just innately festive – from America and around the world (see complete list below). Some of these hard-to-find beers will be appearing in draft form for the first time ever in metropolitan Louisville.

When the doors open at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, December 15, the first 17 sacrificial Saturnalia selections for MMVI will be revealed, tapped in a ritualistic manner … and the hedonistic pleasure will begin. The remaining kegs will be tapped as needed as the first wave depletes … and so it will proceed past New Year’s into January, 2007.

THE BEERS.

Pricing and portion sizes vary according to alcohol content and style. Selections marked with an asterisk * are appearing on draft for the first time at Rich O’s Public House and Sportstime Pizza. There will more than 40 draft beers in all, with 17 to be tapped on December 15, and the remaining ones following in due course as openings occur. This will take several weeks. During the festival’s run, information and updates will appear on these web sites:

Potable Curmudgeon

Publicanista!

NABC (under reconstruction)

Veterans observers of the process involved with procurement will recall that none of my festival draft lists are the same from beginning to end. The large number of trap doors waiting to be sprung, carpets ready to be pulled out from under and curves queuing to be thrown guarantees that 100% success is absolutely impossible. This year's Saturnalia is no exception, but somehow it's been more galling than in the past, primarily because spanners have been tossed into the works from directions that previously weren't considered problematic.

But ... the dust finally has settled for the most part. Here is the list:

BELGIUM

FRANCE

GERMANY

JAPAN

UNITED KINGDOM

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

III. FROM THE HAND PULL: SATURNALIA CASKS COMING.

As part of the forthcoming Saturnalia festivities, there'll be cask-conditioned NABC Artemsia (mugwort/gruit ale) and NABC Strathpeffer (heather/gruit ale).

NABC Artemsia is first up, beginning on the 15th.

There also are two cask-conditioned English ales on order from B. United International, but I'm learning from the past and will wait to preview them until the firkins are in my grubby little hands.

For more information on cask-conditioned ale:

Horse Brass Pub (where our friend Biscuit used to work ... more on that later)
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)
Warm, Flat and Boring -- the Truth About Cask Ale, from Rate Beer.

IV. NABC BREWING NEWS: BONFIRE OF THE VALKYRIES AND NAUGHTY CLAUS WINTER WARMER KEGGED FOR SATURNALIA.

Here's the recipe notes for Jesse's and Jared's Bonfire of the Valkyries, a unique black smoked lager:

OG: 1070
Malts: Weyermann smoked 2-row, black, special B, aromatic
Hops: Saaz
Yeast: San Francisco/”California Common” (fermented cool, as a lager)

See: NABC’s Bonfire of the Valkyries: Magic fire mood music for Saturnalia.

Meanwhile, Naughty Claus Winter Warmer has been kegged and will debut at Saturnalia MMXI.

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

Here are recently posted articles:

Meals will be prompt, and no gong sounded.

Chapter 56: Sometimes it's embarrassing to be an American.

Here are the contest rules for (Your name here)Fest in May, 2007.

A RockWall Bistro outing.

Mitch behind the cask cabinet at last week's Schlafly tasting.

The lads of the village ...

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.

VI. 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?

St. Radegund Bitter ... Classic British character in the ESB range.

Guests from near and far.
Market pricing.

Staples:

Alpha King

Arrogant Bastard

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 through Thursday night, after which the decks will be cleared for Saturnalia listed beers).

Barley Island Barfly IPA

Bell's Java Stout

Browning's Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Gaffel Kolsch

Great Divide Titan IPA

Kronenbourg 1664

Rogue Dead Guy

Rogue Monk Madness

Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Schlafly Hefeweizen

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

Spaten Oktoberfest

In the bullpen.

Bunches o' Saturnalia beers, of course.

VII. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: NEW ITEMS ON THE BOARD NEXT WEEK.

Timed to coincide with the advent of Saturnalia, give or take a few days, there'll be a different rotating bottle slate.

In fact, I'm undergoing one of those periodic rethinks about our bottled list in general. It'll take a while to implement, but look for some changes come January, 2007. Meanwhile, here's the current list.

N'Ice Chouffe (750 ml)

Farsons Lacto Milk Stout (11.2 oz)

Hambleton Toleration Ale (gluten-free; 16.9 oz)

Remaining stocks of previously listed bottles (all running very low):

BBC Professor Gesser's Mind Numbing Ale

Founders Bad Habit Belgian Quad

Le Baladin Wayan

North Coast Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale

Podkovan Dark Lager

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.

VIII. 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.

----

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.

See above for the list.

----

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.

----

August, 2007

Sandkerwa NA

Coming in August, 2007: Sandkerwa NA. Here's the scoop.

----

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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Thursday, December 07, 2006

Publicanista! ... December 7, 2006.


In this edition of Publicanista!:

I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: PENNIES, NICKELS & DIMES.

II. BONA SATURNALIA! COME UNLEASH YOUR INNER PAGAN AS WE PRESENT “SATURNALIA MMVI,” A WINTER SOLSTICE DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL BEGINNING DECEMBER 15.

III. FROM THE HAND PULL: SATURNALIA CASKS COMING.

IV. NABC BREWING NEWS: BONFIRE OF THE VALKYRIES AND NAUGHTY CLAUS WINTER WARMER KEGGED FOR SATURNALIA.

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

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

VII. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: NEW ITEMS ON THE BOARD NEXT WEEK.

VIII. EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.

----

I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: PENNIES, NICKELS & DIMES.

Yesterday the management of NABC embarked upon a noble and unavoidable experiment guaranteed to try the patience of everyone involved, this always being the case when people go and change the way it's always been done.

For a variety of reasons that pertain to changes in accounting software and the manner by which we have started calculating our numbers, henceforth our prices will not include sales tax, as they have previously. As it has transpired, the computer and accounting package will be ready to accomodate the change before the printed menus can be updated.

The new accounting procedures come at a time when we've already started redesigning the food menu, and with a bottled beer list refit due as soon as I have the chance to gather the wholesale price increases. Leaving prices the same for now amounts to a de facto price increase of 6% on food and bottled beer, which in fact won't be out of line given three years since the last food price update, and I'll be tweaking the bottle prices over the next few weeks.

As for draft beer, I'll be taking this opportunity to perform the overdue, top-to-bottom examination of wholesale prices, with the goal of constructing a system that again will have most draft prices landing on the quarter in the dollar.

Your understanding and patience are appreciated.

II. BONA SATURNALIA! COME UNLEASH YOUR INNER PAGAN AS WE PRESENT “SATURNALIA MMVI,” A WINTER SOLSTICE DRAFT BEER FESTIVAL BEGINNING DECEMBER 15.

In pre-Christian Rome, Saturnalia was the annual winter solstice celebration that originally coincided with the feast days for Saturn (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 on earth, time away from work to be enjoyed with family, and of course eating, drinking and merriment.

On Friday, December 15, Rich O’s Public House and Sportstime Pizza pays tribute to these ancient pagan origins with the kick-off of Saturnalia, a draft beer festival scheduled to last past Christmas and New Year’s into January of 2007.

For NABC’s third Saturnalia celebration, I’ve gathered more than 40 special kegs of beer – some rare, some seasonal and others just innately festive – from America and around the world (see complete list below). Some of these hard-to-find beers will be appearing in draft form for the first time ever in metropolitan Louisville.

When the doors open at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, December 15, the first 17 sacrificial Saturnalia selections for MMVI will be revealed, tapped in a ritualistic manner … and the hedonistic pleasure will begin. The remaining kegs will be tapped as needed as the first wave depletes … and so it will proceed past New Year’s into January, 2007.

THE BEERS.

Pricing and portion sizes vary according to alcohol content and style. Selections marked with an asterisk * are appearing on draft for the first time at Rich O’s Public House and Sportstime Pizza. There will more than 40 draft beers in all, with 17 to be tapped on December 15, and the remaining ones following in due course as openings occur. This will take several weeks. During the festival’s run, information and updates will appear on these web sites:

Potable Curmudgeon

Publicanista!

NABC (under reconstruction)

Veterans observers of the process involved with procurement will recall that none of my festival draft lists are the same from beginning to end. The large number of trap doors waiting to be sprung, carpets ready to be pulled out from under and curves queuing to be thrown guarantees that 100% success is absolutely impossible. This year's Saturnalia is no exception, but somehow it's been more galling than in the past, primarily because spanners have been tossed into the works from directions that previously weren't considered problematic.

But ... the dust finally has settled for the most part. Here is the list:

BELGIUM

FRANCE

GERMANY

JAPAN

UNITED KINGDOM

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SCRATCHED (ordered, but won't be delivered).

III. FROM THE HAND PULL: SATURNALIA CASKS COMING.

As part of the forthcoming Saturnalia festivities, there'll be cask-conditioned NABC Artemsia (mugwort/gruit ale) and NABC Strathpeffer (heather/gruit ale) in a yet-to-be-determined pouring order.

There also are two cask-conditioned English ales on order from B. United International, but I'm learning from the past and will wait to preview them until the firkins are in my grubby little hands.

For more information on cask-conditioned ale:

Horse Brass Pub (where our friend Biscuit used to work ... more on that later)
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)
Warm, Flat and Boring -- the Truth About Cask Ale, from Rate Beer.

IV. NABC BREWING NEWS: BONFIRE OF THE VALKYRIES AND NAUGHTY CLAUS WINTER WARMER KEGGED FOR SATURNALIA.

Here's the recipe notes for Jesse's and Jared's Bonfire of the Valkyries, a unique black smoked lager:

OG: 1070
Malts: Weyermann smoked 2-row, black, special B, aromatic
Hops: Saaz
Yeast: San Francisco/”California Common” (fermented cool, as a lager)

See: NABC’s Bonfire of the Valkyries: Magic fire mood music for Saturnalia.

Meanwhile, Naughty Claus Winter Warmer has been kegged and will debut at Saturnalia MMXI.

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

Here are recently posted articles:

ICRUD, re-crud and the prohibitionist gene in America.

Sometimes, things just happen. Like Kronenbourg 1664.

UPDATED: Note the changes: Saturnalia lineup and update.

Big day on December 16th: Cigars, Homebrew & Saturnalia.

Smarter, perhaps richer, and yet ...

It's all about Scotland, at least for today.

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.

VI. 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?

St. Radegund Bitter ... Classic British character in the ESB range.

Guests from near and far.
Market pricing.

Staples:

Alpha King

Arrogant Bastard

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).

Barley Island Barfly IPA

Barley Island Black Majic Java Stout

Bell's Double Cream Stout

Bell’s Hop Slam Imperial IPA (2006 Lupulin Land listed selection)

Browning's Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Delirium Tremens

Gaffel Kolsch

Great Divide Titan IPA

Kronenbourg 1664

Rogue Dead Guy

Rogue JLS Release #16 Imperial Porter

Rogue Monk Madness

Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Schlafly Hefeweizen

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

Spaten Oktoberfest

In the bullpen.

Bell's Java Stout

VII. BOTTLED BEER NEWS: NEW ITEMS ON THE BOARD NEXT WEEK.

Timed to coincide with the advent of Saturnalia, there'll be a different rotating bottle slate next week.

In fact, I'm undergoing one of those periodic rethinks about our bottled list in general. It'll take a while to implement, but look for some changes come January, 2007. Meanwhile, here's the current list.

N'Ice Chouffe (750 ml)

Farsons Lacto Milk Stout (11.2 oz)

Hambleton Toleration Ale (gluten-free; 16.9 oz)

Remaining stocks of previously listed bottles (all running very low):

BBC Professor Gesser's Mind Numbing Ale

Bornem Double

Boulder Beer: "The GABF 25th Year Beer"

Founders Bad Habit Belgian Quad

Le Baladin Wayan

North Coast Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale

Podkovan Dark Lager

Rogue Chipotle Ale

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.

VIII. 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.

----

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.

See above for the list.

----

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.

----

August, 2007

Sandkerwa NA

Coming in August, 2007: Sandkerwa NA. Here's the scoop.

----

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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