I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: MEET THE NEW CICERONE ... NOT THE SAME AS THE OLD SOMMELIER.
II. OKTOBERFEST DRAFTS COMING NOW.
III. A BIG THANKS FOR THE SANDKERWA NA RECEPTION.
IV. NABC BREWERY NEWS: GROWTH CONTINUES WITH NEW WALK-IN COOLER, A WORK STATION FOR TONY, AND TAPS AT NEIL'S.
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. BOTTLE NEWS: GETTING MORE THAN WE BARGAINED FOR, IN A "NICE" WAY.
VIII. CALENDAR OF EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.
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I. PUBLICAN'S CHOICE: MEET THE NEW CICERONE ... NOT THE SAME AS THE OLD SOMMELIER.
It's a great word, and and even better concept: What is the world of beer had its version of the sommelier, the "wine authority" who has been trained to know the product, handle and dispense it, and explain it to those seeking advice and information?
The return of Cicero, and the demotion of "beer sommelier" in favor of something more quantifiable.
II. OKTOBERFEST DRAFTS COMING NOW.
Regular readers know that the Publican's list of annoyances is fairly long, but none more so than the relatively recent habit of releasing Oktoberfest lagers in mid-August. This is plain wrong, and kudos to Indiana's primary specialty whoelsaler, World Class Beverages, for waiting until September 1 to make their stock available. Noting that this year's Munich Oktoberfest doesn't begin until September 22, finally it's mid-September, and we're close enough to the mark to begin pouring German-style amber lagers. See below for what's on tap and in the queue, and know that more of them are on the way next week.
III. A BIG THANKS FOR THE SANDKERWA NA RECEPTION.
To be honest, I wasn't sure how our customers would react to an esoteric draft selection, mostly from one region, and heavy on smoked lagers without much in the way of Bavarian food or decor to abet the experience ... but more than half of the beer was gone after the first six business days, and I'm delighted with the response.We'll be back with the same concept next year, hopefully with a beer dinner in Prost catered by Jasper's Schnitzelbank Restaurant.
Speaking of German beer dinners, there'll be one on Monday October 1 at Bistro New Albany. Chef David Clancy is preparing a menu, and I'll be matching beers to it. In keeping with the German tradition, we'll be doing fewer overall beers but bigger portions of them. Stay tuned for further information.
IV. NABC BREWERY NEWS: GROWTH CONTINUES WITH NEW WALK-IN COOLER, A WORK STATION FOR TONY, AND TAPS AT NEIL'S.
Jesse, Jared and Tony spent the week installing a new walk-in cooler which we hope will ease the storage crunch in the brewery. New or reconditioned cooperage will be soon to follow, which I hope will enable us to avoid shortages of Hoptimus and perhaps enable further creativity from the brew crew.
To assist in the furtherance of his graphics and design work, new brewery staffer Tony will be getting a computer work station in my office. He is being charged with stocking a shop that we hope will be ready for public interface by Chrismas.
Finally, we've opened a new off-premise account at Neil's in Sellersburg. The address is 7611 Hwy 311, and the goal is to have Community Dark and Elector on tap.
V. RECENT NEWS AND ARTICLES AT THE POTABLE CURMUDGEON’S BEER BLOG.
Grassroots Festival at Stratto’s is tonight.
Real planning now underway for PacNW beer and brewery tour, 2008.
Calendar change: Saturnalia will begin on Friday, December 7.
Bourbon-barrel stout for the world: Small scale brewing and beer exports.
VI. DRAFT BEERS: OUR LIQUID, DAILY BREAD, ON TAP AT RICH O’S AND SPORTSTIME.
Our NABC beers.
NABC began brewing in 2002, and we’re proud to be New Albany’s first active brewery since 1935. From very deep within the confines of NABC’s garage brewery, Jesse Williams and Jared Williamson conjure 8-barrel batches of regulars, old favorites and new formulations.
Always check the blackboards to see what’s on tap. For more information about NABC beers, go here.
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 dedicated to the workers at the Caesars Indiana riverboat casino in nearby Harrison County.
Elector ... Making Democracy pointless since 2002; English malt, American hops. 7.2% abv. Double Red?
Happy Helmut ... Homage to eclectic Franconian brewing traditions, light bodied and quaffable, with a hint of smoke and rye.
Hoptimus ... Massive and assertive. Stern. Double IPA. Silver medal winner at the 2007 St. Louis Microfest.
Mt. Lee ... California Common ("Steam"), named for the Hollywood mountainside with the famous sign. First brewed in 2006. It has been lightened in gravity and a.b.v. by roughly 10% for the current first summer of 2007 batch.
St. Radegund ... English-style ESB, brewed as Beak's Best in its original incarnation in 2002, then reformulated as St. Radegund in 2005.
Guests from near and far (market pricing).
ON TAP NOW: Everyday staples. Note that Alpha King will now often be rotating with Bell’s Two Hearted Ale . Why? Go here.
Alpha King (multiple kegs; Bell’s Two Hearted Ale may return the week of Sept. 17, or as soon as an available tap can be found)
Sprecher Root Beer (non-alcoholic)
ON TAP NOW: Rotating selections (limited engagement).
Barley Island Black Majic Java Stout
Kasteel Bier Bruin/Brune/Donker
Rogue "John's Locker Stock" Anniversary Ale - Brewer 2007 (redux)
Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine
In the bullpen (ready for duty when called upon to serve).
Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale
Upland Oktoberfest
VII. BOTTLE NEWS: GETTING MORE THAN WE BARGAINED FOR, IN A "NICE" WAY.
The cardboard boxes marked McChouffe were spiffy and labeled as always in English, for export to the United States, but upon opening one of them to stock the bottles, inside were bottles of N'Ice Chouffe, the Achouffe brewery's winter seasonal. Not only that, but the bottle labels were different. Upon closer examination, they were revealed to be written in Danish.
Danish-label N'Ice Chouffe in American export cases? Someone's mistake is our unexpected bounty. For a short time, we'll be completely out of McChouffe and completely in with N'Ice Chouffe in the 750 ml bottles for the same price as McChouffe. Got it? Enjoy.
The new, updated bottled beer list has been published and can be viewed here. Note the expanded Belgian and French sections.
VIII. CALENDAR OF 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.
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, October 11 through Sunday, October 14
Harvest Homecoming
New Albany's annual celebration, now featuring three downtown restaurants/pubs serving NABC beer.
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Friday, October 19
Lupulin Land Harvest Hopcoming begins
Love and hoppiness, in all their myriad forms, as dispensed from all available taps.
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Friday, December 7
Saturnalia MMVII begins
Our fourth celebration of the winter solstice, with seasonal and holiday drafts.
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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