Tough Love For Lager
It was the summer of 1985, and my very first time in Germany, with exact whereabouts in the Alpine foothills of Bavaria lost to posterity, but the specific scene is still quite clear:
A small...
Perhaps too little curiosity killed the HopCat (Louisville), which will close for good
On March 20 we reported all HopCat locations nationwide were closing temporarily amid pandemic food service and bar shutdowns. Earlier this afternoon, HopCat - Louisville (1064 Bardstown Road) took to social media to confirm...
Hip Hops: Quasi-philosophical meanderings suitable for beer and kippers
A diverse ecosystem will also be resilient, because it contains many species with overlapping ecological functions that can partially replace one another…in other words, the more complex the network is, the more complex its...
Hip Hops: New breweries, a Bock fest in NuLu, Common Haus and Starkbierzeit
"Hip Hops" isn't a column about nothing (with apologies to the creators of television's Seinfeld). These weekly scribblings are about beer, in which 2022 marks my 40th year, shall we say, of intimate involvement....
Hip Hops: Kentucky Craft Bash is June 11, plus a survey of beer news
Whenever I'm called upon to explain the brewing process, references to beer's ancient origins are a prerequisite.
People have strange ideas about the history of alcoholic beverages, and you'll hear statements like "wine in the...
From the archives, the story of an enterprising brewer in pre-Prohibition New Albany
Whatever else one thinks about living through a pandemic, it must be conceded that the usual food and dining story lines are limited. I've been going through the archives, both Food & Dining Magazine's...
Hip Hops: What’s Alt, doc? Akasha’s new beer, that’s what (and a 1995 flashback)
American craft brewers have proven adept at rescuing forgotten classic beer styles and reshaping them for a contemporary market. Recent examples that spring to mind include the three "gees": Gose, Grisette and Grodziskie, from...
Hip Hops: After a brilliant run, Louisville Beer Store’s endgame draws near
Writing last month at The Daily Beast, the inimitable Lew Bryson reminded us that beer sales aren't exactly booming.
"To understand why this myth persists," explains Bryson, "it helps to realize that the beer business...
Hip Hops: Erin Go Blagh, or a timeless St. Paddy’s Day reminder
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
William Butler Yeats wrote the poem Easter, 1916 as a personal response to his mixed feelings in the aftermath...
Hip Hops: When Michael “Beer Hunter” Jackson came to Louisville in 1994 (part two)
“When one thirsts for a glass of wine or a pint of beer, the brain gradually registers the order as a half-heard whisper. The volume is slowly turned up, creating a gentle, purring, reverberation...
