Yesterday I promised to insert a brief preview into “Hip Hops” of my forthcoming print profile of Tom Brown and his Craft House Pizza and Hometown Brewing sister businesses, with the stellar photography you’ve come to expect from the award-winning Dan Dry.
Here is an excerpt, subject to editing as we assemble the Summer 2024 issue of F & D, which should be out in early June. Look for it in all the usual places.
I met Brown for the first time in April at Craft House Pizza’s recently established Colonial Gardens location across from Iroquois Park. Within moments my pizza order had been placed, and a Hometown Brewing Co. Foxbody 5.0 was nestled in my hand.
It’s an amber-hued, Bavarian-style lager that in 2022 earned a place on Beer Connoisseur Magazine’s Top 100 list. Medium-bodied, characterful and clean, Foxbody 5.0 proved to be ideally suited to wash down a lunch of Craft House’s savory signature Hot Brown pizza with Alfredo sauce, ham, turkey, bacon and tomato.
There is a twist, because “5.0” overtly refers not to its alcohol percentage by volume, but points to an automobile: a third-generation Ford Mustang 5.0 (1979 – 1993), built on a Fox platform, reflecting Brown’s third major obsession in life.
“I love beer, pizza and cars,” says Brown, and accordingly many of Hometown Brewing’s releases are named after vehicles he has owned, driven and retained, including his first-ever car, a 1971 Pontiac Firebird Formula 350 – inspiration for Formula Pilsner, Hometown’s first-ever beer release.
The automotive linkage doesn’t scratch an itch for me, although it makes as much sense as naming fermenters for dead communists (raising my hand here). I adore the fact that at Craft House/Hometown, flagship beers survive and thrive, and around 12 of brewer Ellis Simpson’s creations are considered “everyday” selections.
There could always be more sessionable ABVs in my personal cosmos, but it’s just as important to reverse the tilt-a-whirl rotational dead-end, and offer everyday beers that folks can fall in love with again … and again.
There is an honesty to Craft House/Hometown’s pizza-and-beer ambience that I find utterly refreshing; it reflects my own upbringings as a beer drinker and business owner.
As I write, the Sherman Minton is closed yet again for a two-week round of repairs. However once the current mayhem concludes and we return to the usual level of madness, I’ve made a valuable discovery (all together now: “duh”), in that Colonial Gardens takes no time at all to reach from New Albany given an unimpeded path over the river.
I suspect the Craft House Pizza shop there might be seeing more of me.
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I previously gave Kentucky Craft Bash a nod, and it’s time for an update.
Hip Hops: Early bird Craft Bash, 502 Beer Day & new brewpub plans
Here’s the brewery lineup for the 7th annual Kentucky Craft Bash at Waterfront Park’s Festival Plaza on Saturday, June 29. It’s the non-profit Kentucky Guild of Brewers’ largest annual fundraiser.
The Kentucky Craft Bash turns Festival Plaza into Kentucky’s largest taproom, featuring craft beers, cider, sake, and seltzers solely from Kentucky breweries. In addition, the brewers and brewery staff are the ones pouring the suds beers, giving attendees a chance to meet the brewers and brewery staff that make their products.
Kentucky breweries attending include:
- 3rd Turn Brewing
- Against the Grain
- Abettor Brewing Company
- Alexandria Brewing Company
- Apocalypse Brew Works
- Atrium Brewing
- Awry Brewing
- Barelycorn’s Brewhouse
- Blue Stallion Brewing Co.
- Chinkapin Brewing
- Country Boy Brewing
- Dreaming Creek Brewery
- Dry Ground Brewing Company
- Ethereal Brewing
- Gallant Fox Brewing
- Gravely Brewing Company
- Henderson Brewing Company
- Holsopple Brewing
- Hometown Brewing Company
- Hop Atomica
- Hopkinsville Brewing Company
- Kyros Brewing
- Last Stop Brewing
- Lemons Mill Brewery
- Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co.
- Maiden City Brewing Co.
- Mile Wide Beer Company
- Monnik Beer Company
- Noble Funk Brewing Co.
- Old Louisville Brewery
- Pivot Brewing Company
- Pub on Second
- River Forge Brewing
- Shippingport Brewing Co.
- Sig Luscher Brewery
- Stainless Brewing and Spirits
- TEN20 Craft Brewery
- The Brew Bridge
- Versailles Brewing Company
- West Sixth Brewing
- White Squirrel Brewery
- Wise Bird Cider
- Yancey’s Gastropub & Brewery
The festival also spotlights local vendors and food. Vendors for 2024 include:
- Flavor Queen’s Kitchen/The Flavor Queen (burgoo)
- BobaBun
- Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Flying Axes
- Frazier History Museum
- Sunblind Fine Art and Wearables
- The Beer Syrup Co.
- ForeverMore mobile record shop
- Schmitz-N-Steins
- LAGERS Homebrew Club
- Brightside
Proceeds from the festival benefit the Kentucky Guild of Brewers, a nonprofit organization advocating for the craft beer industry in Kentucky. General admission ($55) and VIP ($65) tickets are on sale now through June 28. VIP tickets are limited and include an hour early admission to the fest, swag bag, special edition tasting glass, and a pretzel necklace. Tickets can be purchased here.
Previously at “Hip Hops”:
Roger Baylor is an entrepreneur, educator, and innovator with 
