“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. In consequence, my series of sporadic flashbacks continues.
- 40 Years in Beer, Part Six: The K & H Forever (Lanesville Prelude)
- 40 Years in Beer, Part Seven: The K & H Forever (Heartland Adagio)
In my early twenties, affiliated lessons on the nature of community spirit and cooperation came to me in a neighboring town, while I was seated on a barstool. As proof of what the Reidys in Louisville have been saying at their Irish Rover eatery ever since I’ve known them, it was a case of the pub as a poor man’s university.
In terms of time management, I must concede to having recently been overtaken by my duties as head of the Bierabteilung (Beer Department) at Common Haus Hall (134 Spring Street, Jeffersonville IN), which is staging various soft opening events during the coming days in preparation for regular business hours.
Common Haus Hall has been more than a year in the making, and since my readers are no doubt weary of hearing about supply chains, labor force shortages and gas prices, I’ll spare you the litany. To put it succinctly, it has been a challenging ride.
In November, Kevin Gibson provided a report about the restaurant/beer hall’s progress.
Local writer Kevin Gibson on the forthcoming Common Haus in Jeffersonville
The News and Tribune’s Brooke McAfee followed suit yesterday with an update: Common Haus Hall to open soon in downtown Jeffersonville. Bear in mind that beer’s only a part of it, and Common Haus will be offering a full menu of Bavarian- and German-inspired dishes, including schnitzel, sausages, snacks and pretzels (with vegetarian or vegan options).
(Owner Joe) Phillips said he is taking his time in opening Common Haus, and they are opening in stages to be able to staff the restaurant properly.
“We are taking our time a little bit in testing staff and equipment and the menu — we’re doing it invite only for several days to get feedback from some of our industry and chef peers and friends and family to see what we need to work on and wrapping some things up in the building that are under construction,” he said.
Common Haus Hall is conceived as a celebration of the German ethos in food and drink, and consequently, the German “family tree” of beer styles forms the basis of the beer selection. As these styles pertain to pouring decisions for the 18 draft lines at Common Haus, we’ll be taking a fairly broad approach to “German” beer.
There’ll be traditional German lagers and ales from Bavaria, Greater Germany and other European locales as well as these same beer styles, as interpreted in America and elsewhere in the world, including collaborations between the Haus and local and regional brewers. Lager heavy, yes; exclusively lager, no.
There are beer headlines to report, beginning with Michael L. Jones at Louisville Business First: “Pivot Brewing Co. will open its first Louisville location at 1753 Bardstown Road, near the Purrfect Day Cat Café and the cocktail bar Darling’s.”
Also, Oldham Brewing Company opened on St. Patrick’s Day.
As a reminder, after two years in the COVID-19 deep freeze, NuLu Bock & Wurst Fest returns this Saturday, March 26 from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m., as unfolding in the 600 and 700 blocks of East Market Street.
Finally, riffing on a theme of delicious malty Bock, this from A Tempest in a Tankard discussing the renewal of Paulaner’s Starkbierzeit celebration in Munich:
“At any rate, as is the case with any folk festival worthy of the name, there’s more to the fest than just good beer.”
True; very true.
In closing this week, a farewell toast to Beth Howard and Tim Burnash, who’ve left us far too soon. They’ll be greatly missed. Beth and Tim were not brewery owners, sales reps or bartenders, although they certainly volunteered to work numerous events, many of them charitably oriented, that featured better beer.
Rather, think of them as “everywoman” and “everyman” in the beer business, those “everyday” beer lovers whose passion and patronage make it all possible. If there were a hall of fame for beer lovers alone, we’d be earnestly discussing their career stats.
Naturally Beth and Tim had full, rich lives outside of beer, but without people like them supporting the beer business, we’d all be selling insurance.
Not that there’s anything wrong with THAT.
Roger Baylor is an entrepreneur, educator, and innovator with more than 35 years of hands-on experience and expertise as a beer seller, restaurateur, and commentator. As the co-founder of New Albany’s Sportstime Pizza/Rich O’s Public House (which later became New Albanian Brewing Company) in the 1990s and early 2000s, Baylor played a seminal role in Louisville’s craft beer renaissance. Currently he is the beer director at Pints&union in New Albany. Baylor’s “Hip Hops” columns on beer-related subjects have been a fixture in F&D since 2005, and he was named the magazine’s digital editor in 2019.
