#FACETIME: Tweet-up on 2/23

I just passed up my three year anniversary on Twitter. I wasn't an early-adopter, by any means, but I didn't drag my butt too long after realizing how it could effect my life. And I've spent the better part of those three years as a Twitter evangelist.

Twitter has changed my life.

Can I get an "AMEN"?

Yeah, yeah I know how ridiculous that must sound to you people who won't even touch the Tweetybox. And it probably sounds ridiculous to even those of you who have.

But Twitter is a tool. And it turned out that it was just the tool that this socially-awkward introvert needed to connect to people with similar interests and make friends.

Skeptical? I laid it all out in my 600th post, the transcript of a speech I gave at the Louisville Public Library Technology Boot Camp. Read it here.

One of the first Big Events in my Twitter life was a Valentine's Day tweet-up at Ramsi's in 2009.  I was sweetie-less, living in a hotel, recovering from chemo, working on getting my hair to grow back.  And instead of wallowing in all that on that Valentine's Day night, I accepted a tweet-up invite to meet some people I'd chatted with on Twitter. I don't know how many people came out that night (if I remember correctly, it also served as a cast party for a Pandora show), but it was there that I met "in real life" some people who have gone on to become my closest friends in the city.

Tweet-ups happen all the time.  Sometimes even on ice.  But next week, we've got a tweet-up with its very own POSTER. This is the big time, folks.

Thursday, Feb 23 @ 6pm
Against the Grain Brewery
Tweet @AlexPorter82 or @TommySpalding if you have any questions.

I'll be there (see the little acorn on the poster?). Hope to get some #FACETIME with you, too!

Holy Grale Goes All Bell's on November 15

I kind of love it when I look back on an old blog post, and it makes me laugh. That's a great way to start the day. I was looking to see if I'd ever done a really proper post on one of my favorite places-- The Holy Grale-- and it turns out I haven't. But I've mentioned it a few times, including in this post in which I rant about people on Twitter/Facebook complaining that they're "bored."

Anyway, I just love the Grale. It's one of those places that I always know will impress a friend or a date. It is literally the closest bar to Casa Lou. It's cozy and rarely too loud, even on weekends. There are very few things I like about winter (boots, my embroidered brown coat, boots, uh... yeah, that's the list), but one of those things is going to the Grale when it snows. There's something about the candlelight, the brick, the shape of the windows-- the Grale feels vaguely Leaky Cauldron when it's snowing outside.

But I digress. Again. (Maybe this is why I'm never bored: I have seven hundred thoughts in my head at any given moment. Or as Whitman says "I am large, I contain multitudes." I don't really think that I was what he had in mind....)

Back to the point... I'm also a big fan of every beer I've ever had from the Bell's brewery in Michigan. And for one day only, the Grale is going ALL Bells. Here's the information from their press release.

Bell’s Eccentric Cafe comes to Louisville
at Holy Grale (1034 Bardstown Road)

Tuesday, November 15th
starts at 4pm / Choir Loft opens at 6pm 
20+ Bell’s beers on tap!
Special guest from Bell’s Brewery, Veronica Sanders
 

About the event:
Turns out Holy Grale and Bell’s pub in Kalamazoo, Michigan (The EcCentRic CaFe) have something in common, 20 rotating taps! So, for one night and one night only Holy Grale will do its best to transform itself into the Eccentric Cafe by featuring twenty different delicious and exciting beers from Bell’s Brewery on tap and one from the firkin, pouring in signature Bell’s glassware, and hosting a very special guest from the brewery, Veronica Sanders. Join us for an evening of good beer and a celebration of all things eccentric.

Bell's Beers On Tap:

Bell’s Amber
Bell’s Pale
Bell’s Porter
Bell’s Lager of the Lakes
Bell’s Oarsman
Bell’s Best Brown
Bell’s Winter White
Bell’s Christmas
Bell’s Hell Hath No Fury
Bell’s Sparkling Ale
Bell’s Quinannan Falls Special Reserve Lager
Bell’s Hopsoulution
Bell’s Hopslam
Bell’s Third Coast Beer
Bell’s Java Stout
Bell’s Cherry Stout
Bell’s Expedition Stout
Bell’s Double Cream Stout
Bell’s Le Batteur
Bell’s Le Pianiste

* On Cask: Bell’s Two-Hearted

About Bell’s Brewery:
Bell’s Brewery, Inc. began in 1985 with a quest for better beer and a 15 gallon soup kettle. The dedication to brewing flavorful, unfiltered, quality craft beers that started in 1985 is still with them today. The brewery currently makes over 20 beers for distribution as well as many other small batch beers that are served at the Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo. Bell’s ongoing goal is to brew thoughtfully, creatively and artistically – striving to bring an authentic and pleasant experience to all through unique ales and beers. http://www.bellsbeer.com/

For more info please email us at: info@holygralelouisville.com

I'm NOT hoping for snow in November, but if Mother Nature has to do her snowy thing. I hope it's Tuesday!

Wednesday Morning Randomness: Bats, Beer, Music, etc.

I have had such a wonderful summer. I'm so sorry to have it wind down. Mama needs to win the lottery or sell her novel for a bazillion dollars. I'm damned good at the "lady of leisure" thing. Anytime I see someone Tweet or Facebook about "being bored" I want to shout: BORED? Bored? In a world with the internet and ten zillion tv stations and movie theaters and this great city we live in, and let's not forget BOOKS! Books! I don't think I've been bored since the mid-90's. And until I am too old to move or grow blind (it could happen-- my eyesight has gotten worse just about every year since age three), I don't ever anticipate being bored again.  Modernity rocks.

But, despite the fact that I had a marvelous time at Nerd Camp, I am so super happy to be home. And I'm trying to cram in as much "summer fun" into the next week as possible.  Despite the fact that I don't always see all of my friends on a monthly basis, being away from them for a month was kinda hard. And Twitter, of course, makes it possible to see all of the fun they were having without me.  Even though I expressly told them not to have any fun without me.  Damned friends.

Anyway, I have lots of catching up to do, so here's a randomness post for you.  Sorry for some of the "old news" in here. It's all new to me!

• Finally, the old Potstickers location across from Papalino's is getting a new tenant.  It's going to be a cupcake bakery.  Wish I liked sweets, but good on you, cupcakers. You know what I do like? Red velvet cake. If they have a red velvet cupcake, I'm all over that.
  
• The Holy Grale is now open 7 days a week. That instantly improves my quality of life.
  
• As does the re-opening of the Barret Bar under new management.  Roommate and I went there a couple of times before I left for Nerd Camp. The food is great-- worlds better than the old "frozen chicken patty" days.  Roommate had a bbq slider that was delish. Beers are a bit pricey, but pool is still cheap.  And they still have that lovely patio.
  
• Speaking of Holy Grale, I went there yesterday for their first Monday opening ever with the lovely and talented Erin Keane and her lovely and talented mister.  Ms. Erin, one of our city's finest writers, is now writing for Salon.com (among other places). Her article on Roseanne Barr's potential White House bid not only got at Twitter mention from Roseanne herself, but is probably my favorite article she's ever written.
  
• And speaking of my awesome friends (now I feel like I'm name-dropping), I went to Clifton's Pizza tonight to see the always fantastic Alex Wright play with Danny Flannigan, who is also wonderful.  When I found myself singing along to some of Alex's tunes, I realized that I have officially become a "groupie." He said it was okay if I declared myself the president of his fan club, so there you have it.  Alex's CD comes out soon, and he's playing next Thursday with Dewey Kincaid at Zazzo's.  Also, I'm told his CD cover was designed by the marvelous John Wurth who also designed my little acorn logo.
  
• In case you missed it via Twitter, while I was in Connecticut visiting Mama Lou, I hijacked her car for the evening and drove an hour to see our Louisville Bats play the Pawtucket Red Sox, by myself.  It was a gorgeous, glorious evening and a stellar game of baseball that turned into an ugly, ugly, uglyuglyugly loss for our Bats.  Here's the thing, I am clearly one of the Bats' biggest fans, so why is it that every request I've made to them to cover them for this blog has been totally ignored?  Even the person who tweets for the Bats ignores me.  Last year I even asked to interview the person who maintains the field at Slugger Field, and they ignored my request.  It's starting to sting a little, I'll be honest.
  
• And yeah, I know people get all kinds of snarky about people and businesses asking that you vote for them in the LEO Readers' Poll.  I get it.  But I'm going to ask anyway.  I know I'm not the "best blog" in Louisville.  Hands down that honor belongs to Consuming Louisville.  But some day, I would like to be a runner-up.  So, yes, I'm asking for you to vote for me.  Michelle will be fine. ;)
  
• Finally, one thing I've missed this summer is the James Stewart Marathon at the Palace Theater.  This weekend is my favorite Jimmy Stewart movie, "Rear Window."  I used to be a huge Audrey Hepburn fan-- still am, really-- but that was back when I was thin as a rail and totally fey and aspired to be just like her.  Nowadays when I think of classic beauty, I think of Grace Kelley.  Just so ineffably perfect.  

That's the randomness for today.  So happy to be home!  Louisville, I've missed you something awful.

It's Fun To Answer Questions about Drinking

One of the funniest people on Twitter (whose tweets are locked, sorry y'all) asked if I would mind posting about a survey she's doing for work.  I figure, she's entertained me all these months, I owe her that.  So, go answer some questions about drinking for Miss @lesil.  And maybe if you're super nice, she'll accept you as a Twitter pal.  You'll be glad she did.

Her survey is for a start-up brewery, so let's support our local adult beverage providers, shall we?  Take the survey here.

Crafted In Kentuckiana Brew Fest

The Kentucky Restaurant Association is sponsoring a "Crafted In Kentuckiana" Brew Fest at Kingfish on Saturday from 3p-7p.  And believe me, if I can shake this horrible bout of bronchitis I'm suffering from... well, I can think of no better way to celebrate than with tastes of my favorite local brews.  It's $5 to get in, and then tickets are $1.  Tastes are 1 ticket and most pints are 3.

I noted that the C-J article lists Falls City Beer as among the featured brews, and I'm kind of glad to see that.  I caught a FacebookFeud (is that a real thing or did I just create a neologism?) about whether or not Falls City counts as a "local brew" even though it's "contract brewed."  "Contract brewed" means that the local brewers who created the beer contract the big batches out to a larger brewer.  One who is, in this case, outside of Kentuckiana.  The Falls City rep on FB insisted that while the juice is cooked up elsewhere, the heart of the business remains in LOUKy until they raise enough funds to do the brewing hereabouts.

That's good enough for me.  

Other beers featured:  Alltech's Kentucky Ale, Bluegrass Brewing Co., Browning's, Cumberland Brews, Fall's City Beer, Hofbrauhaus Newport and New Albanian Brewing Co. 

Leave it to an Irishman to make a Great KY Beer

So last week, in my beverage and horseracing tour of the Lexington area, I also had the pleasure of stopping in on the Alltech Kentucky Ale brewery right in downtown Lexington. Really, they should start calling it a "brewery and distillery" because right in time for the World Equestrian Games (of which they're the primary sponsor) they'll be rolling out their own whiskey (Pearce Lyons Reserve), and eventually bourbon, distilled right there in the downtown campus.

Is it a blessing or a curse that I just can't stand cheap beer? This hasn't always been the case. I was raised on cheap beer (somewhat literally, I had four young uncles when I was growing up, and they got a kick out of sneaking "the kid" a few sips of their Bud during gatherings). In college, I drank Rolling Rock when I was feeling flush and PBR (without a hint of irony) when I was broke. In fact, I distinctly remember one day my senior year having just under $10 left on my credit card (explains my history of poor financial management) and using it to buy a case of PBR and a small box of Grape Nuts.

So I'm the worst kind of beer snob. Expensive taste with absolutely no knowledge. But I like what I like. (see: my taste in wine)

Two nights before my KY Ale tour, Roommate and I popped into Mellow Mushroom near UK's campus to watch the Red Sox game. They lost, but it turned out it was trivia night and we came in second (from way behind on the final question-- I take no pride that I was the only person in the bar that could successfully match the type of animal to the person who it either mauled or killed). We earned a $25 gift certificate which effectively paid for half the night. Of course this has nothing to do with anything; I'm just bragging that we came in second in a trivia night packed with young whippersnapper college kids.

Oh wait, it is relevant. I brought it up because it was the first time I'd tried Kentucky Ale. And, in short, it's really good stuff. I like what I like, and I like it a lot.

I wish I'd taken notes. I didn't think it would take me more than a week to get a blog post up about the tour. So, as usual, pardon the ramble.

Alltech-- the parent company of KY Ale-- is a company founded in the early 80's by Dr. Pearce Lyons who moved from Ireland to the US. They make animal vitamin supplements, primarily with yeast-derived products. On the website, Dr. Lyons says, "People often ask us why a global company that’s in the business of science also owns a brewery. Well, to make a long story short, my forefathers in Ireland had their hand in the brewing business and crafting beer casks when barrels were made out of wood. Today, my own family is in the business of making yeast that happens to also go into the making of beer. So, it was a natural for us to revive the brewery that has been in Lexington since 1794."

So Lexington Ale has been around for more than 200 years, but it has changed hands a bunch of times. The last time it went out of business, in 1999, Lyons snapped it up. The first beer they produced was the KY Ale-- a blend of an Irish Red and an English pale ale. Since then they've added KY Light, which is a German style beer, and Bourbon Barrel Ale, which is KY Ale aged in a used bourbon barrel.

The tour reveals a tiny facility where they brew and bottle the beer and distill the spirits (which are casked and aged and bottled in Bardstown). But this year is a huge year for the Brewery; they're not only sponsoring the World Equestrian Games but unveiling a new facility that will more than double their space. We were shown the plans, and it looks gorgeous.

At the end of the tour, we were shepherded into a tiny Irish pub and given generous tastes of all three of the beers. The KY Ale remained my favorite. I'm not a fan of German style beers. And while the reviews of the Bourbon Barrel Ale are fabulous and it's won a ton of awards, I wasn't a fan. One of my fellow pub-goers said that it tasted like "bananas," and while I didn't really agree, that sorta stuck with me.

I had no idea that Kentucky Ale products were only available in KY and OH. Part of the reason for the bigger facility is so that they can expand distribution. And I'm just loving their sponsorship of the World Equestrian Games-- even though I know nothing about horsey stuff, I know that this event is a big deal and means lots of money for and eyes on the region. Whenever I can, I like to "drink local," and heretofor BBC products have been my go-to beers. But now I'll add Kentucky Ale to my drink dance card, happy to support a true local brewery that's committed to the state.

**disclaimer: I was led to the brewery by a blog/twitter reader who works in PR for the brewery. I took the standard 3pm daily tour. But I was given a couple of souvenirs at the end of the tour. They didn't, however, influence me in the slightest. No t-shirt is ever gonna make me blog about bad beer.

Beer Festival at Flanagan's

Sunday, June 7 from 2-5pm meet reps from 40 craft brewers, each brewer will be pouring 1-3 beers! Tickets go on sale via email to subscribers on 4/27 and to the general public on 4/29.

To subscribe: email ashley@louisvilleirishpubs.com

PS. Roommate says that Flanagan's has the best-looking bartenders in Little Dublin. Especially Rebecca. This = a good chance to check them out.

Series of Local Tubes: Beers for All Occasions

New Series: Series of Local Tubes (SOLT) (thank you Ted Stevens for your "Series of Tubes" quote and so much more). Celebrating newer local blogs.

Check out "Beers for All Occasions." It's thorough, it's well-written, and it's by chicks who love beer. I immediately added it to my Google Reader.

Start by reading their review of Derby City Espresso. I couldn't have said it better myself.

They're buying their own domain name, so these links may not work much longer. I will update you as soon as I find out that the deal is done.