Run-up to ADI: Mecklenburg Gardens, and Louisville beers

Saturday I drove out to Louisville for the American Distillers Institute craft distilling conference (I'll be blogging about that at the Whisky Advocate blog). Just didn't feel like dealing with the airport again, so I loaded up the TDI and headed west. I had packed a turkey sandwich for lunch (home-roasted turkey breast with some Penzey's Galena Street rub and a raspberry-wasabi mustard on sliced miche, and damn, but that was good); then 5:00 found me just outside of Cincinnati, and I took the recommendation of a Facebook friend to get dinner at Mecklenburg Gardens. Good call: the Kostritzer schwarzbier was clean and fresh as a whistle, and the goulasch was rich and tasty, sitting on fresh-made spaetzel. Nice couple from Indianapolis at the bar, too; we talked all through the meal.

I got into Louisville about 8:20, and holed up in my hotel room till about half an hour after the UK/UofL game was over...and then went out to get a beer. I walked down to the Bluegrass Brewing Company taproom on 4th Street, dropped at the bar, and after considering the sessiony Altbier...went for the Duppy Conqueror, which they described as a "Belgian porter." Tasted more like a roasty dubbel, but hey, there's crossover territory there. Had one more -- a 7.5% Rye IPA that was spicy/hoppy, but maybe a bit heavy for my tastes; I like rye IPAs a bit crisper -- and then called it a night; it was a long day of driving.

Next morning I went to Palm Sunday mass with friends, who then took me to brunch at -- I was going to keep that to myself, actually, because it was nice enough that I wanted to keep it a secret, but that's no way for a blogger to be! We went to 211 Clover Lane, tucked back in a quiet little corner, and had a great meal; I had a great plate of shrimp and grits with tomato gravy (with a lemon cranberry scone before; delicious). There was a good selection of whiskeys, but I just wasn't quite ready for that yet.

I left after this nice quiet moment with my friends and their kids (3 year old daughter and a newborn son, and just beautiful), dodging the remaining thunderstorms that had been blasting through the area since I woke up. By the time I got back closer to downtown, I was ready for a drink...and stopped at Against the Grain, the brewpub at the ballfield. Candace set me up with a Keller Zwickle, a sharply fresh unfiltered lager in a big half-liter willibecker, which just put a beautiful spin on the day for me. I followed it up with a Smoke, a rauchbier that was pounded with smoke, just the thing for a place with barbeque (and smoked cabbage, which I got a side of; delish stuff).

The day was just getting nicer, so I headed across the Ohio to New Albany, aimed at New Albanian Brewing's in-town premises, Bank Street Brewhouse. Now it was time for session beer! I started right in on an imperial pint of Community Dark Mild, one of my favorite American session beers (3.7%, chocolatey and dryly malty). New Albanian owner Roger Baylor popped up -- he was enjoying the day himself -- and introduced me to the guys from Flat 12 Bierwerks from Indianapolis. They're participating in Session Beer Day -- as is New Albanian, in a big way, sounds like as many as seven session beers on tap that day! -- and we had a great talk about it. Then after a glass of Tafelbier (4% Belgian pale ale, and tasty-delicious-spicy), I gave Roger and his friend Jared a ride over to the ADI conference...at which point this becomes the ADI story, which you'll have to read at the Whisky Advocate blog when it goes up. I will tell you that I'm down in Bardstown now, eating country ham -- for work! -- drinking coffee, and going bourbon shopping (gotta take the opportunity when I'm "out of control").

Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage 2000

The picture says it all, or almost all: from right to left, Heaven Hill prez Max Shapira watches as Parker Beam "thiefs" samples of Barrel #1 of this year's Evan Williams Single Barrel, distilled in 2000, into glasses held by Craig Beam. It was the moment of the evening.

And the whiskey? One of the good ones. It came out of the barrel at 142.9 proof, quite high for these selections; Max thought it was the highest. The barrel came from the 7th floor of Warehouse Z (I think Parker said Z). But it was definitely drinkable at that proof: as I Tweeted last night, "Nice. Good oak, spicy, but a nice slippery sweetness, like sugar maple sap. Wicked smooth even at full proof." Then as a pitcher came around, "A touch of water brings out more depth to the oak and vanilla. A nice blend of bourbon's strengths: sweet, spice, & oaky dryness."

I'm looking forward to having more when I get home, even though it's going to be at 43.3%. We did just kind of wonder...wouldn't it be cool if Heaven Hill bottled a limited run of 1,000 bottles of this stuff at barrel proof? Woof.

We went back to the Proof bar afterwards, had DFH 60 Minute (a lot of that), then a Los Angeles cocktail, a whiskey sour variation that was deliciously creamy smooth. Hung out with John, Larry Kass, Josh Hafer (both Heaven Hill folks we've known a long time), Alan Katz, Gary Regan, Mark Gillespie, the two guys from Los Angeles (guys, it was a long night; shoot me your info, be glad to put a link up to your bar (they're trying to bring classic cocktails to LA, folks)), and some others; it was a big, friendly crowd. And now...it's morning, and time to head for the airport. Fun weekend, but I'm ready to go home.

Congratulations, Parker Beam!

I'm currently in Louisville, on a beautiful fall day. I'm out here with John Hansell, Gary Regan, and other whiskey writers to help celebrate Parker Beam's 50 years of working at Heaven Hill.

We went down to Bardstown last night in a limo -- nine of us, passing around a bottle of Parker's Golden Anniversary, and it was fun, and Larry Kass told some great stories, and we all agreed that what gets said in the limo stays in the limo (and believe me, that's for the best!) -- and toasted Parker with a bunch of Heaven Hill folks, other distillers (at one point I was drinking with Jim Rutledge (Four Roses), Greg Davis (Tom Moore), and Craig Beam (Parker's son and co-master distiller), and Bardstown friends. Parker was called "a Rembrandt," "a genius," "brilliant," and I have to say, he was honest enough to simply smile and nod. Lots of laughs, and lots and lots of great bourbon. That's Bourbon Heritage Center director Lynne Grant with the cake, BTW...really, that's the cake. It even has the stencil on the head. Awesome.

Tonight is more Parkermania: the launch of this year's Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage. I just had a bottle delivered to my room, and I'm not opening it. I'm waiting till the official launch. That's how it's done.

And because that's how it's done: I am Heaven Hill's guest on this trip. Because you should know that.

Kentucky Bourbon Festival Day 1

I left Philly yesterday under gray, cloudy skies, headed for Kentucky. As usual, air travel's magic soon dispelled the grayness of the day, and I got to work, proofing and tweaking the stories for the next issue of Malt Advocate. It was a very easy flight, and I wrote a note to myself:

How perfect a moment of modern travel: high above Ohio, bright noonday sun pouring through the window, and the triumphant opening chords of "Pinball Wizard" soaring through my ears. If I had just a small glass of whiskey yet. It's hard to edit Malt Advocate stories with nothing to drink!

It only got better when I landed. I picked up my rental (a Chevy HHR, which turns out to be not bad at all) and made my usual first stop: New Albanian Brewing, across the Ohio River in New Albany, Indiana. Roger Baylor and I go way back, and though I didn't get to see him this time, I did get to enjoy New Albanian's fresh hopped ale, Wet Knobs. It was very good, bustingly fresh and packed with piney, grassy hop flavor. They brewed it with pellets, the fresh hops -- limited supply of locally-grown Cascades and Chinook -- were used as finishing hops. They hope to have enough hops next year to do all the hopping with fresh hops. I also grabbed a small Roundhouse pizza that was delish, reminding me that this place started as a pizza joint with good beer. It's evolved nicely, and if you've never made it over here, you should.

I headed back across the river and dropped in at Bourbons Bistro. I'll reluctantly admit that this was my first visit, and it won't be my last. An excellent selection of over 130 bourbons (plus additional ryes, corn whiskeys, and Tennessee whiskeys), an intriguing Kentucky-influenced menu, and locally-owned? Yes, please. Best of all, they offer flights of whiskeys in a variety of classes. I got three bottled-in-bond whiskeys: Old Fitz, J.W.Dant, and Ancient Age (I was told at Liquor World later that Ancient Age BiB is being discontinued: a shame, because it was really good). $10, and the bartender had to work at it, literally climbing up on the backbar to get them. Nice spot to sit for a bit and sip.

Then I had to check out the beer bar I'd been hearing about, Nachbar. The bar's in Louisville's Germantown section, and the name means "neighbor," or "next-door." Given that it's smack-dab in the middle of a residential section -- as I wish more bars were -- the name's perfect. Very impressive selection of beers, both in draft and bottle: locals, craft -- I had a Bell's Two Hearted -- and imports all well-represented. Laid-back to the point of being horizontal. Friendly, but not eager. And a nice patio area outside. Good place to hang out.

And then I drove down to Bardstown. I cruised around town, re-acquainting myself with the place. I stopped at Liquor World and got some here-only bottlings to take home (got an article on that coming in Malt Advocate soon), and a small bottle of Old Fitz for the room, and checked in at the Hampton Inn. Did some work, slept, and I'm doing a bit of work again this morning till the rain stops...I hope it stops. I've got places to go and people to see!