Time to dust off the Under The Radar brewery feature to take a closer look at Against The Grain brewery in Louisville, Kentucky. I’m a Cincinnatian, spend alot of time downtown for work and play and am a big fan of all Cincinnati professional sports. But, I make my home just across the river in Kentucky. Now, Kentucky isn’t exactly known for their craft beer or breweries, but that is slowly changing.
A few weeks ago, I was able to visit some dear friends in Louisville (less than two hours south) while in town for the Forecastle Festival. I love music, but of course I love craft beer as well and wanted to get a closer look at the Louisville craft beer scene. I made several stops, but one that really stood out was at the Against The Grain brew pub.
First things first, when a craft beer establishment is located within a ballpark, it’s a major win for me. And that’s exactly what ATG have going for them. The AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, the Louisville River Bats, actually house the ATG brew pub within its walls, although you don’t need a ticket to get in. It’s located on the East side of the ballpark, which makes it a great stop pre-game or post, or if you don’t care about baseball, just stop by for a drink.
Louisville’s only brewer owned brewery, ATG does what any good brew pub should, give the visitor nice variety. No matter when you arrive, you can expect an opportunity to try one of six different beers from their tanks, all categorized based (loosely) on style. I ordered a flight right away, which is what I love to do in order to get a taste of as many offerings as possible, without having to be carried out. Here are the styles offered.
1) Hop – Typically an IPA of some sort, although when I was there the Citra Ass Down was on and it was fantastic.
2) Smoke – Yep, smoky beers always available for your consumption, I had the Altbier called Pinch The Piston.
3) Dark – Porters or Stouts usually fill out this category, I sampled Smell The Rug on Nitro, and it was legit.
4) Malt – I always think of malty as dark, but it easily applies to lagers, rauchbiers and other malty brews as well, I tried an Kellerbier called Grope The Creature.
5) Session – You know, love ABV stuff. Wheats, hefs, etc. I had a Wiggity Wheat.
6) Whim – I think they created this to just put whatever they want into the mix, I had a sour called a Kentucky Common. Not bad, entry level for sours. Also, where else can you get a flight with a sour in the mix?
And if you haven’t already picked up on it, ATG is at the top of the heap for beer names as well. Not mentioned but worth it for the name alone from their offerings include Beer-Knuckle Bockser, Bay And Pepperyour Bretts, Big Falcon Deal, Ryern Maiden and Morning Wood. And the art associated with the beers is equally awesome. Yeah, pretty great.
So if you find yourself in Louisville for a ballgame or whatever, visit ATG for a great craft beer fix.
