Yesterday I had a nice little sit down with Jeremy Rathfon, owner of the soon to be, LouBrew local "nanobrewery". LouBrew, once open for business, will focus on providing hand crafted, single barrel beers to the good people of Louisville. Jeremy plans on producing beer on a system to start that will allow an approximate production of 130 barrels annually, truly nano in scale, but through the addition of more fermenters at regular intervals would like to expand production to approximately 520 barrels.
Jeremy's goal for LouBrew is to brew superior hand-crafted ales and lagers rotating around a broad spectrum of styles with twists on classics, extreme flavors, seasonal favorites, and innovative new recipes. One of the things that I really enjoyed was that LouBrew plans on soliciting a lot of customer input with respect to styles and recipes brewed through continuous polls and surveys via online media; Jeremy really wants to give LouBrew's followers a sense of local ownership. He wants to make sure consumer input is paramount at virtually every stage from brewing to determining new recipes, critiquing old recipes, planning events, and expanding the LouBrew brand. Some examples of brews that Jeremy has produced include:
La Diable Blanche
French for “the white devil”, this Belgian style wheat beer features fresh crushed coriander, whole chamomile flowers, and sweet orange and grapefruit zest to give it a peppery, aromatic character that is floral and citrusy. This is a great summer beer that is wonderfully refreshing and easy to drink while still giving your taste buds a delightful treat.
Pirâte Booté
An American stout brewed with freshly cracked grains of paradise, cardamom, and whole licorice root, aged in a spiced rum cask for two months. Think of Pirate times with rich Caribbean spices and rum on top of a complex oak aroma.
Jeremy is a transplant to Louisville but has really fell in love with the city and appreciates the feel and vibe of a place that has such great support for local commerce. His goal is to open a taproom somewhere in the Germantown area of the city hopefully sometime in early October. He is currently raising funds for this venture using an entrepreneurial website called Kickstarter.com that uses pledges to help "kickstart" new projects. In return for pledges Jeremy plans to give his supporters incentives such as pint glasses, private tastings, mug clubs, etc. LouBrew only has 49 days to hit their pledge goal, so if you love Jeremy's idea get on board quick. I love that he truly wants the community to feel included in what he is building and I hope that provides him with a strong following.
For more info on LouBrew "Like" their Facebook page here - LouBrew
For info on how to make a pledge to help LouBrew get off the ground follow this link - Kickstarter/LouBrew
And as always, follow me on Facebook & Twitter...I'm in love with my followers, yeah I said it!!
