I stopped in to Louisville’s newest craft brewery, Great Flood Brewing, this evening, the night before their invite-only soft open, to find the 3 owners, Matt Fuller, Vince Cain and Zach Barnes exhausted. They’ve been working super hard to get their brewery open on April 11th, and it shows.
The boys gave me some details about their Grand Opening this Friday at 4pm, and what you should expect. Let’s get the important stuff out of the way, here are the beers they’ll be pouring:
- Hoppy Irish Red
- APA
- (Half) Double IPA
- Brown Ale
- Stout
- Witbier
- Blackberry Wheat
- Coffee Porter
Tonight I sampled the Hoppy Irish Red, which had a nice bitter hop character. I also had the APA (the first batch they brewed on this system), which was a 7.6% (!!) medium-body American Pale, and it was right on par. The (Half) Double IPA clocked in at 8.6%, and they mentioned the next batch will be a “true” IIPA and will have a bit more punch with the same great Simcoe character. The surprising standout was the Brown Ale. I like Brown Ales alright, but never thought I’d be calling it a favorite. This beer had a great malty backbone and was balanced with a slight hoppy character and a good medium body. I followed this sampler up with another half-pint of this beer. I can’t wait to try the rest of their beers at the soft-open tomorrow night.
Other beers they told me were coming down the pike:
- Citra IPA
- Imperial Stout
- Kentucky Common (A collaboration with BBC St. Matthews’ Andrew Dimery) will be launched during Halfway to Louisville Craft Beer Week.
- Bourbon Barrel Aged Scotch Ale (A collaboration with LouisvilleBeer.com)
Now, on to the details of their Grand Opening:
Friday, April 11 from 4pm – Midnight, you can get any of the above 8 beers (while they last) as well as burgers from Grind Gourmet Burger Truck in the back parking lot. They’ll also be selling bar snacks (pretzels and possibly the amazing Gorgonzola Garlic Cheese Dip from Lotsa Pasta). You’ll also find menus available from Cafe Lou Lou and North End Cafe, and they will deliver it right to your table. But really, opening night, Grind’s going to be there. Get Grind on opening night, Cafe Lou Lou Saturday, then North End on Sunday. You’re also always welcome to bring food in or have it delivered from anywhere. Saturday hours will be Noon – Midnight, and Sunday from 1pm – 10pm. There will also be some local guest taps over the weekend.
Great Flood Brewing t-shirts and glassware will be for sale: $10 for t-shirts (crimson or navy), and glassware ranges from $4-$5. No growler sales this weekend – they’re brewing as fast as they can!
Be sure and hit up Great Flood Brewing when they’re (finally) open this Friday. We’ll see you there!
Great Flood Brewing is located at 2120 Bardstown Road between North End Cafe and the Twig & Leaf.
If you missed our video we published a few weeks back, now might be a good time to watch, just to get you excited:
