Old Louisville Brewery Set to Open Friday

Remember LouisvilleBeer.com? Remember John Wurth? (Who?) Remember Episode 11 of the now-defunct Louisville Beer Podcast?

Hopefully, you remember at least one of these. You might recall that this here’s a website that’s been on a bit of hiatus, because of Wurth’s busy day job and family schedule. Then, maybe you’ll also have some fond memories of when we had Wade and Ken Mattingly on the ol’ podcast back in November of the year 2013.  Memories…

Well, here we are back in the year 2016, and Old Louisville Brewing is on the verge of opening on Friday, July 22. They hosted a soft open tonight, and invited me to attend. While they don’t have their Peanut Ale on tap YET, I got to sample some of the wares, and was pretty pleased.

The place looked pretty amazing. I have to admit, when they started this project two years ago, the shape the building was in, made me doubt they’d ever open. They had to gut the place entirely. The Mattingly brothers have transformed this space into a beautiful brewery. Forget hiring an artisanal woodworker that makes shit out of barnwood (Sorry, King!), they re-used the old joists to build the tables, used the flooring from the back of the building for the bar, and pulled all kinds of rat’s nests (literally) out of an arch they repurposed as the back bar. The ambience is nice. It reminded me a lot of Our Brewing in Holland, Michigan (also a podcast episode from way back).

Here are the beers that they had on tonight:

Wade’s RyePA (7.0%)

This one might be my favorite of the night. There wasn’t a huge rye kick in this beer, but just a hint, and that’s my only criticism. This beer had a thick body and a great hop aroma, with just enough sweet caramel malts to balance it out.

Summer Pale (5.0%)

Aptly named, I want to sit out in the heat just so I can drink this beer.  Centennial and Cascade hops give this a great light fruity flavor. The light mouthfeel and lower ABV make this a great session beer for cooling off after mowing the yard.

Experimental House Stout #1 (5.4%)

I might take it back that the RyePA was my favorite. I love stouts, and this one had a great roasty, coffee flavor that coated my tongue in glorious flavors (that sounds gross, but I promise it’s a good thing). Not too thick, but not too thin; the lactose helped give it that perfect body.

Brown Ale (4.9%)

My least favorite of the bunch. While it wasn’t a bad interpretation of a Brown Ale at all, Great Flood’s Brown Ale has me spoiled for Brown Ales and soft openings (that sounds gross too!). Don’t knock this one, give ‘er a chance. It’s still a solid beer!

I’m super glad to see these guys pull through and put in the blood, sweat, hops, water, barley, yeast and tears it took them to get to this point. It’s definitely worth a stop. Tell ’em you’ve been waiting since November 2013 to try their beers. Then ask where their Peanut Ale is.

Old Louisville Brewery is located at 625 W. Magnolia Ave, Louisville, KY 40208. They are planning to open on Fridays and Saturdays until they can produce some more beer for you fine folks. Check their Facebook page for more information.

Photos of Old Louisville Brewery