Visiting Louisville

You've got numerous choices within a few minutes of your location. New Albanian on the other side of the river in New Albany is the originator of good beer in the area, starting as Rich-O's Public House. Their Bank Street Brewhouse is closest to you, but the Pizzeria/Public House Northeast of downtown New Albany is the original location. Just a few blocks from the Bank Street location will bring you to the newly opened Donum Dei and Floyd County Breweries. On the Kentucky side of the river, Bluegrass Brewing Company is downtown, but the original brewery dating to 1993 is a bit east in St. Matthews and tends to draw a more local crowd. Originally the BBC production facility, now called Goodwood, is just a couple blocks from ATG. A few blocks walk east is the new Akasha brewery on East Market. Apocalypse Brew Works is just East of downtown on Main. A couple minutes Southeast of downtown on Bardstown Road (a few blocks past the must do Holy Grale) you'll find Cumberland Brews, another of the original Louisville microbrews from the '90s, and then the relatively new Great Flood which represents the new generation in brewing. Slightly South of downtown brings you to the newly opened Monnik Beer Company in the historic Schnitzelburg. Traffic permitting, none of these should be more than a 10-15 minute drive from your digs. A couple more minutes East of Louisville will bring you the the Jeffersontown location of 3rd Turn Brewing in a charming old church.

Each place has its own unique charm and will appeal to different folks, therefore my recommendations might not appeal to you, so you'll have to make your own choices. Your desire to drink local is appreciated though and I hope you enjoy your stay.

 

Wow. Very much appreciated response, Stephen. Can't wait to try a few of the local beers at these breweries!

 

My pleasure Caps. Enjoy your explorations. I forgot to mention the Flat 12 Bierwerks just a few minutes walk across the historic Big 4 railroad bridge in Jeffersonville. The main brewery is in Indianapolis, but I believe they've started to brew in their new satellite location.

 

I would just reiterate that Holy Grale is a must. I recommend having dinner there as the food is very good too.

 

Color me embarrassed, but I failed to mention Falls City which has recently joined with the Old 502 Winery at their 10th street location just West of downtown.

 

Just left Louisville to head home this morning. Bummed I missed out on the 70K bottle release by 4 hours, but had to get on the road this morning.

Did make it to AtG Thursday night thought and loved the food and really liked that Bruno's Cassock smoked ESB.

Haymarket was literally 200ft from my hotel and I loved that place. Amazing bourbon selection and really solid taps. I had a pour of 2015 BCBS with a dram of E.H. Taylor Seasoned Wood. That set me back a pretty penny, but it was well worth it. Enjoyed my quick visit to Louisville. Very nice city and I'd love to come back for a longer visit sometime (Waterfront Park was a hit with the wife and 2yr old).

 

If you don't go to Holy Grale then you wasted your trip. I mean that.

Sergios World Beers is a great stop too but it's more of a bottle shop/bar but does have some decent 'I have to eat just so I don't get drunk' good.

Holy Grale is the spot. Top notch beer list filled with quality imports and some American. And the food is of the best quality no matter what you order. Outside beergarten has plenty of room if the bar is packed. But there's also an upstairs bar you can use til 9pm. The downstairs is open til about 1am. Highly recommend

 

Any recommendations in Louisville with a toddler? Looks like ATG might be our best option since it has a kids menu. We are staying at the Marriott as a point of reference.

 

This has been a helpful read. Visiting this July! Anything worth note? Any other recommendations than the ones mentioned already? Also more food recommendations would be welcomed (to help appease the lady).
Cheers!

 

Everything mentioned in the thread is still a go, and I believe Hop Cat should be open by then on Bardstown. As for food...there's so many options now it's hard to know where to start, but I always send people to Silver Dollar on Frankfort.

 

Hopcat doesn't open until July 30th. Foodwise I like Garage Bar, Sidebar (good burgers), The Post (awesome pizza), Mussel and Burger Bar, a lot of places you can't go wrong with here in town.

 

• Crescent Hill Craft House -- 40 taps of only local beer, menu full of local farm-to-table stuff.
• ------Germantown Craft House opens sometime this summer; will have 50 taps, similar food. Building looks pretty cool.
• Four Pegs -- usually several good options on tap. Occasionally some rare kegs pop up there unannounced. Food is more pub-style. Their poutine is great. Also their chicken and waffles. A favorite of mine.
• Game -- burger place that specializes in using less traditional meats (antelope, elk, duck, wild boar, etc). Food is awesome. Beer list is quite good as well.
• Dragon King's Daughter -- Asian fusion place with sushi and some awesome stuff on their food menu. Consistently good beer list.

 

Just don't get the brisket. They like to talk it up but it's absolutely terrible. Worst brisket I've ever had by far... Tastes like cardboard with bad barbecue sauce. I thought it was just me but I mentioned it over the weekend to a few friends while enjoying a proper brisket in Nashville and they all agreed.

 

If you want bbq, go to Hammerheads. The ONLY thing silver dollar beats them on is liquor/wine, because Hammerheads just has beer.

 

Hammerheads is delicious, but I've never been there and felt anything other than complete disdain from the staff that we dared eat there.

 

There's one girl who has worked there for years who isn't always the nicest, but other than her, out of the literally hundreds of times that i've eaten Hammerheads, i've only left with a full belly and pride in my to-go box. Highly recommend. There is no better food in Louisville for the price.

 

If you go to Hammerheads, make sure to go there right when they open. Or atleast before 6pm. Its a cluster fuck of an operation.

 

Thanks for the recommendations. Look forward to coming in next week!

 

Bumping this thread because a lot of the same questions are coming up and the Festival might spur some more.