Today would have been the kickoff of Gravity Head at the New Albanian Brewing Company, which has quietly let it be known that the festival of strong beers is no more.
R.I.P. Gravity Head (1999 – 2022).
The period of Gravity Head’s mightiest cultural hegemony coincided with my period of co-ownership at NABC; the buyout was official in 2018, and I take credit for my share of the intellectual property, but hasten to acknowledge that Gravity Head always was a team effort.
My former business partners and co-workers have their reasons for retiring Gravity Head, and to me, their rationale makes perfect sense. Promoting a weeks-long event of any sort strains business as usual in an era of thin staffing, and is tantamount to walking a tight rope without a net in terms of placing emphasis on the consumption of highly alcoholic drinks.
Of course, strong beers remain an attraction in craft beer circles, such that an establishment like Pearl Street Taphouse in Jeffersonville essentially offers Gravity Head on a daily basis all year round—which is to say, little in the way of novelty remains to be celebrated at a time when better beer is ubiquitous.
And, I’m told that the outdoor walk-in used for...Read more
