Park Place and Browning's Closing Tonight

Perhaps the lease was up, and they weren't confident enough in the business or the economy to renew it.

what will the future hold for Louisville's culinary talent?

Matthew I was commenting on how strange the announcement sounded. [clipped to reduce posting space]

Point (points?) taken. For what it's worth, I either misread your first post or your most recent post added context to your original that changed the overall context. Really not a big deal from my perspective; no disrespect intended.

Wow, this sucks. Totally unexpected.

This is horrible news, and raises many questions. I wonder which part of the business was the culprit, or if it was all of them in tandem? Did Brownings/Park Place lease their space from the ballpark? Didn't the ballpark recently receive emergency city funds for repairs? I just can't believe Brownings beer was not sold within the ballpark, let alone wasn't a integral piece of its marketing plan. As a new resident to Louisville, how can I care at all about how the local baseball team plays when I could care less about the beer they sell at the park??

To come back from the thriving craft scene at GABF and then learn this...it really bums me out.

They were mismanaged to an extent, frequently closing before ballgames were over, much less local waterfront activities such as the My Morning Jacket concert. I gladly would have added to their cash flow that evening. Hope the space remains a brewery and that Inbev allows a better relationship with the Bats.

I did receive word that they are looking at continuing the brewing operations. Apparently it was one sector of the business that made a profit. I doubt that it would be at that location, unless they are locked into the lease, but the brewing side is going to pitch something to the lead investor to try and keep that going. Brian is a great talent and they brew excellent beers there and this would be a big loss to the beer community if we lost the brewery.

I always enjoyed the food and atmosphere at both restaurants, but in an area of town that is growing to the extent that was estimated this is not a big surprise. That does not make this go down any easier. My thoughts go out to those at both establishments.

Lissa the best bartender from Brownings the city has ever known. Ask her regulars, she rocked!

Yes she did. I got a call from her Saturday afternoon (they were calling the regulars to inform them, give them a chance to make it down there 1 last time). I made it down Saturday night.

Sigh. I dont know what Im going to do before baseball games now. BBC tap room is close, but not quite so convenient.

As a new resident to Louisville, how can I care at all about how the local baseball team plays when I could care less about the beer they sell at the park??

The management of the Bats flat doesn't give a damn about the craft beer demographic, and never has. I've spent the past ten years citing instances of productive alliances between baseball management and craft beer, and the Philistines who call the shots for the Bats do nothing, abetted (as another reader astutely pointed out) by the market restrictions imposed by A-B.

I know these comments will rankle some. Sorry about that. The truth sometimes hurts.

What rankles me the most is not that Brownings is a craft beer, but that it is a LOCAL, high-quality beer being brewed inside the baseball stadium. It's slavish and degenerate that they would agree to total exclusivity.

BTW, what is normal attendance at a Bats game? I've been once and the stadium was pretty empty. One thing I noticed is that there was a lady there selling really good locally made cookies. I wonder how Keebler could allow such a travesty!

[Robin Garr]

BTW, what is normal attendance at a Bats game? I've been once and the stadium was pretty empty.

It's a weird situation, Jeremy. A very large number of Louisville businesses large and small (including LouisvilleHotBytes) buy season tickets to support the team. All those seats count as sold, but a lot of the ticket-holders (including us) don't show up for every game.

Realistically, I'd guess that there are anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 actual butts in seats most game nights, tending to be heavier on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and very weak on Sundays and Mondays.

One thing I noticed is that there was a lady there selling really good locally made cookies. I wonder how Keebler could allow such a travesty!

That would be Mrs. Kizito. If Anheuser-Busch made cookies, you can be safe in guessing that she would not be in there.

I did receive word that they are looking at continuing the brewing operations. Apparently it was one sector of the business that made a profit.

I have it on good authority that, in fact, brewing will continue for the immediate future. Kegs are being filled in the brewery today. Apparently the lease is still current and does not expire for the next year or so. Having been in the position before, I know how painful it can be to make monthly lease payments on a property you aren't using. Shifting the brewery from a brewpub to a production facility helps put a small dent in that monthly expense. How long brewing can be sustained remains uncertain. Certainly it will depend in part on the support they receive from bars and liquor stores that currently sell their product.

I imagine that the overhead in running that place was pretty high and I think they were, unfortunately, a little too far ahead of the curve in regards to the neighborhood. I know how hard Brian and the rest of the crew down there worked to elevate the local beer scene in Louisville and it saddens me that this had to take place as they were really starting to gain some steam. I wish everyone involved with the entire operation all the best. From the Kitchen to the bar, they had some real quality people working there.

And for those in the business who are interested in state of Browning's beer and what the availability is, please ask your River City rep. As a business partner with Brownings, it is our intention to continue to sell their beer to retail as long as we are able to procure it.

As far as the Bat's ever selling Brownings, I think Robin nailed it with his Kizito analogy.

They were mismanaged to an extent, frequently closing before ballgames were over, much less local waterfront activities such as the My Morning Jacket concert. I gladly would have added to their cash flow that evening. Hope the space remains a brewery and that Inbev allows a better relationship with the Bats.

......FOR THE RECORD....that is not my quote(Ben Smith).There are two folks with a Ben S on here... "Ben S" and "Ben S."........ Robin is it possible to change my name to Ben Smith on the forum...if so how do I go about it?

[Robin Garr]

CORD....that is not my quote(Ben Smith).There are two folks with a Ben S on here... "Ben S" and "Ben S."........ Robin is it possible to change my name to Ben Smith on the forum...if so how do I go about it

Ben, I'll do it for you. Once you acknowledge that you see this, I'll change it. (Note that you'll have to start logging in as Ben Smith once it's changed, so I want to make sure we're on the same page before I make Ben S without the period go away. )

Ryan
can you get a message to the guys at Brownings for me

i've been trying to order for weeks from my World Class Bev rep here in Indiana, but with no success
and north vernon (the ab distributor over here) never even told me they had Brownings available in bottle (the old distributor of brownings in indiana)

World Class is their distributor now, but i still can't get the beer ---AAAARRRRGGGHHHH

i'd love to sell some Brownings beer in Charlestown----but i can't get my greedy little fingers on it