Danville, KY excursion to The Beer Engine!

Most people here in Louisville probably couldn’t point out where Danville, KY is located on a map.  Let me re-phrase that, I’d put money on half of Louisville’s population not even knowing how to read a map thanks to Garmins, GPS, and that whole illiteracy thing.  So when I told people that my wife and I were spending a weekend at Red River Gorge (see also: amazing) and eating dinner and having a drink in Danville, they usually questioned the Danville part.  Most people know Danville as the location of a premier liberal arts known as Centre College (typically ranked amongst Forbes best private institutions list each year), but very few know it as a place to drink a good, and locally made, beer.

What most people don’t know is that Danville, KY now boasts two nano-breweries: Beer Engine and Lore Brewing.  Not bad for a population around 15,500 people.

So to start the weekend, Ashley and I woke up around 6 a.m. and headed to the Gorge in hope of hitting it at the perfect time for fall colors to be bursting.  With this, we knew crowds of people would culminate on the trails…hence the reasoning for our early morning wake up.  We hiked from 8 a.m. until about 2 p.m. and we had the trails all to ourselves until about noon.  Thankfully it was the University of Kentucky’s homecoming so we hoped people would either be tailgating or already drinking for the exciting game vs. Jacksonville St. (sarcasm).  Here are a few of the pictures Ashley took to entertain you before we get to the part about the beer.  I could easily describe her as a foreign tourist at Disney World snapping pictures to her hearts content.

So yea. It was pretty friggin stellar.

We loaded up and headed to a bed and breakfast outside of Lexington to stay for the night in Wilmore, KY (home of Asbury Seminary and Asbury University).  So yea, I knew I was out-of-place when I was the only one out running Sunday morning, with a beer mile shirt on nonetheless.   Our bed and breakfast place was nice, but too many crosses and pictures of Jesus for me.  I felt guilty drinking a beer in there, a Great Lakes Nosferatu by the way.  Cute little town though.

Not only were we lucky enough to see the Gorge during its peak season, but New Albanian Brewing Company was having a tap takeover at The Beer Engine that same night.  We headed into Danville and looked for a decent place to eat with a decent beer selection.  The last time I was in Danville was 3 a.m. two weeks back for the Bourbon Chase and the only thing I was scouting for was restrooms.  We ended up finding Bluegrass Pizza Pub tucked into a little part of the Main Street district.  It was packed so we grabbed a beer while we waited at the bar, Ashley got the last glass of Lore’s Amber Ale and I went with a Left Handed Milk Stout.  In no rush, we decided to let an older couple sit down before us while we talked and I encouraged people to head over to the Beer Engine to try some NABC beer.  The owner noticed this and gave us a free order of breadsticks for our generosity. Score.  Once our pizza was served, it lasted no longer than 10 minutes, if it was 30 seconds, I would call it a Bieber Pizza.  We ordered a Pesto Chicken pizza and it was fantastic.  thin crust is so much better than thick. On our way out, we ran into David, Josh, and Richard from NABC just setting down at a table and shot the shit with them a bit.

Choices.

The Beer Engine was about a block away from Bluegrass Pizza Pub, so it was a quick walk to have our hands on a pint.  The place had a nice a cozy feel to it   A great place to sit down, have a good beer, and even watch a game.  With Josh Hill’s recommendation, I snagged a Virtue Porter and Ashley had a King George Nut Brown.  Very reasonable pricing at $4 a pint or even $11 for a growler fill.  The Porter was pretty good and had just the right amount of chocolate.  Ashley raved over the King George so I made sure to get a few sips.  After a few more samplings of their offerings, we switched over to NABC and had an oak aged Hoptimus, Tunnel Vision, and Thunderfoot.  All spot on as usual.  Of all the beers, Thunderfoot and Hoptimus seemed to be the crowd favorite.  I cut it off early so I could drive back to the B&B, but I could have stayed there the whole night with that list.

As a beer geek who has his options within walking distance, Danville beer lovers should appreciate how good they have it.  The Beer Engine has an impressive taplist of other beers (Founders Breakfast Stout is on right now!) throughout the week when they aren’t doing tap takeovers.  The feel to the room was great, nice little bar, and you could even see the barrel system they had set up.  So you’re next time en route to Lexington or the Red River Gorge…swing in for a beer!