For better or worse, I have a consistent urge to explain myself.
Now that this cat has escaped the bag, I suspect there’ll be many such explanations forthcoming.
But first and foremost, Pints & Union marks a return to the ethos that originally compelled me to go into the beer business. For this opportunity, all thanks to Joe Phillips — and serendipitously, Taco Steve (Powell).
More than two years ago, Steve and I were chatting by a downtown street corner as he vended tacos from his (then) cart. He asked me if it was a crazy idea to have a bar with three or four taps that always stayed the same; maybe Guinness, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and a lager or two.
Not crazy at all, I thought; actually refreshingly sane, and a brand new niche waiting to happen. Soon after this I ran into Joe, and we began talking about what makes a pub great.
In short, as it pertains to the beer program, we’ll feature the classic hits from the 1300s through the 1900s. I did my little bit to nurture the American “craft” brewing culture of the past two decades, and it no longer needs my blessing to go about merrily reinventing the wheel.
As for me, I’ll be 58 in August, and I’m perfectly content with wheels that are nicely rounded.
Now the real work is about to start.
Pints & Union to open in New Albany, will be inspired by classic European pubs, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)
Leave your cellphone in your pocket, and if you want to watch the local college hoops game with some cheap wings, well, you’ll be going somewhere else.
Pints & Union, which owner Joe Phillips hopes will open sometime in April at 114 E. Market St. in New Albany, will be inspired by European-style (or “Anglo-Irish”) pubs, built for conversing over a pint — or five. Even the name reflects typical pub names in Europe and the United Kingdom.
“We’re going to resurrect the spirit of what a real pub is,” Phillips told Insider.