All good road trips have a quest, because they do. We have it from no less authority than Joseph Campbell that this is the case. This quest is about something called “Kentucky Common”. The archetypal monomyth has been discussed at length in this blog previously.
Have we told you lately that we’re experts in Backroad Travel? Well, Louisville is not really a backroad place, but it does qualify as travel, and is in “flyover country.”
What is Kentucky Common?
Kentucky Common is usually dark and rather malty. It is a “historical beer” which grew up around Louisville in the late 19th century, It can be brewed with ale yeast, but in the original form, it is brewed with lager yeast. Since we were in Louisville it was considered a good place to look for the modern version.
Here is a young person trying to make some.
We need no more than this as an excuse for a quest for Kentucky Common.
Quest HQ: The ArTisT CoTTage
Of course for this to be a real “quest” there needs to be a headquarters we venture out from. For this one, it’s the ArTisTs Cottage. Here’s the link.
Stop 1: The Manhattan Project
Okay, here it is. After a short drive from our ark we arrived at this pleasant spot.
We have a few rules about venturing out because we need rules to occasionally violate if it suits us. One of the primary rules is to look for a place with a nice buzz.
What is this exactly? Well if the parking lot is deserted, there are cop cars and broken glass and there is someone laying in the street nearby we go elsewhere.
This place had a nice buzz and a website.
https://www.themanhattanprojectky.com/
The decor was industrial and pallet wood. Evidently this type of decor attracts beautiful, fragrant customers. We asked the energetic wait person about Kentucky Common. All we got was a confused look but she consulted the bar guy.
We had to settle for this feast of a brie burger salad and the most Keto drink possible which was vodka and water. The closest beer was bourbon-enhanced ale of some kind which was good, but not Kentucky Common.
Stop 2: The Gallant Fox
The irony here is that in Campbell’s monomyth it is quite common to encounter an animal. In this case it was the Gallant Fox, which was around the corner.
See that guy in the second photo? It is pretty common to encounter a villain or two on your quest and we decided that in this case he was it. Do we have any information to back that up? Of course not. We make up stories about people all the time. He is a villain if we say so.
The place was pleasant enough but there was no Kentucky Common. We were referred to the Falls City Brewery downtown by the bartender, who was a bit short with us.
Unanswered Question
If you were running a little brew pub like this and someone came in from off the street with enough sophistication to ask for Kentucky Common, would you be short with him or her?
I think we had some kind of blond ale and some decaf.
A Distraction
The next night the trail was about the Falls City Brewery but there was a side stop. Incremental complications are common in a quest. Here it is:
We went to a famous big box store without the buzz for one of these chaffel makers. Evidently this is a thing and “Dash” is the preferred brand. Do you see something odd about the above photo?
Unanswered Question
If the pattern in the chaffle iron is “square” like a waffle, how is it that the pattern in the chaffle has a little flower? These irons must be special indeed to have violated one or more of the laws of physics.
Someone has some ‘splainin to do.
The Falls City Brewery
At this place, there was evidence of there being Kentucky Common at least at one time in the past. The decor was bricklike. The buzz was very marginally worth going in but we were on a quest.
The feast of the night was not photogenic and consisted of tacos from the place next door. The beers of the night were a coffee stout, which was declared quite good and something golden.
We did come by a bottle of wine for $5 which will be served lovingly to some guests on their own quest.
Quest Fail
So what to make of all of this? Our quest for Kentucky Common proved to be fruitless. We confronted temptresses, villians and animals and came away with a bottle of thrifty wine and a magic waffle iron.
The Kentucky Common was not findable in Kentucky. Who was that one guy that went on that odyssey? We feel just like that some days.
