Meet West Sixth NuLu

West Sixth Friends, Trailblazers, and Family -

Today is a big day here at West Sixth. We’ve got some exciting news to share: we’re opening West Sixth Nulu — a new brewery and taproom — on Market Street in the heart of Louisville, Kentucky. 

We can’t wait to tell you all about the project (some today, and some in the near future), but first we wanted to talk a bit about how we got to today!

When we started West Sixth — we started it with two simple goals:

1. To make the beer we love to drink — and make it the best in Kentucky

2. To have a positive impact on the communities we’re a part of

From day one — we’ve been focused on those two goals. They’re the reason we distributed our IPA from day one — the first IPA packaged and distributed in the state. They’re the reason we canned our beer instead of bottling (better for the beer and for the planet) — and were the first in the state to do so. And they’re the reason we’ve not expanded our distribution for the last 7 years — so we can focus our time, investments, and community support in the state we’re proud to call home.

We’ve done some amazing things over the last 7 years — brewed over 71,000 barrels of beer in over 400 styles, served beer at more than 800 community events from Pikeville to Paducah, and donated more than $700,000 back to charities all across the state through programs like our Pay it Forward Cocoa Porter Program. We’ve had over 5,000 people participate in our Run Club, over 1,000 participate in our bike club, and thousands more do yoga in our Beer Garden. 

It’s really crazy when you look back at it — from opening one of the first taprooms in Lexington, to winning a bronze medal for our Pennyrile Pale Ale at the World Beer Cup, to opening the West Sixth Farm (a uniquely-Kentucky Farm brewery located in Franklin county: more info here) — each year has been an adventure!  

We’ve been able to accomplish all this because of the amazing team we’ve built here at West Sixth — now 58 strong — many of whom have been with us since the very beginning. In the brewing world — where everyone works with similar equipment and ingredients -- so much of it is about the people. We’re proud to have so many folks who strive to push us forward and have made a lasting impact on what West Sixth is all about.

From the very beginning, Louisville has welcomed us with open arms. We sent our first beer to Louisville just 2 months after we opened our doors — and we’ll never forget our first LIBA brewfest in 2012 where we were just overwhelmed with support. Our partners at River City Distributing have been amazing since that first day, and we’re super-appreciative of John Harris and his whole staff for being on team West Sixth since the start.  We couldn’t have a better distributor in the Louisville area. And Liz Vail - who has worked for us since nearly the beginning - does an incredible job representing West Sixth in the area day in and day out.

Our taproom in The Bread Box in Lexington has always been a special place and the heart of our company. Since day one, our customers have continually asked the question “When can you bring this to Louisville?”. Today, we’re excited to announce that that day has come.

For the last 4 years, we’ve been looking for a place to plant our flag in Louisville. We’ve probably looked at close to 30 locations, trying to find a place where we can do something unique and interesting — a parallel to the Bread Box in Lexington.  

We’ve also felt a strong attachment to Nulu from the beginning. We’ve sponsored and supported the Nulu Fest since 2014.

When we first looked at the Nulu Marketplace development in April, we knew we had found our home. It’s an exciting development in Nulu — truly a live/work/play development that will host some fun restaurants (more on that soon!), a few other bars, offices, and apartments all overlooking an amazing open-air courtyard. In a 120-year-old old preserved carriage house anchoring the shared space, we’ll bring a unique and historic West Sixth experience to Louisville. With amazing neighbors up and down the street we’ve got a lot to live up to (they’ve set the bar high) — but we’re excited to add a new craft beer experience to the neighborhood.

Even more exciting to us is the fact that West Sixth Nulu will not only be a taproom and private event space, but also a place to experiment with some uniquely-Louisville beers. With a new brewing system located on site — our brewing team will be brewing experimental beers each week that will be only available in Louisville. West Sixth Nulu will also have a strong focus on Bourbon Barrel aged beers — and a lot of our current bourbon barrel aging will move to this location. We’ll feature our famous bourbon barrel aged beers like Snake Cake and Snakes in a Barrel, but we’re also excited to collaborate with some of the fantastic Louisville distilleries — both old and new. And, of course, all the classic favorites like West Sixth IPA, Pennyrile Pale Ale, Low Beam New England IPA, West Sixth Cerveza, and our Sixfold Series will be represented in full force!

We’ve got a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it. Opening sometime early next year, we’re excited to bring our take on the craft beer experience to Louisville. Please, like West Sixth NuLu on Facebook and Instagram, and if you want to be the first to know about events and activities (like a soft opening!) give us your contact info here.  

We’re really excited about this whole project — it has been a long time coming. We’ll have lots more information and photos coming in the next few weeks — construction has already begun. Get ready Louisville — it’s going to be a lot of hoppy fun!

Cheers-

Ben, Brady, Joe, and Robin (and the whole West Sixth Team)

PS — We couldn’t have done this without the help of a lot of people — in addition to Kelly Hieronymus and Jesse Brasher leading the charge here at West Sixth, we wanted to say thanks to Clayton Pitcock from Horizon Commercial Realty for keeping an eye out for us and Tyler Smith from PRG for helping us get the project put together. We’re excited to be working with Caoimhín Conway at Miranda Construction to plan and execute the project, and with Mo Deljoo without whom the whole Nulu Marketplace wouldn’t exist. We greatly appreciate Mayor Greg Fisher’s help — and his whole team at Louisville Forward who have worked with us throughout many iterations of this project. And of course, to all of our Louisville friends and partners who’ve kept an eye out for opportunities for years — we’re excited to be joining you soon!

2018: A farm, a bronze medal, and a whole lotta Kentucky beer.

Let’s start with the beer. First thing we canned this year was the West Sixth Cerveza, a light Mexican Lager that’s crisp and easy on the palate, great with a lime, and perfect with tacos, (and a ton of other foods). It’s so good we decided to go year-round with it. Our Flagship Family (West Sixth IPA, West Sixth Amber, and Pay it Forward Cocoa Porter) was happy to welcome Cerveza.

Year Six also brought the decision to live it all the way up and put some small batch favorites into cans. You can only get them in the taproom, so guess you’ll have to come see us when they come out.

Our team got a message from Ben (owner) late on the night of May 3 saying that our Pennyrile Pale Ale had won the Bronze Medal at the World Beer Cup® in Nashville. It’s the largest international beer competition in the world, with more than 8234 entries from 2515 breweries coming from 66 countries. 182 entries were received in the American Pale Ale category — making it the 5th largest in the competition. This is for certain one of our most proud moments at West Sixth Brewing.

Ya’ll knew we had purchased this big plot of land out in Frankfort, Kentucky some time ago. But this year our vision became a reality and we opened the West Sixth Farm. Big shoutout to the entire team who worked endlessly to make this a place for in and out of towners alike to come and enjoy the rolling hills of Kentucky, drink Kentucky made beer, and experience Kentucky hospitality. PLEASE check out the site for all the digs and visit when we open back up in April.

A few more things worth noting about 2018: Served West Sixth beer at over 200 events this year with the help of our incredible events team. New truck. New boiler. Brewed and canned the Bourbon Barrel Aged Christmas Ale. Expanded our Sixfold Series. Had some super fun and weird employee campout times, softball and volleyball games, and hangouts at other local establishments that we love.

We have always been a people company and this year proved we are still 100% all in on our people. We LOVE meeting y’all and spending years with you, sharing high highs and low lows. You are what keep us going every day. Our events are created to give you a good time and amazing experience. Our beer is independently created by a handful of brewers that are passionate about good beer. It is served by a beautiful team of folks who are happy to know you. And those of us ‘in the back’ are delighted to work behind the scenes and be a part of this great big story.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y’ALL! Let’s see what we can do in 2019.

A Love Letter to the West Sixth IPA

Our first born can. Did you know we had to buy 100,000 empties to put you in before we even opened West Sixth Brewing? Phew, good thing people are still loving your perfectly balanced self just as much after seven years. There’s a lot of folks out there that are addicted to you.

You continue to outshine yourself, dude. Centennial, Citra, Columbus, Cascade. The Four Cs all of us, your makers, sellers and drinkers, have embedded in our minds, tastebuds and bellies. To this day, your floral and pine noted fresh pours taste brand new to all of us. That toasted and bready malt backbone is still killin’ it.

My friend: thank you. Thanks for giving us good lunch breaks, creek beers, pool beers, hikin’ beers, stroller pushin’ beers, fire beers, tailgatin’ beers, and around the dinner table after a long day beers. Thanks for being our home sweet home in Kentucky. A craft beer we can always count on. We love you!

And thanks for that one time you cured my cold.

Meet the West Sixth Farm

WE. ARE. OPEN. 

And it is glorious. For awhile there, we had our heads down working so hard that we weren't sure it'd ever get open! But wow, seeing this gorgeous piece of Kentucky land come to life as the West Sixth Farm has been an absolute blast! Y'all don't even know how good it feels to be under the pavilion watching you walk out to the hop yard to explore, pull your mountain bike right in and lay it down while you hydrate, come in sweaty from a trail run, or play cornhole and watch your sweet kiddos scoop pea gravel into buckets. We live for this stuff! 

We've got our beers on tap, Cascade and Chinook hops growing up poles, over four miles of mountain bike and hiking trails, some great food truck partners, one pretty pond and one fishin' pond, countless black and raspberry brambles tucked in between cider apple trees, and those beautiful rolling hills of the great Bluegrass State. 

Looking at the future of the Farm, we will host great events! Weddings, beer dinners, trail running and biking, and maybe just a good old fashioned cookout here and there. We've also got a nano-brewery to brew up something delicious that you can only get right here in Franklin County. Of course we'd love to start growing vegetables and herbs and be as sustainable as possible, but this is a work in progress, folks! We appreciate so much your enthusiasm to grow with us!

Please come visit! Thank you SO much for being patient and supporting us in our of our biggest endeavors yet. We look so forward to meeting and laughing with all of you as we share our mutual love of good beer and Kentucky. 

Written opening day, 2018 - Visit here for current farm info!

PENNYRILE PALE ALE WINS WORLD BEER CUP® BRONZE METAL

On Thursday night, in Nashville, TN, West Sixth Brewing was awarded a Bronze Medal for their Pennyrile Pale Ale in the World Beer Cup® Competition. 

The World Beer Cup® is the largest international beer competition in the world, with more than 8234 entries from 2515 breweries coming from 66 countries.  

Beers were judged during six sessions over a period of three days by an elite panel of 295 judges from 33 countries—72 percent of whom were from outside the United States.

“We are incredibly honored to be awarded the Bronze for American Pale Ale for our Pennyrile Pale Ale,” said co-founder Ben Self. “And receiving the award for a beer I love, and our team loves, makes it extra special.”

182 entries were received in the American Pale Ale category — making it the 5th largest in the competition.

“We’re particularly excited that this award recognizes the amazing work that our entire brewing and production team is doing,” said co-founder Brady Barlow. “Led by Robin Sither and Andy Smith — they’re clearly making some of the best beers in the world.”

Pennyrile Pale ale is a dry hopped pale ale that brings the hops, delivering big aromas and flavors of tropical fruit, pineapple, juicy orange and pine. The range of hop character seems to nearly evolve throughout the life of the glass. Pennyrile’s medium body helps carry the hops all the way to the finish, where it meets a balancing bitterness that doesn’t overwhelm. Mosaic and Citra hops are the stars of the show.  Pennyrile is currently a seasonal ale at West Sixth available November through April.

Sustainability 2017

When West Sixth was founded in 2012, we made the goal not only to brew great beer, but have a positive impact on the communities we are a part of. We do this in a variety of ways: Supporting non-profits we believe in, being a great place to work, and being as environmentally friendly as possible. We are committed to giving back at least 6% of our profits yearly, are housed in a rehabilitated historic building, and will always pay our employees a living wage. 

This is our second year releasing the Sustainability Report, and we are happy to use it again as a measuring stick for our values while setting goals for the future. We can continue to improve our efforts and are passionate about doing so. By measuring these things under the categories of Social Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability, and Economic Sustainability, we were able to encompass everything we believe in. 

Our social culture is deeply rooted in what we can do for the community we are a part of, including our own West Sixth Team. With programs that give money back to folks who are doing great things, we were able to give $163,250 in 2017! We also love sharing our space with the local beer drinking community through ongoing happenings here in the taproom.

This year, we feel our biggest contribution environmentally was getting the West Sixth Farm built up! We planted hops, trees, and berry brambles, raised two cows who sustainably grazed 30 of the Farm's 120 acres, and partnered with the Kentucky Mountain Biking Association to create four miles of mountain biking trails. Canning our beer is a choice we continue to make to do what we can for the planet as a whole. 

We are happiest to spend our money with local businesses at every opportunity possible so as to support our state economy. By doing this, we feel as though the places we live, work and eat are being benefitted by us in some way. It's also great how many of our employees live close to the brewery and often choose non-car commutes, benefitting our closest locale. 

Speaking of, it is our employees who keep West Sixth running, giving us the ability to give back as much as we do. We want to pay them well, provide them opportunities to grow and thrive, and give them access to benefits. Our team is our biggest asset and we want to keep them around!   

You can download our full report here. As always, we know it is not perfect. We plan to update this report annually, and welcome any feedback you might have here. Here is the report from last year. 

SIXTH BIRTHDAY REFLECTION

Yet again another week for the books. Every year when most of the lights are off, streamers and popped balloons hanging around, there are only a few employees left and it is the perfect time for reflection. Somehow this sixth birthday felt bigger and brought on more nostalgia than ever -- probably because we are officially closer to ten now.

This year came with all the old classics and some brand new happenings. Our annual Homebrew Competition brought in a lively bunch on a rainy day and we released our first ever One-Off cans, Second Fiddle Simcoe and Mo' Beam New England IPA. We patted ourselves on the back for choosing to do the Magic Show on the first Sunday instead of the one after The Big Day, and it was as cool as ever to see all those great kiddos in our big beer garden with their eyes lit up.

We celebrated our weekly Run/Walk and Yoga clubs, then went on into our second annual Local Mash. It has quickly become one of our favorite events, showcasing inspiring Kentucky chefs who totally outdo themselves with tastebud explosions that match perfectly with our beer. Community Day always brings our Bread Box together and then we gear up for Saturday.

The day started early with at least ten people in line at 6:30am growing steadily throughout the morning for the Noon release of Snakes Awake! and Snake Cake bottles; a few even for the free stuff at ten! Let me tell you, if you have never been in a long-awaited craft beer bottle release line, you are missing some serious camaraderie. The craft beer connection is strong and witnessing it is such a pleasure. By the time we got around to the bottles, we'd all been laughing for hours. 

Next up came the Fruit Beam Bar (four fruited New England IPAs) and Snake Cake tapping. Of course there were sour candies, Sunrise Bakery Cupcakes, owner tours, Bellaire Blooms flowers and airbrushed t-shirts, rounding it all out with live music surrounded by shiny silver tanks. 

Our West Sixth team keeps growing and each year we get to talk about all the years past. How many beers were on when we started and who worked behind the bar. The giveaway mishaps and equalization of stress and fun. Funny stories told of owners with pint glasses on their hands, who got weird at the end of the night, and where we'll be in six more. 

We hope you spend this next year with us laughing, drinking good beer, and watching our Farm come to open. Meet you next year for number seven! 

WEST SIXTH TURNS SIX

Our SIXTH birthday is upon us!! We’re so excited to celebrate with our friends, family, staff, and community! Over the years of brewing beer we’ve gotten to see our growth not only supported by thirsty customers, but by the love and support of our fans. We’re going big for number SIX with a FULL week of celebrations! Click here for full rundown!

We've had so much fun over the years brewing beers, meeting folks from all over the world who walk in our doors loving beer or not loving beer, growing our amazing team and investing in causes and places we believe in. Year one we canned IPA before we even opened the doors, knowing how good it was; and now here with are with 14 canned beers, countless bottles, another taproom and a farm! 

We have been having a total blast and look forward to many, many more birthdays as an Independent Craft Brewery in Kentucky. Please come raise a glass with us during this full week of fun! See you then.