Falls City (the City)

Nationwide drinkers of Falls City Beer probably thought the stuff was named after Falls City, Nebraska or Falls City, Oregon, if they even gave much thought to it at all.

But Falls City is actually an old nickname of Louisville's, one which may seem confusing at first since, after all, Louisville doesn't have any waterfalls, right? And then it hits you, oh yeah, we do - the Falls of the Ohio.

The Falls of the Ohio is generally associated with the Indiana side of the river, mainly because they've (sort of) preserved the fossil beds on their side, and built a park and "Interpretive Center" museum celebrating it. Unfortunately, there's not much left to celebrate - the original falls has been nearly decimated by removal of most of its limestone by the city of Louisville in the late 19th/early 20th century. What was once a towering and grandiose waterfall is now a gentle step only a few feet high.

And the much-touted fossil beds have frankly become a bit of a pathetic joke. According to the official Falls of the Ohio website, "The 386-million-year-old fossil beds are among the largest naturally exposed Devonian fossil beds in the world." And yet, tourists are allowed to tromp all over them, there is essentially zero security to keep people from plucking the beds clean of fossils, and at any given time, the place is filled with garbage, driftwood, dead appliances, chemical drums and other debris. It's not a very pleasant place to be.

Falls City (the Beer)

There's been a lot of confusion for a long time about the on-again/off-again existence of Falls City Beer.

Originally it was made by Louisville's Falls City Brewing Company from 1908 to 1978, then went through a long period of absence. In the early 1990s the name came back under the auspices of the Evansville Brewing Company (but hardcore fans say it just wasn't the same).

Evansville Brewing closed in the late 1990s and the Falls City brand was purchased by Pittsburgh Brewing Company. They, in turn, chose to stop selling it. So now we're in another dry spell in Falls City's history, but something tells me we haven't seen the last of it.

The Falls City logo, however, is extremely popular with beer collectible enthusiasts and remains highly visible on bar signs in some parts of Kentucky.

Falls City, incidentally, was the originator of the "sta-tab" opening for canned drinks. They introduced it 1975 and by the early 1980s, all soft drinks and beers were using it.

Another cultural icon we have Falls City to thank for: Billy Beer, launched in 1977 as a way of piggybacking onto the beer-swilling notoriety of Jimmy Carter's brother Billy. Although it was a huge success, it just as abruptly nose-dived in popularity along with the Carters themselves.


According to Wikipedia, "It was a light-bodied golden lager of the American standard or American pilsner type. It was brewed with six row malted barley, corn or rice adjunct and was lightly hopped". If they say so. Personally, I don't remember anything remotely hoppy about the stuff. In a blind taste test, I couldn't tell Falls City from Black Label from Old German from Wiedemann from whatever else you find on the left-hand side of the liquor case in any given gas station. As a cultural icon, it rocks; but as a beer, one might as well have tucked a piece of bread in a glass of water and left it in the sun to ferment for a few hours.

Falls City (the Theatre Supply Co.)

I've always loved this abandoned and rotting old building in downtown Louisville, and dearly wished they were still in business; I'd probably be one of their best customers if they were.