Feature Beer Friday! - Great Raft Southern Drawl

Louisiana brewery time! I get to some of the local guys every now and then in this segment, so today will be the first review featuring Great Raft's Southern Drawl lager. Great Raft Brewing is just about a year old now, hailing from Shreveport. They really found a nice space up there with plenty of room for expansion and were able to build out a nice tap room. I highly recommend you stop by if you're ever in the area. Husband and wife team Andrew and Lindsay, along with head brewer Harvey, have quickly created one of Louisiana's best craft breweries. They aren't available in Baton Rouge yet, but it won't be too long.

Today's offering is their Southern Drawl Pale Lager. It's a 5.2% house lager intended to be a sessionable flavorful beer for the long Louisiana summers and anytime you're looking to drink something easy-going and local. Pale lager isn't a style that gets most people excited, but it can serve as an excellent bridge between drinking mostly BMC and really appreciating the full spectrum of what craft beer can offer. 

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), Brenton Day (The Ale Runner), Chuck Pierce (Me And My Big Mouth), and Buddy Ethridge (Baton Rouge Adventures in Beer).

Serving: Poured from a 12 oz. can.

Appearance: Slightly hazy golden color, could be described as a "straw" color. Definitely hazier and deeper than the big boys.

Aroma: Bready sweetness, a little funk to it, not a whole lot of hops. Brenton thought it had a little bit of floral hoppiness, and we all agreed on the breadiness of the aroma.

Taste: Same as the aroma with a little more funk to it. And not funk in a bad way, just a good flavor coming from the yeast that makes it more than a boring beer. 

Mouthfeel: Very easy to drink, the funk doesn't linger and each sip leaves you wanting a little more. Jay described it as a "good pizza beer" and I know he meant that as a compliment.

Overall: It's a good beer, very well done and we can tell that it nailed what they were going for, but it's a pale lager. I think even the best pale lager is going to score lower than mid-range IPAs or stouts, that's just the nature of the game. I think it's fantastic that Great Raft is putting out a beer like this one to help increase the footprint of craft beer in Louisiana. I think it's going to convert a lot of BMC drinkers out there.

Overall Rating: 60
My Rating: 60