Abita - Bourbon Barrel Aged Turbodog

So, Abita is apparently jumping on the bourbon-barrel aging trend (not a bad thing!) and releasing some casks of aged Turbodog over the next few weeks.  There will be 4 different cask-tapping events in New Orleans and Mandeville, and now the only thing I need to figure out is which one I'll be able to go to! 

 

12/9/10 - The Bricks - New Orleans

12/10/10 - The Avenue Pub - New Orleans

12/16/10 - Bruno's Tavern - New Orleans

12/20/10 - Barley Oak - Mandeville

Of these four drinking establishments the only one I've been to before is The Avenue Pub, and it's probably the best beer bar in Louisiana, and I can't go tonight or Friday night anyway, so it seems like I'll be looking to go with someone next Thursday or the following Monday!  Let me know if you're interested.

Fort Collins Rocky Mountain IPA

A tasty IPA while Dustin and I work on our second batch of homebrew!
This one is from Colorado as the name suggests and we picked up a 6
pack at Marcello's for around $10. Next step, coming up with a name
for our brewing operation and deciding what beer will be next!

Unibroue - La Fin Du Monde

After realizing that most of my recent beer reviews have been beers with funny sounding foreign names that are pretty tough to find in Baton Rouge, I decided to flip through my archive and feature a beer that has a funny sounding foreign name but is easy to find, even in Baton Rouge!  The flagship of the Unibroue brewery in Canada... La Fin Du Monde.  Unibroue is out of Chambly, Quebec and they pride themselves in maintaining traditional European brewing methods and bring them to North America.  Their specialties are Belgian-style ales (the La Fin Du Monde is a tripel) but also do some dark lagers and fruit-inspired ales.  

My first encounter came during my first trip 'Around the World' at the Chimes.  After starting off with some beers that I knew well I decided to cross Canada off the list and go with this funny sounding beer.  I can promise you that at first I didn't like it one bit... way too strong and different for me.  Fortunately as my tastes have developed I've grown to appreciate different beers, and this is one of the world's best. 

True to the style I poured this one into a goblet, after letting it warm a few degrees from fridge temperature.  The beer pours a hazy orange, small white head with good lacing. The smell is a mixture of citrus and hops, hints of floral flavors.  Exactly what you want from the style.

The taste bring out more of the floral flavors... a little bit of fruit, toasted malts on the end of the sip. I'm not picking up the hop presence from the aroma, but it's still a fantastic beer. A medium body on this one, superbly drinkable... the 9% is masked extremely well by the flavors.

A top-notch tripel and one of the best you're going to find outside of Belgium.  This one can be find all over Baton Rouge in the better beer bars (like The Chimes, Port Royal, The Cove, and The Bulldog) as well as the stores with the best beer selections.  If you want to try one of the beers that helped me get into craft brews, pick one of these up next time you see it.

 

My Rating: A

BeerAdvocate: A

Tripel

North Coast Old Rasputin

North Coast Brewing has been in Louisiana for a little while now and I couldn't be happier!  Their beers can be found at Calandro's among other local stores with a good beer selection.  I've previously featured their Brother Thelonious and Cru D'Or and this one is one of their more popular beers, the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout.  The style is characterized by high alcohol contents, and a heavy malt presence.  Much more rich and thick than something like a Guinness but typically more bitter and chocolaty than high-alcohol malty beers like doppelbocks.  It's definitely not a style for someone getting into craft beer for the first time, but it has slowly become one of my favorites.

This one was poured from a 12 oz. bottle into my trusty Samuel Smith imperial pint glass.  It featured a dark chocolaty brown color with a tan head that lingered throughout the drinking. Very nice appearance to this one and a great start.

The aroma is a dominant malty chocolate. Delicious. The taste follows through on the aroma. A little bit muted though... I wish more malty chocolate flavors came through.  A little thinner than I was hoping for with the style. This is a strong one too... at 9% I wouldn't WANT to drink a lot of these in one sitting, but it's certainly good enough to think about it.

This is one of the better Russian Imperial Stouts we can get locally, so if you want to check out the style, pick up a 4-pack and share some with your friends!

My rating: A-

Beeradvocate: A

Imperial Stout

Top of the Hops Beer Festival - this Saturday in Lafayette

It's always good to see events like this one popping up in South Louisiana.  Sure, there may be a heavy BMC presence, but this festival also features beers from many local breweries and some of my favorite American and European breweries.  

Check out the event website here!  Apparently it lasts from 2-6, so that's a lot of drinking to be done!  (Designate a driver or something, people.)

There is a large assortment of breweries that would be worth tasting, including imports from Ayinger, Chimay, Samuel Smith, and Unibroue; American craft beers from Bear Republic, Eel River, North Coast, ans Stone; plus local beers from Abita, NOLA, Lazy Magnolia, and Heinerbrau.

I've even heard that Parish Brewing might have some of their new beer available in the VIP area, so that's something to consider!  Unfortunately I won't be able to make it out this Saturday, but anyone looking to try some new beers should check it out!

A tasting of the top 100 beers in the world, in New Orleans!

I know this is a blog about the beer scene in Baton Rouge, but one place I've really been wanting to check out that's close to home is the Avenue Pub in New Orleans.  As best I can tell they have the best craft beer and import selection on tap of anywhere in the state.  Not the biggest quantity, but the most harder to find and more sought after taps.   Starting tonight for the next four Wednesdays they will be hosting a tasting of a selection of beeradvocate's 100 best beers in the world!

From their website:

Top 100 beer Tasting series for April

Wed. March 31st 7pm balcony

• Boulevard Saison Brett
• Goose Island Night Stalker
• Olfrabrikken Porter
• St Bernardus Abbott 12
• Deschutes Black Butte Porter

Wed. April 7th 7pm, Balcony

• Lost Abbey Angel's Share
• Russian River Pliny the Elder
• Russian River Damnation
• Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
• Chimay Grand Reserve

Wed. April 14th 7 pm Balcony

• St.  Bernardus Abbot 12
• Goudens Carolus Cuvee Van de Kaiser
• Supplication by Russian River
• Consecration by Russian river
  

Wed. April 21st 7pm Balcony

• Stone Ruination
• Stone Imperial Russian Stout Vintage
• Stone Double Dry hopped IPA
• Stone Double Bastard (Vertical 3 yr tasting)
  

I highly encourage anyone who loves trying new beer to check these tastings out!  I believe the price is only $20 each, and I'm hoping to make it to at least the April 7th tasting.  The Lost Abbey Angel's Share and Pliny the Elder are two beers I'd love to try, although everyone on the list is sure to be fantastic.

So, check it out if you can, maybe I'll see some of you there!

Brasserie Ellezelloise Blanche De Saisis

After reading some reviews, it seems the "Tarwebier Biere de Froment van des Saisis" is the same as this... just a different same for the same beer from Brasserie Ellezelloise, a small Belgian farmhouse brewery I had never heard of before.  Okay, now that I have that figured out... this one had a brewed-on date of March 2008, so it had been aging for 2 years as of this review.  I hope that helps things rather than hurts.  Some beers are meant to be aged for years and only get better while others are best when as fresh as possible.  I believe a general rule is that the higher the alcohol content the better aging will be, and this one is at a modest 5.9% so I don't want to get my hopes up.

Poured into a Chimay goblet, not a lot of head, but a murky orange-brownish color to it. There is some lacing and creamy residue after what little head there was dissipated.  Smells very sweet, of caramel and spice and a definite alcohol presence on the nose. I love it. One of the best smelling beers I've put my nose to.

Very light body to it, not much carbonation, but the flavor is mostly the same as the smell... a bit of a skunky aftertaste unfortunately. I guess the aging didn't do this one too well. It's still not bad, just I know it used to be better... oh well, I'll be on the lookout for some fresh ones with the new label.

If you see this one, or any from Brasserie Ellezelloise they are probably worth checking out, but make sure you're getting some fresh beer and not something that has spent too much time on the shelves!

My rating: B

BeerAdvocate: B+

Witbier

St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat Ale

Alright, I'm starting to catch up on all these reviews from pre-Christmas... and once I catch up completely I'll have to break my diet every now and then to try some new beers!  I found a 6-pack of these (or maybe it was a 4-pack?) at the Bet-R store by the Perkins overpass.  There's a surprising beer selection there for such a small local store.

Next up is the St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat Ale.  This one comes from McAuslan Brewing up in Quebec, Canada.  While a lot of Canadian beer is categorized as 'moose piss' I've found several really good beers from the French Canadian side of the country.  Unibroue is certainly the most popular, but they're not alone when it comes to great beer from north of the border.

Now on to the beer... you can see the pour, from an 11.2 oz. bottle in to an imperial pint glass.  The beer is a clear golden-orange color with a thin white head. Quick to dissipate, lots of bubbles, looks like a lot of carbonation.  Almost has more of a cider look to it than a beer, but I'm not all that prejudiced against ciders, so I'll reserve judgment for now.

The aroma is strong on the apricot, dominant even.  It's not bad, just nothing else there.  The taste is a little better balanced, but still dominated by the apricot flavors. There is a little malt up front, but it's quick to be overpowered by the fruit flavors.  Light body, lots of carbonation... it's not a bad fruit beer but it's nothing TOO special.  Solid and drinkable.  I'll definitely give McAuslan another try if I see their beers around town, but I don't think I'll go out of my way for more of this one.

Taste: B-

Value: C+

Fruit Beer

Samuel Smith's part 3 - Oatmeal Stout

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout

And now it's time for part 3 of the Samuel Smith's review.  If you checked out parts 1 and 2 recently, you'll know I'm a sucker for beer gift sets that include glassware.  Every year around Christmas I inevitably pick out a few for myself, Merry Christmas to me!  The final beer from this trio of products from England is probably their most popular and well known, the Oatmeal Stout.

I poured it from the 550 ml bottle into a Sam Smith imperial pint glass.  The beer is a dark chocolate color, creamy tan head, great retention. Looks awesome.

Smells of chocolate, a hint of oatmeal, a little sweet.  The taste is more of the same, chocolaty malt, a little bitter on the aftertaste, just a hint of oatmeal. I was expecting a little more oatmeal flavors and sweetness, but it's still a very good stout.

Medium bodied, superbly easy to drink. A top example of the style and an all-time classic beer.  In fact, this is the highest ranked oatmeal stout on BeerAdvocate, making it one of the few 'best of the style' that I've had the pleasure of trying and reviewing.  (Although I do have a few on deck for reviews soon to come...)  I highly recommend this one to anyone looking to get more into darker beers. 

Taste: A (I gave this the same rating as the Nut Brown Ale)

Value: B+

In other news, I'm making another trip with Jay and others to visit the Parish Brewery on Wednesday... apparently Andrew has some new beer for us to try and critique, so I'm looking forward to that visit and hope it's as good of a time as the first trip.

Oatmeal Stout

Samuel Smith's part 2 - Old Brewery Pale Ale

Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale

In part I of this threesome of Sam Smith beers, I reviewed the Nut Brown Ale, one of my all-time favorites.  I wasn't as familiar with this pale ale of theirs, but eager to give it a try.

I poured into the Samuel Smith imperial pint glass that came with the three beers. It's darker than I'd expect for a pale ale, golden brown color with a ridiculously creamy off-white head.  Certainly has a good look to it.

Not much aroma at all... just the slightest hint of some hops.  The taste is more malty up front, very light in body, more light malt flavors on the back end. Not picking up many hops on the tongue so I'm guessing that what I smelled was added late in the brewing process.

Very drinkable... just tasting it for reviewing I'm halfway done with the glass... goes quick!

Not the best Samuel Smith beer, but still pretty damn good.  Certainly a worthy part of the 3-pack, but I don't think I'd buy too many of these on its own.

Taste: B

Value: B

Pale Ale

Review: European Lager Time!

File this one under:

Beer!

So in recent days I've come across a few different European lagers... some via friends, other through Marcello's going out of business sale.  Combine this with past experience with beers like Heineken, Groslch, and Stella Artois and I've come to a definite conclusion... the world of European lagers is just as watered down as in America.  That's not to say there aren't some great lagers available, just that the bigger the marketing campaign, in general the worse the beer.  First up is probably the most popular beer in all of Italy... Peroni Nasture Azzuro.

Technically this one is classified as a European Pale Lager, along with Heineken and Stella.  If you take away that bottle next to it, there's no difference from any American macrobrew... light clear golden color, earthy straw flavor... nothing special, but rerefshing.  Best served cold.

Next up was a Mythos Hellenic Lager... a product of Greece.

This one is classified as a 'Munich Helles Lager' which basically means it's a German-style light (in color) lager.  I'm sure you've tried this style of beer before, most likely a Paulaner, Hoffbrau, Spaten, or Weihenstephaner original.  This one is a Greek take on the style, and it left a lot to be desired.  Just like the Peroni, clear golden color, straw flavors, very little hops... if you see this one and there are better options, take a pass. 

Finally, in yet a third different style of European lager... a Stiegl Goldbräu Premium Lager.

This one is an Austrian beer, and considered a Märzen, or Oktoberfest lager.  These are almost always going to be darker in color and have a thicker maltier body than the above lagers, and this was no exception.  Definitely the best of the three European lagers I've tried recently, and a solid beer all around.  If you see this one, give it a try!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and keep on drinking!

Review: Newcastle Brown Ale

File this one under:

Beer!

Alright, I'm sure most of you have tried one of these before... Newcastle is probably the most popular English Brown Ale in the world, and it's easy to find all over the states, on tap and in bottles.  Newcastle came from appropriately enough, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.  Unfortunately, in what has become a common trend for some of these classic English beers like Newcastle, Boddingtons, and others, brewing no longer takes place in Newcastle, and the brewery and beer name is owned by one of the larger conglomerates.  In this case, Heineken owns the Newcastle brand under one of its subsidiaries.  Now, I can't really tell whether these changes in ownership have affected the beer itself, but they certainly have increased distribution, so sometimes these deals aren't really a bad thing.

As for the beer itself, expect a sweet malty brown ale with minimal hops and not a whole lot of surprises.  There aren't going to be any crazy flavors here, or anything extreme, just a refreshing sweet malty beer that just about anyone can enjoy.  The perfect sort of beer for hitting the bar after some kickball, or digging out of the fridge after a sweaty afternoon of yardwork.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmastime everyone!

Taste: B-

Value: B

Review: Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale

File this one under:

Beer!

Thanks to Lauren Land for bringing some of these over... not one I would normally pick up but that doesn't mean I shouldn't give it a try and let everyone know what I think!  I poured this one from a 12 oz. brown bottle into an imperial pint glass. It poured smooth, copper orange color, crystal clear with a small white head. There is little retention on the head, and minimal lacing. I like the darker color, but nothing else about the appearance is inviting.

The smell isn't strong, but at least there is some pumpkin in there. Also some malty aromas, a little chocolate even. There is even more pumpkin on the tongue, along with the malt flavors... even a kick of pumpkin on the aftertaste. It's better than I expected for sure.

Not bad at all for a macro beer, not the best pumpkin beer I've ever had... or even had in the last few weeks, but not a bad effort.  I think of all the macro lines of beers the 'Blue Moon' beers from Coors tend to be some of the best. 

Taste: C+

Value: B

Another one from Coors/Blue Moon will be coming soon, their 2009 Grand Cru... so look for that one!

Review: Boddingtons Pub Ale

File this one under:

Beer!

Thanks to James for supplying the beer in this case, as he brought over a 4-pack of Boddingtons, the "Cream of Manchester" which of course refers to its hometown of Machester, England.  Unfortunately Boddingtons and its Manchester brewery are now owned by InBev, so the global giant claims another one.  But on to the beer... which as far as I know hasn't changed.

I poured this one from a 1-pint nitro-can into an imperial pint glass. This one has a nitrogen widget similar to Guinness, Wexford, and other Irish and British ales.  The famous bubbles came forth like crazy... turning the glass into a battlefield as the golden ale fought through the creamy head. One of the best looking pours around... too bad that's the highlight of the beer!

Smell is average... a little hops, nothing special. The taste is watery, slightly bitter with not a whole lot of character.  The mouthfeel isn't bad... no bad aftertastes, feels good going down despite the bitter feel.  Very drinkable... I have a feeling I could kick these guys back all day long.

Taste: B-

Value: B

Review: Brooklyn Lager

File this one under:

Beer!

I picked up a 6-pack of Brooklyn Brewery Lagers from Bet-R for Thanksgiving a few weeks back... good prices and a decent little selection over there.  After Thanksgiving I had a few left over so it was time for a review.  

I poured it from a 12 oz. bottle into a Third Row pint glass. There's a great look to this one for a lager like this. Lots of bubbly carbonation, decent sized head that filled the last 4 ounces of the glass, but not quite enough to overflow. Very nice, and unexpected. 

Very malty on the nose, nothing else stands out at all, clean smell, no funk at all. The malt carries over into the taste well, although it takes a while to get the flavors on the tongue. A bit watered down on the front and back end of each sip, strong malt in the middle with a bit of an aftertaste. It's good, and the flavor that is there is great, but just lacks a little body.

The drinkability is great, I could drink all night on these guys. All in all a damn fine lager and a damn fine session beer... well done Brooklyn!

Taste: B+

Value: A

Review: De Dolle Dulle Teve (Mad Bitch)

File this one under:

Beer!

First off, I love the name.  Just say 'De Dolle Dulle Teve' real quick.  Kinda rolls off the tongue!  'De Dolle' is actually the name of the brewery, located in Esen, Belgium.  'Dulle Teve' is the name of the beer, which of course translates into 'Mad Bitch.'  I've had one of these before at the Cove and remember liking it a good bit, and Belgian Tripels are one of my favorite styles, so when I saw some at Calandro's, I figured it was time for another try. 

I poured this one from an 11.2 oz. bottle into a Chimay goblet... typical cloudy amber color with a ridiculous creamy frothy head. One of the biggest heads I've seen on a beer, especially in a goblet.  

Smells like sweet floral spices.. a hint of citrus, definitely some hops. Just like you want from a Belgian tripel.   The taste is more of the same, plus a hint of sweet caramel in there. Floral on the end of the sip, spicy and delicious.

A top notch tripel, but not my all-time favorite.

Taste: A

Value: B

Sorry for the delay between reviews... I've been trying to balance a low-calorie diet with the beer drinking since Thanksgiving, which isn't always easy.  I have a few more in the works that you should be seeing soon, including a Brooklyn Lager, Stone IPA, and a few more.

Until then, cheers!

Review: McSorley's Irish Pale Ale

File this one under: 

Beer!

Picked up a 6-pack from Calandro's... at only $7.99 it seemed like an interesting one to give a try and a great price.  I poured it from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass... slightly hazy amber color, small head.  I figured a Happy's Irish Pub pint glass was appropriate for an Irish pale ale, right?  I'm taking the proper glassware to the next level my friends.

Smells of malt, bread flavors, slightly sweet, not a lot of balance or complimenting flavors.  The taste was more of the same. Nothing too bold at all, but a solid drinkable pale ale.

I have to say if I was sitting at McSorley's Old Ale House in NYC I could really enjoy a few of these on tap.  I'm still kinda bummed that we missed this place when Jay, Brent, Brandon and I all went to New York two summer ago.  I'm betting that it tastes significantly better fresh from the brewery to the pub, but as a bottled beer for retail, just not all that spectacular.  There are definitely better 6-packs out there for the price.

Taste: B-

Value: B

In other news, my place was broken into today sometime while I was at work.  The bastards took my old power tool set, a folding table, and a dolly.  Not to be TOO insensitive, but I was kinda surprised the tequila was still on the shelf.  Only that last bit was a joke.

Parish Brewing - Coming Soon!

File this one under:

Beer!

Tuesday evening Jay, Eusebio, and I headed down to Broussard, LA (just a little south of Lafayette) to meet Andrew Godley, the founder of Parish Brewing.  One of Jay's former teaching co-workers Ben met us there as well with his wife.  Andrew was kind enough to welcome us into his home to talk about his brewery project and let us taste several different types of his beer.  He even cooked for us, some delicious bacon-wrapped duck breasts, chicken-apple sausage, and stuffed mushrooms.  I love good food as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to focus on that, I'll leave it to Jay and Eusebio.

We started off with a variation of the Parish Bierre Blanc, an ultra-pale ale dry-hopped with west coast hops.  Andrew admitted that he wasn't too fond of this experiment, and we all agreed that it was the weakest of the brews we tried.  Super bitter and dry tasting, tasted a lot like grapefruit up front.  Crisp, and not far away from being a very refreshing ale, but this one needs more work.

Next we tried Andrew's pilsner, a superbly refreshing lagered brew that struck us all as what a true American pilsner should taste like.  For those unaware 'lagering' a beer involves fermentation at much colder temperatures, which takes significantly longer to produce than a more typical ale.  As much as we hate to say it, it was like a Budweiser if they didn't water it down for the masses.  Definitely enjoyed this one, but we were just getting warmed up.

After the pilsner we tried some of the Parish Oktoberfest.  Andrew tried a different method with this, creating an Oktoberfest ale instead of the normal Märzen style of lager.  Very much amber in color, with lots of rich malt flavors and well balanced with the hops.  This reminded me a good bit of the Heiner brau Märzen, which I've found to be their best beer.  I think that Parish Brewing will do quite well with this one as it is. 

Fourth on the list was the Parish specialty, the Canebrake ale, brewed with Louisiana sugarcane.  I love the idea of using local ingredients as much as possible, and this is a delicious example of doing just that.  I think Andrew is still perfecting the right amount of sugarcane (or raw molasses made from the sugarcane) to use in the brew, and in the sample we tried I think the beer could have used even more sweet flavor from the molasses.  I'm confident the perfectionist in him will find the right balance to really make this a spectacular favorite among local beer.  

Last we tried the Pumpkin Patch ale, which was definitely the highlight of the night.  I've tried many a pumpkin beer in my day and this is right up there with the best.  Similar to the Canebrake ale, Andrew used only fresh pumpkin to create the flavor of the beer, and it didn't miss.  Just the right amount of spice and sweet to go with the beer flavor.  What I like best about this and all of the Parish beers is that they are unmistakably beer.  They aren't trying to be something more or different, just good beer crafted to be the best they can be.  

 

 Again, thanks very much to Andrew and his wife for hosting us for the evening, the beer was delicious, and the food and company was top notch as well.  I look forward to seeing some Parish beer on tap sometime next year, and you all should look foward to it as well.  It'll be nice to have another solid local option for tasty brews!

Review: St. Bernardus Witbier & Abt 12

File this one under:

Beer!

Alright, so as you may remember from a few posts back I picked up a two of each of these selections from the Belgian brewery St. Bernardus, which technically isn't a "Trappist brewery" because the brewing isn't done within the walls of a monestary, but nonetheless produces some of the world's finest Belgian ales.  On the last trip to Calandro's I picked up two of my favorites, the Witbier, and the Abt 12.

Starting with the St. Bernardus Witbier...

I poured it from a small 11.2 oz. bottle into a Castlemaine XXXX glass, stolen from a pub in Galway, Ireland after I wiped out their last keg of the XXXX Gold Lager beer.  While that's a different story it's important to note that despite this being a Belgian ale I didn't pour it into a typical goblet.  Witbiers (often referred to as white ales) are best out of a pint glass or other similar drinking vessel.  This particular witbier had a murky gold color, with a nice creamy white head. There was a lot of lacing as the head dissipated. 

The aroma is just what you would want in a Witbier... a strong smell of wheat, with hints of various fruits and spices. The taste follows that up very nicely, a hint of lemon, some banana, with some definite spice. Delicious. 

This one feels great in the mouth, and is one of the more drinkable beers I've had in a while. All in all, a superb and refreshing witbier.  It's no surprise that beeradvocate rates this one cumulatively as the best witbier available!  If you're looking to branch out into different beers this would be a fantastic starting point.

Now for the Abt 12... darker, bolder, and just as good!

 

Unlike the Witbier, this one is a Quad and deserves a goblet to release the aroma and flavors as the beer reacts with the oxygen.  The beer pours a tootsie-roll brown, with a one-finger creamy head. It took a while to dissipate and left a little lacing. Some creamy residue on the surface of the beer as well. 

The aroma is malty, a little sweet, hints of spice, and VERY inviting. I can't wait to dive in. The taste is more of the same, very well balanced with a smack of clove and other spice at the beginning and then a malty sweet taste as the beer goes down. This is the best St. Bernardus offering I've had yet... phenomenal.  No surprise again that beeradvocate users rank this one as the third best quad in existence, behind the Westvletern 12 (which you have to go to Belgium to find!) and the Rochefort 10.  Again, stateside, this one is going to be hard to beat.

So there you have it... two of the best beers in the world, that you can find on a shelf just down the street.  They aren't cheap, but totally worth it.

Witbier:

Taste: A

Value: A

Abt 12:

Taste: A+

Value A

And now I'm off to Lafayette for a tasting of some Parish Brewing beers... yum!