New Orleans Internation Beer Festival - March 9, 2013!

If you read my post about Chafunkta officially becoming a licensed brewery, then you might have caught a tidbit about their first event as a legal brewery being the upcoming New Orleans International Beer Festival!  It's going to be held in Champions Square, and rumor has it there will even be a Cornhole Tournament!  Good luck beating the Beer Buddha's team.  

Personally I can't speak for this event, as last year's inaugural event was on the same day as the Zapp's Beer Festival in Baton Rouge, but it appears that all the local guys will be involved.  The aforementioned Chafunkta, plus Parish, NOLA, Tin Roof, Bayou Teche, Covington and Abita all seem to be on list.  In addition, some regional breweries like Lazy Magnolia and Saint Arnold should definitely be on hand as well as some solid breweries like Stone, Green Flash, Goose Island, and Brooklyn.  

There also appears to be a NOLA Brewing Beer Garden devoted entirely to cask beers, and I can promise you that's the first place I'd go.  Breweries tend to do some more interesting one-off releases to feature on cask for festivals like this so it would be your best chance to try something really unique.  There will also be seminars on Cooking With Beer and Food Pairings... definitely worth checking out.  

If you're looking for something to do in a few weekends, this might be the spot for you!  

Build Your Own 6-Packs At Albertsons

I was in the College Drive Albertsons yesterday buying some groceries when I noticed that they had re-done their main store beer section... okay, I'll check it out.  The first thing I noticed was a respectable selection of bombers and 6-packs. 

The problem is, they only carry 3 or 4 beers from each brewery.  If they even have that many... there's a Brooklyn Local 1, but no other bombers from them.  And Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, but no Racer 5?  For shame!  They have 4 or 5 different Stone beers but there are so many more good ones they are missing.  They also had a handful of Belgian ales down on the end, most noticeably the Chimay line.  Like I said, it's a respectable lineup... if I was stopping here to grab some food to cook for dinner and wanted a few beers to quench my thirst while I cooked, I'd easily be able to find something good.  Just not necessarily something new and exciting.

Then I noticed the "Build Your Own Mix & Match 6-Pack Display" and had to check it out.  The custom 6-pack is a pretty standard concept but I haven't seen it too often around Baton Rouge.  Most places are either 6-packs only, or price everything by the single like Calandro's does.  Anyway, it's a cool idea and I'm really glad Albertsons is giving it a try... here's the lineup as best as I could photograph in the store at least.

Like the rest of the selection, it's respectable but nothing special.  The highlight (for me at least) is probably the Stone Levitation Ale up on the top shelf... the Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, and Boulder Beer offerings aren't bad either.  This idea would really be cool for someone trying to sample some of the Louisiana brews, with Bayou Teche, Heinerbrau / Covington, and Abita all represented.

Hey, it's not the Baton Rouge beer revolution quite yet, but it's still a step in the right direction.

Poll Results Are In, Your Favorite Louisiana Brewery Is...

After a week of polling my few dedicated readers, the results for your favorite Louisiana brewery is... drumroll please... Parish Brewing!

 

 

Parish Brewing, headed by Andrew Godley and located in Broussard, LA narrowly edged NOLA Brewing out of New Orleans for the coveted (I assume) title.  In fact, the difference between the two was a mere one vote over the course of a week.  NOLA (New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Company) was followed by Abita, Tin Roof, Bayou Teche, and Heiner Bräu / Covington. 

Congrats to Parish Brewing, and let's all look forward to more good Louisiana beer in 2011!

Picture courtesy of Parish Brewing Company.

New Poll Up... Vote Away!

While I'm away in Vegas this weekend, hopefully trying out some new beers along with other things that people do in Vegas, I figured I'd throw up a poll to see what everyone thinks about the breweries in Louisiana.  So... which is your favorite?

Edit on 1/12:

Results:

1. Parish: 35.56%
2. NOLA: 33.33%
3. Abita: 17.78%
4. Tin Roof: 6.67%
5. Bayou Teche: 4.44%
6. Heiner Brau / Covington: 2.22%