Celebrate "Learn To Homebrew Day" With LA Homebrew!

For the readers out there interested in homebrewing, November 7th is Learn To Homebrew Day, an international event is sponsored by the American Homebrewers Association.  Learn more about is at their website.  

The local event to attend is going to be held at LA Homebrew, on Nov. 7th from 9 Am - 4 PM at their store located at 7987 Pecue Lane Suite 7G. It's behind the florist in a complex of industrial buildings, fairly close to Airline. 

They will have beer brewing demos for first time homebrewers and they will be brewing a 10 gallon batch of beer themselves. Local homebrewers will be there making beer and they should have at least one professional brewer on premise. The event is free and takes place from 9:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m at the shop. They will be launching the Biere Noire Kit, their collaboration with Karlos at Bayou Teche and their one gallon kits. 

They will also have free food (smoked pork shoulder and chicken) as well as tailgating games, and the pre-games/Alabama game on the flat-screens. 

They will also have sales going on for anybody new to homebrewing and anybody who brings in a friend new to brewing will get a free pint glass. Their goal is to have anybody interested in homebrewing to be able to brew a beer by the time they leave the shop. 

Check out the facebook event. 

There's a really good chance that the LSU / Alabama game will be on at night, so I think I'm going to make an appearance and check it out. There will definitely be some good beer floating around. 

Review: Abita Wrought Iron IPA

Alright, time for a beer review, just me this time, so this isn't our Feature Beer, but Abita Brewing was nice enough to send me a 6-pack of their new IPA to try, so I bring you my thoughts on their latest effort, the Wrought Iron IPA. They claim that the IPA "embodies the resilient, indestructible nature of New Orleans" and I don't know about that, but I do like the name and feel like "wrought iron" is a great reference to the traditional architecture of New Orleans, and the label is nicely done with the details of the lettering.

I've always been a bit of an Abita critic, mostly because I feel like their flagship brews are all getting passed up by the flagship brews from the newer Louisiana breweries. I've also stated many times my dislike for Jockamo, but I also always try to give Abita a fair shake. Their Bourbon Street Stout is one of the better beers brewed in Louisiana, although I wasn't as impressed with the Imperator Black IPA. I thought it needed more hops, but I did think that the Spring IPA and Grapefruit Harvest IPA were steps in the right direction, so hopefully I feel the same about the Wrought Iron IPA.

Wrought Iron comes in at 6.9% abv, and 80 IBU, so of Abita's four main IPAs, this is the strongest and most bitter yet. It's brewed with pale ale malt, and a combination of Apollo, Equinox, and Mosaic hops. Mosaic is a pretty popular hop these days, it's a hybrid of Nugget and Simcoe, and is known for producing a "mosaic" of flavors, including floral, fruity, and earthy notes. Apollo is primarily a bittering hop with notes of grapefruit, and Equinox is another high alpha acid hop known for citrus, floral, and tropical fruit notes.  

The first thing to notice is that the Wrought Iron IPA has the appropriate color going on. It's probably a little darker red than typical, but that doesn't bother me. The head looks great and had lasting retention. The aroma is what you would expect from the hop combination, tropical, pineapple, grapefruit, with a little earthiness / dankness in there as well. 

The first sip isn't quite as pleasant, the hops are all there, but the bitterness is a little harsh at times. This mellows out pretty well throughout the 12 ounces though, until it reaches a very pleasant hop-forward flavor without the awkward bitterness that sometimes comes from an IPA. 

All in all, this definitely is the best IPA produced by Abita. It's not going to rival the best in the country, but it's looking pretty good compared to local competition. Another step forward for Abita.

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

Louisiana Craft Brewers Week - Coming in September!

It appears that a resolution to declare the week of Sep. 23-29th Louisiana Craft Brewers Week has passed through the legislature!  Thanks to the Louisiana Craft Brewers Guild for helping make this happen.  And if you like local craft beer, consider becoming a supporter of the guild, I am!

This is great news for the local beer scene and I hope we get some good events and special releases from the now seven operational breweries in the State!

For more LA beer info, here's a video about Louisiana craft beer that my brother of Bite And Booze (I'm also going to steal his tap handles picture) produced with our friend Tommy Talley for Louisiana Travel!  http://youtu.be/iaRgNDMbBW0

Chafunkta Brewing is Officially Legal!

Good news for Louisiana Beer, Chafunkta Brewing over in Mandeville is officially licensed and legal!  Chafunkta (formerly known as Pelican Brewing before changing their name to avoid any potential confusion with the Pelican Brewpub in Oregon) has been working toward this day for over a year and a half, including around 11 months worth of licensing process, so I know it's a huge success for founders Josh & Jamie Erickson.  

They have been serving their beer at festivals all over the state, like Zapp's in Baton Rouge and WYES in New Orleans but only at the not-for-profit festivals that allow breweries in planning and homebrewers to show off their work.  This important piece of paper will finally allow Chafunkta to start brewing beer commercially so before too long we should start seeing it on tap in bars, most likely confined to the Mandeville area first, but as they grow, who knows?

As those of you who have made it to the aforementioned festivals know, Cahfunkta is leading with their two flagship brews, the Voo Ka Ray Imperial IPA, and the Old 504 Robust Porter.  The Voo Ka Ray is expected to come in around 7.5% and be a very well balanced IIPA with a lot of late-hopping rather than full boil bittering hops.  The Old 504 is a coffee and vanilla inspired porter that should be around 6%.  I've tried both over the years and they will be fantastic additions to the local lineup.  And I have no doubt that Josh and Jamie have a full list of brews in the works as well.    

Their first official event as a commercial brewery will be the New Orleans International Beer Festival on March 9th, and Josh told me that they expect the initial commercial bar roll out to be during the first week of April.  When I know the exact dates and locations I'll pass them on, but you can bet I'll be there if I can.

That's all for now, huge congrats to Josh and Jamie and everyone else at Chafunkta Brewing, I'm looking forward to drinking some soon! 

Great Raft Brewing - Coming Soon In Louisiana!

It's always exciting to hear about up and coming breweries in the Louisiana area, so I was thrilled to hear about plans for the first North Louisiana brewery, Great Raft Brewing!  A few weeks ago Jay brought me a couple of samples that he had received from Andrew Nations, one of the co-founders of Great Raft along with his wife Lindsay.  Both samples I tried were unique and had a little lagniappe, so to speak, which I think is exactly what Andrew and Lindsay are going for. Read more about their story here.

Andrew told me he was looking to focus more on Belgian brews (one of the first two I tried was a saison) but that they weren't going to be an exclusively Belgian brewery.  The one I tried was a saison with a little lemon zest and pine needles.  I really enjoyed the way the pine needles and citrus gave the beer a lot of hoppy feel without the actual hops, and the Belgian yeast gave it the right amount of funk as well.  According to Andrew this wasn't going to be one of the flagship brews, but he did expect it to be a seasonal at some point.

What most of you probably want to know, though, is an expected date.  Andrew told me that they were targeting late Summer 2013 for their launch, and it would start out just in the Shreveport area.  Their plan was to be in South LA by year two, but as we've seen with Parish Brewing, if the demand is there up north then it'll take it longer to reach us down here.  I'm hoping for another Louisiana brewery success story, so if he's selling all he can up in Shreveport, I won't be holding any grudges that we can't get it here.  As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats. 

All in all, more exciting brewery news for Louisiana.  If Great Raft can make a 2013 debut then that will likely be at least 3 new breweries this year, and maybe more if some of the NOLA area breweries in planning can get online.  Good times to be drinking local, and only getting better.

Beer Events: ARToberfest in Ruston - October 13th.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to pass the word on about a Louisiana beer festival and homebrew contest.  It's called ARToberfest and is put on by the North Central Louisiana Arts Council.  Here's a link to the facebook events page, and I've been told they will have a few beers from Texas that aren't readily available in the state yet, so it's always good to have new beer options to try! 

I think, like many beer festivals in our area, the real beers to try first are the homebrews.  They tend to be the most exciting and different of all the beers available as the local "beer artists" show off some real brewing creativity.  There will also be some Rahr & Sons gift packs available as a raffle to anyone there!

Plus, proceeds from the event will benefit NCLAC's 13th Holiday Arts Tour, with an estimated economic impact of $64,480 in 2009, according to the event page. This year's tour is set for Nov. 18-20.  Nothing wrong with some beer for a good cause, right?

 

Cheers!

Review: Abita 25th Anniversary Vanilla Doubledog

Alright, I've been waiting to try this special beer from Abita (@theabitabeer) since I heard about last Spring... initial rumors were around in early March!  Hopefully it's worth the wait, I guess they had delays in production because I know they wanted it to be put out long before September.

The beer pours (from a 22 oz. bomber) a dark brown color, with hints of red when held up to the light. The head is a couple fingers of off-white bubbly froth that holds its shape for a few minutes and leaves a little lacing on the glass. It's a pretty good looking beer overall.

The aroma is a little sweet at first with the vanilla coming out, but then the roasted malt aromas of the 'Turbodog' base come through. It's not extremely strong or in your face, but I like the flavors melded together.

The taste is a lot more roasted malt goodness than sweet vanilla. I really enjoy it, but that balance on the nose is lost a little here and it's more 'doubledog' than vanilla. I still think it's an above average brown ale but a little more sweet balance and this would be approaching greatness.

The body is middle of the road... maybe even a little thick for the style. It feels good going down and there are no funky aftertastes or anything.

Overall, I think it's a solid B to B+ beer. It's definitely on par with some of Abita's better select offerings and a notch above the regular lineup.

 

My Rating: B

BeerAdvocate: Too early to say... add your review!

Tin Roof Brewing - Pefect Tin Amber cans to be out this week!

Check out the press release below from Tin Roof Brewing:

TIN ROOF BREWING COMPANY LAUNCHES PERFECT TIN AMBER IN 12 oz. CANS

BATON ROUGE, LA (August 29, 2011) - Tin Roof Brewing Co. is pleased to announce the launch of their canning line and the release of their flagship brew, Perfect Tin Amber Ale, in 12-ounce aluminum cans.  Tin Roof, Baton Rouge's only microbrewery, will be the first Louisiana brewery to launch a full scale canning line.  Perfect Tin Amber Ale will begin being distributed this week in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and select stores on the Northshore.*

"Cans were the obvious choice for our first packaged product," said Charles Caldwell, Tin Roof co-founder.  "With all of the activities we love in Louisiana, such as parades, tailgating, festivals, and being outdoors in general, cans can go where bottles can't."

But that's not the only reason for cans.  "Cans are lighter than bottles, chill faster, require less fuel to transport, are more readily recyclable and protect beer from the degrading effects of exposure to light," Caldwell said.  "Extremely low oxygen pickup during the canning process helps extend shelf-life and ensures your beer is as tasty and fresh as the way it was intended."  

More and more microbreweries are turning to cans, threatening to break the reputation of glass as the only worthy container for a quality brew.  Adding all of the environmentally friendly aspects to the quality beer they keep, all we can say is "YES we CAN." 

Tin Roof Brewing Company was founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and began operations in November 2010.  Tin Roof currently offers two flagship brands, Perfect Tin Amber Ale and Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale.  Both brands are available on draft, and while Perfect Tin will be available in cans this week, Voodoo Bengal should follow in the coming months.  Tin Roof plans statewide distribution by the end of 2011.  Brewery tours are every Friday from 5:30-7:30.  For more information, follow Tin Roof on twitter or facebook, or please visit www.tinroofbeer.com.

Perfect Tin cans waiting to be filled.*

So... the cans are almost here.  Look for the Perfect Tin Amber to be out on shelves around Baton Rouge this week.  It makes a lot of sense to start with the amber as it is more suited to hot weather and tailgating than Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale.  Hopefully the new Bandit Blonde Ale will be along in cans shortly too!

*Picture credit: Jay D's Bite and Booze Blog.

"Bandit Blonde" Is Coming From LSU And Tin Roof Brewing!

It looks like the partnership between LSU and Tin Roof Brewing is moving along quickly!  The name of the collaboration brew, licensed by LSU but brewed and canned by Tin Roof in Baton Rouge, will officially be called "Bandit Blonde."  As that would indicate, it's going to be a Blonde Ale and of course will be in cans hopefully in time for tailgating!  

The label reads:

Tin Roof has partnered with LSU to bring you this refreshing blonde ale, brewed specifically with the tiger tailgater in mind.  With the help of LSU, we’ve created a truly unique “hands on” educational experience for students interested in the fermentation sciences.

I'm looking forward to this for sure... here's a look at what the cans should look like:

Click on the picture for the full-size view... and with all the recent developments from more local breweries to Parish Brewing's expansion to this, it's still a great time for craft beer in Louisiana. 

A Sneak Peek At The Parish Bottles

For those who don't follow Parish Brewing Company on Facebook, you probably missed the recent unveiling at a tease for the bottle artwork on their page.  It's only a tease, but they are looking great and I'm getting excited.  

The one on the right is obviously the Canebrake, but it looks like we're seeing some South Coast on the left?  Either Andrew is working on a new name for one of his recipes, or he's working on a new recipe to help kick off the new brewery?  Speaking of that new brewery, it's looking like 3 60-barrel fermenters to start out... that's a lot of brewing capacity so expect to see these bottles out shortly. I can't tell you all how thrilled I am at the prospect of Parish beer in Baton Rouge!

So much good Louisiana beer news lately... Raise A Glass everyone!

Two New Northshore Breweries On The Way!

It's always exciting to see new breweries popping up around Louisiana, and the Northshore of Lake Ponchartrain, already home to Abita and Heiner Brau / Covington is looking to add a couple more... 

The one with more info out there is the Pelican Brewing Company, which is aiming to start out small and release in kegs initially to a local market.  I can't say I blame them there, it's the traditional and respected approach to a start-up brewery taken by most of the other local guys like NOLA and Tin Roof and Parish!  There isn't a whole lot on their website yet, but check out their Facebook page for more updates, and hopefully we'll see their beer on tap handles soon.  (And while you're at it, why don't you like my facebook page already huh?) Word on the street (er, interwebs) is that they are aiming for the first quarter of 2012, so here's hoping!  And I hope they don't mind, but I stole their profile picture for this post...

Also coming soon, but with a little less information available, is the Old Rail Brewing Company, which according to what I've read aims to be a brewpub upon opening.  Drawings for the building can be found at the architect's website here, and it certainly looks like it's going to be nice!  No official website is out there, but their graphic designer has two possible logos up at her site.  One of them even says it's coming in 2011?  Well, that's fantastic if you ask me.  Word on the street is that this brewpub is coming from the same proprietors as the Barley Oak, so it sounds like just another reason why I need to plan a good Northshore drinking day in a few months!  Here's the logo... 

So there you go... two potential new Northshore breweries to add to the growing list of Louisiana breweries.  It really is starting to be an exciting time to be a craft beer fan in the Pelican state.

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.