A Tale Of Two Ghosts

Alright, I'm back.  It's been a while, but I couldn't pass up the perfect opportunity to bring back the BR Beer Scene... two bottles of Parish Brewing's Ghost In The Machine.  One is 11 days old (not as of this post, but as of opening them) and the second is 44 days old.  Everyone knows that hops fade, but conventional wisdom and general industry standard is that an IPA will still be good for up to three months.  With Parish starting to release Ghost In The Machine on a monthly basis, and thanks to a friend for offering up a bottle from the 1/13/16 batch, I had the perfect opportunity for a side by side comparison.

First... take a look at that juicy hoppy goodness:

As you can see... they pretty much look identical in color, clarity, and head.  I didn't use any filters on that picture to try to show the color of the beer as true as possible.  Upon a really close up to the light inspection the 2/15/16 batch (on the right) is very very slightly lighter.  You'd never be able to pick that up by memory unless you have some sort of photographic memory, because even side by side it's damn near impossible to differentiate. It also might look like the volumes were off, but it turns out the glasses from the last two Grand Reserve days aren't identical, so rest assured, they were both full bottles. 

On to the aroma... I started to notice a difference here, with the newer batch having more of a dank funky piney aroma and the older batch being strong with tropical fruits and the dankness in the background. Don't get me wrong, there is a LOT of overlap in the flavors coming through, but each seemed to have a different flavor come through the strongest.

On to the taste... the older batch (1/13) was still very tropical up front, but there was more dankness coming through than on the nose. The lingering flavor on the tongue at the end was more piney than fruity, but all the hop flavors mesh so damn well. The newer (2/15) batch was still more dank than the newer batch, but there were some tropical notes coming through before it faded to the resinous follow-through.

As I kept going through the tasting (rinsing with water between batches) I couldn't make up my mind which I preferred, but there were definitely slight differences.  My wife actually preferred the older batch, but that's likely due to the tropical fruit dominance.  I would probably take the newer batch, but I like piney resinous IPAs.  These are brewed the same way with the same water treatment, same malts, same mash schedule, same hop schedule, so I attribute 99% of the variance in flavor to the age difference.  

One thing is for sure, whether it's 11 days old or 44 days old, Ghost In The Machine is fucking delicious.  

Parish Grand Reserve Day! - Info and Sneak Preview

Alright, we are only one week away from the 2014 Parish Grand Reserve Day! If you already have your tickets (they can be purchased here) then you have made a great decision. If you're still unsure, I'm here to tell you that you don't want to miss this.

The tickets for the day are only $25, which doesn't include any bottles to take home, but it does include all sorts of good beer while you're there. You will get a commemorative snifter glass and 10 pours of all the special beers. They will have 2012, 2013, and 2014 batches of Grand Reserve, the new Imperial Reserve (more about that one later), the Milton Teagle Jr. Jr. sour ale, the new batch of Ghost In The Machine, plus some specialty casks. Just in case that's not enough, you can also have unlimited pours of the three flagship brews, Canebrake, Envie, and South Coast. Bottles of the Grand Reserve and Imperial Reserve will be available for sale as well, so let's get more into those.

First, the latest batch of Grand Reserve. It's packaged the same as before, in 750ml bottles with a wax seal over the cap. The label is the same other than the 2014 marking on the side, but why mess with a nice clean label anyway? 

The beer pours fairly dark as you can see with a large foamy head. The carbonation level is pretty high, but nothing like the Farmhouse IPA. 

The aroma is rich and flavorful, with sweet malty notes combining well with the strong hop presence. The easiest way to describe it is that it smells exactly how a barleywine should smell.

The taste is more of the same, an excellent blend of malt of hops in a robust flavorful package that threatens to overwhelm your taste buds. I think, at its freshest, this 2014 vintage is even better than the 2012 or 2013, and I see no reason why it shouldn't age with the best of them. 

I think Parish nailed it with this one, taking even another step forward. There will be a barrel aged version in the future as well... so that might even be a leap forward.

Also available in 5 oz. pours and for purchase will be the 2014 Imperial Reserve. This is an imperial stout in the 12% abv range, bottle conditioned and cellared in the same manor as the Grand Reserve. 

The labels are very similar, just with a blue tint to them and a star in place of the castle that we all associate with the Grand Reserve. Like the previous one, the Imperial Reserve bottles have a marking for the year of release. 

You can see the pour to the left... rich and dark, similar carbonation to the Grand Reserve above, and a massive bubble tan head. I think it looks like an imperial stout.

The aroma is what you would expect as well, rich malt with a good roasted bitterness and a hint of hops to balance it all out. 

On the taste buds, it's just as good... and excellent balance between sweet and bitter for such a big in your face stout. I had no problem finishing off most of the bottle by myself, so the 12% abv is sneaky and doesn't interrupt the other flavors at all.

You're going to want to bring a few of these home as well, and get excited for the barrel aged version coming in a few months.

Thanks again to Andrew for sending me a few advance bottles. As expected, they didn't disappoint at all. If you're on the fence, click on this link and buy a ticket, they won't be on sale at the door and you will not be sorry you did.

Louisiana Craft Brewers Week Continues...

We are now getting into the real "meat" of Craft Brewers Week. I hope some of you made it out the last few nights to try the Gnarly Barley / Chafunkta collaboration or a few sour beers from Tin Roof, but if not, there is still plenty more craft beer week to go!

Tonight will be one of the biggest events, the Louisiana Craft Brewers Bash at The Irish House in New Orleans.  I'll be there for sure, and also hopefully will be making a stop at Avenue Pub to try some Parish stouts and I'm sure the plenty of other good stuff they'll have on tap. 

If you can't make it to New Orleans tonight, then I'd highly recommend an afternoon trip on Sunday to the "Make Pour Decisions" party at NOLA Brewing where they plan on rolling out 18 (yes, EIGHT-TEEN) beers for the event. If you can't make it to New Orleans at all, there will be a couple of chances to catch Abita's pumpkin and peach SOS in Baton Rouge.

Happy drinking!

Upcoming Beer Events! - Louisiana Brewers Bash, Brew At The Zoo, Beefstock, And More...

Hey everyone, time to start spreading the word about a few upcoming beer events in the area.  

September 22-28th - Louisiana Craft Brewers Week - All Over - It's that time of year again, I'll keep everyone up to date when specific events in Baton Rouge are announced, but I know of one in New Orleans for sure... 

September 24th - Louisiana Brewers Bash - The Irish House in New Orleans - Louisiana Craft Brewers Week is September 22-28, and this might be the only event that will feature 9 commercially producing Louisiana breweries.  For those keeping score at home, that's almost all of them, but unfortunately it appears that Great Raft won't be making the trip down. The event is being hosted by Jay Ducote of Bite And Booze.com, with food from Chef Matt Murphy of The Irish House.  I'll be at this event for sure, I'm excited to see what sort of special releases and casks our local breweries can come up with.

October 10th - Brew At The Zoo - BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo -  Another beer festival, this one at the Baton Rouge Zoo and yes, it will be featuring the local homebrew clubs. The commercial beer list is pretty typical, featuring a lot of local and regional beers plus the bigger craft beers available in the area, but the real standout should be the homebrew stations.  I know I'll be there serving up some beer with Brasseurs A La Maison, and I expect the other local clubs to be there as well.  

October 17th - Great Raft's 1-Year Anniversary Party - Great Raft Brewing Company - I'm unlikely to make it up there, but this should be a great time.  They have been working on several more limited release bombers and draft specialties, and for those who haven't been, the tap room is beautiful. The guys and gals up at Great Raft have been kicking ass, so if you ever find yourself up in Shreveport for this weekend or any other, check them out.

November 2nd - Beefstock - Tin Roof Brewing Company - Alright, so this one is more about the beef, but it is being held at Tin Roof, and everyone that attends gets some complimentary beer, plus the tap room is almost certainly going to be open by then. So, try plenty of beef, drink some beer, and catch some tunes. 

November 22nd - Grand Reserve Day - Parish Brewing Company - I don't know the details yet, but mark your calendars. Last year's event was a great time, and I'll likely be going again.

Review: Parish 2013 Grand Reserve

Every now and then writing about beer has its perks... one of them came up recently when I was given a bottle of Parish Brewing's 2013 Grand Reserve in advance of the December 14th release date.  You can read all about the release party details in an earlier post... this one is about what you can expect when you get your hands on a bottle.  And you should definitely try to get your hands on a few.

It comes in a 750 ml bottle, with the same label as last year.  On the right side there's a little area where vintage and bottle number is handwritten, so you'll never forget the vintage of the bottles you might decide to cellar.  Just like last year they are topped off with some red wax, because have you ever had a bad beer that was dipped in wax?  Don't answer that... I'm sure you have, I'm sure I have... I just can't think of any right now.

The beer pours exactly how a big barleywine should... rich deep amber color with a large bubbly head.  It settles down pretty quickly to finish out the pour, then it's time to get the nose in there.  This beer is hoppy, hoppier than the 2012 release, but still has a massive rich malt backbone.  There are definitely caramel malt notes and I expect them to come through even more on the tongue.

Sure enough, the rich maltiness is even more present on the tongue but the hops are still powerful as well.  It's a far hoppier barleywine than the 2012 release on the tongue as well.  The alcohol content is present in the flavor but never overpowers the malt and hops. Each sip is packed with flavor and the flavors change as the beer warms up also, with the alcohol coming through a little stronger and the hops hitting a tad stronger than before.  

And the finish is ideal... a clean lingering blend of caramel and hop resin.  

I can't wait to grab a few more of these, I expect that they will only get better as they age!

Parish Grand Reserve Release Date Announced!

Alright Louisiana beer fans, the much anticipated release of Parish Brewing's Grand Reserve Barleywine is getting close!  December 14th, to be exact, with the first bottles being released at the brewery itself.  After the initial brewery release (3 bottles max per person, must reserve in advance) then bottles and kegs will be dispersed throughout the Parish distribution area.  

I've heard from Andrew, the owner and brewmaster, and he says that they have about 2000 bottles and 20 kegs this year, and they expect that 1200 to 1300 will be distributed while the remaining are expected to be sold directly from the brewery on Dec. 14th.  Last year there were 1300 bottles produced, so those in Baton Rouge looking for it on the shelves can expect a similar amount as we saw in 2012, but hopefully they will stretch a little farther as some of us will likely be buying bottles at the brewery!

In my opinion Grand Reserve is the best Louisiana brewed beer, so I'm quite excited about this release, and I'm very happy that there will be a brewery release as well as normal distribution.  Andrew told me they will also have a cask of the 2013 Grand Reserve at the brewery, as well as a keg of 2013 for snifter pours, and a keg of 2012 Grand Reserve available in 5 oz. pours for comparison.  There should also be several food trucks on site to add the to festivities.  

Sounds like a great day to me! 

Louisiana Craft Brewer Week - Event Schedule!

Okay, yes, it's officially called "Louisiana Craft Brewer Week" and not Craft Beer Week or even Craft Breweries week.  Yes, I also think that's pretty dumb, but I didn't write the legislation and I'm sure there's some legal reason.Okay, not that that little rant is over, it's on to the fun stuff.

Louisiana Craft Brewer Week kicks off on September 23rd, next Monday, and runs to September 29th, the following Sunday.  There will be good stuff happening throughout Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and elsewhere, so I thought I'd share what I think are the most relevant to beer lovers in Baton Rouge.

Monday, September 23rd:
Avenue Pub - 6 PM - NOLA Brewing / New Belgium Brewing collaboration Swamp Grape Escape is released.  This is a limited beer brewed with muscadine grapes, and Louisiana Craft Brewer Week might be the only chance to try it.

Tuesday, September 24th:
Bulldog BR - 5 PM -  NOLA Brewing cask night, with a "Smoky Praline". This is their Smoky Mary with praline, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.  
Niche BR - ?? - Parish Dr. Hoptagon's first Baton Rouge tapping.

Wednesday, September 25th:
Chelsea's - 6 PM - Abita tasting featuring Oak Aged Pecan Harvest Ale.
Chimes East - 6 PM - Tin Roof Brewing features a cascade dry-hopped cask of Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale.

Thursday, September 26th:
Bulldog BR - 6 PM - Tin Roof Brewing features a citra dry-hopped cask of Blonde Ale.

Avenue Pub - 7 PM - Stone tap takeover with Greg Koch.  Greg Koch is the founder/owner of Stone Brewing, and he will be in town to promote an impressive lineup of Stone beers, including many cellared releases and some fresh hoppy brews. 

Friday, September 27th:
Mathernes - 4 PM - Tin Roof tasting at both locations, featuring all products.
Tin Roof Brewing - 5 PM - Tours and tastings, featuring one of Tin Roof's beers on a hop randall.
Bulldog BR - 5 PM - Abita tasting featuring Oak Aged Pecan Harvest Ale.
Pelican House - 6 PM - Tin Roof "Blonde Sugar Sex Magic" release, this is a chili pepper infused blonde ale.
Avenue Pub - ?? - Lips Of Faith feature with Lauren Salazar of New Belgium Brewing.  Lauren is the director of New Belgium's Lips Of Faith series and the whole lineup will be available plus some limited releases that Lauren is bringing from Colorado.

Saturday, September 28th:
New Orleans City Park - 1-7 PM - New Orleans On Tap - Lots of beer and live music, a good way to end the week of beer drinking!
Churchill's BR - ?? - Oktoberfest sampling.

I've also heard that Parish will be releasing Dr. Hoptagon, their new Black IPA during Craft Brewer Week.  If I hear any exact details I'll pass them on!

Beer Bloggers Conference 2013 - The Awards Show! (Part 2)

Okay... time for the second installment of the Beer Bloggers Conference 2013 Awards Show!  We left off in the first installment as we arrived in Boston for the official start of the conference.  Traffic sucked, we were late, and the trade show had already begun when we arrived.  That brings us to the first award of part 2...

Best Check-In Decision Of BBC13: Myself! When a busload of people arrive simultaneously, the lines can get rather long to get checked in... so I headed straight for the desk and left Jay and Dustin to grab my bad.  Mission accomplished, we were checked in, up to the room to drop off bags and back down to the trade show in no time. 

Best Beer From The Trade Show: Sierra Nevada Hoptimum! This isn't anything new, but we STILL don't have it on the shelves here in Baton Rouge, so it was good to try some of the 2013 version finally.  Other good options included the Ovila Saison from Sierra Nevada, the 80-Acre Wheat from Boulevard, the Robust Porter from Smuttynose, and a Woodchuck Farmhouse Cider.  There were several other beers, but I had left my phone in the room to charge and didn't get a good record... it happens.  Keeping a phone charged is a real challenge at this conference.

Most Interesting News From The Trade Show: Woodchuck! I was talking to the guys from Woodchuck (yeah, it's a cider, and yeah this is a beer bloggers conference... but whatever, I like cider.) and they have plans to do some dry-hopped ciders in the near future.  I know Woodchuck isn't "craft" since they are owned by C&C Group out of Ireland, and I don't really care for their typical ciders, but the thought of a dry-hopped cider certainly has me intrigued.

Most Ghetto Location For A World Famous Brewery: Boston Beer Company! Okay, so maybe the neighborhood wasn't really as bad as it seemed, and their full production brewery is elsewhere, but the original Samuel Adams facility is in one sketchy location.  Founder Jim Koch even alluded to this in his keynote speech, apparently they would give the local riff raff beer to act as a sort of security.  Plus I bet the rent was cheap... really fairly ingenious when you think about it.

Best Intro Speech: Julie Herz! Julia (with Craftbeer.com) was back to officially open up the conference. She's a great speaker, and she knows the industry better than just about anyone. And she really respects the bloggers' role in the industry... gotta love that.


Best Reason To Give People Free Beer: Jim Koch! It turns out he doesn't like speaking to a sober audience, so there was a can of Boston Lager on everyone's chair.  Joke's on him though, we had already been drinking for hours!  Which in no way stopped everyone from enjoying a Boston Lager.

Coolest Moment Of The Conference: Utopias with Jim Koch! After the keynote speech there was food and a lot more beer... and in smaller groups we were able to go into the barrel aging room and try some of the 2012 Utopias with Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch.  The beer was amazing, far better than I expected and a lot more smooth than I would have ever guessed.  It was rich, boozy but not overpowering, and extremely complex.  Really the only thing bad about it was the two douchebags in the corner who felt like their personal conversation was more important than the rest of us listening to Jim.  I won't name names, but if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, don't be that douchebag, and show some respect to everyone around you.  That said, it was still a pretty awesome moment.

Best Cheese - Day 2 Edition: Boston Beer Company! Seriously, we had cheese with every meal I think.  It should have been called the Beer & Cheese Conference.  

Best Sam Adams Beer Not Named Utopias: Sam Adams American Kriek!  I love a good sour and this one was really well done.  I wish I could find it locally, but so far I've struck out.

Most Beer Bloggers Crammed Into Too Small Of A Space: Stoddard's Fine Food & Ale! This place seemed really cool, had great decor, had a great vibe, and they had an array of Heavy Seas Beer on tap, but it just wasn't close to a big enough space for everyone at the conference.  If I'm ever back in Boston I'll do my best to make a return trip here for some pints and grub, but this time, we made a pretty quick exit after a few beers to make our way back to the hotel and call it a night.  It had been a long day!

Best Reason To Drink Before Noon: Because you can! Seriously, once the sessions started there was beer everywhere... people were passing bottles around the room, leaving them at the front table for whomever wanted a pour, etc.  The beer was flowing, it was 9:30 AM, and life was good.  

Most Entertaining Speaker At The Conference: Franck Evers! He's the "Global Draught Master" from Heineken, and he came to a beer bloggers conference.  Yeah, we thought that was a little weird, he thought it was a little weird, but he still is a really entertaining guy.  Just don't call him German, he doesn't appreciate that. And be sure to skim the head off of your beer, that's where hangovers come from.

Most Likely To Speak Fluent Russian, In French: Troika Brodsky! 

Best Beer At The Beer Pairing Lunch: Allagash Black! This one was paired extremely well with a Boston creme pie dessert.  The entire beer pairing lunch was excellent, thanks to the National Beer Wholesalers Association for putting it on!  

Best Beer At The Live Blogging Session: Night Shift Ever Weisse!  Wow, this is what a sour should taste like.  I had never heard of Night Shift Brewing before the conference, they are a small nanobrewery out of Everett, MA putting out some really awesome beers.  They have traditional styles, but also a sour series and even a barrel aging program.  It's really amazing what a little brewery can do in an area that's thirsty for great craft beer.

Honorable Mentions At The Live Blogging Session: Idle Hands Pandora, Thomas Hooker Old Marley Barleywine, and Rising Tide Daymark.  All of the breweries had some impressive beers with them, but these stood out the most.  

Best Red Carpet Rollout: Harpoon Brewery!  They really treated us right... a special Imperial White IPA created just for us, a tour held by one of the founders, and then a beer dinner in a private section of the massive tasting room.  They had all their taps opened up, and just kept bringing us more food.  And more food.  And then some more food.  Seriously, it was an insane amount of grub, plus all the beer we could drink.  I even snagged a nice Harpoon glass, but it broke on the trip home.  :-(

Best Cheese - Day 3 Edition: Harpoon Brewery! Seriously, it should have been called the beer & cheese conference.  

Best Beer Of The Beer Social: Goose Island Rare Bourbon County Stout! It was really a treat to learn that they were going to break this one out for us, and it did not disappoint.  Fantastic beer, excellent whiskey notes, and still among the best bourbon barrel stouts in existence.

Louisiana Breweries Represented At The Beer Social After-Party: Parish Brewing and Tin Roof Brewing! Thanks again for the guys at Parish and Tin Roof for donating some beer to bring and share.  All were a huge hit, especially the Parish Grand Reserve Barleywine.  It was highly anticipated and received rave reviews from the bloggers lucky enough to try some.  

Best Beer At The Beer Social After-Party: See, what had happened was, I had been drinking! I can't say for sure, I had been drinking all day and there was a lot of beer flowing. Untappd is telling me that I drank beers such as the Allagash Coolship Balaton, Wigglesworth Lord Falconer, Allagash FV13, Riverwalk Gnomad, Epic Ales Barrel Aged Huckleberry Sour, Rising Tide Polaris, Backlash Declaration, and Anchorage Arctic Saison, plus many more than didn't make it to Untappd.  It was an epic night for sure, plus I checked in to some Parish Grand Reserve... you think I would bring it all the way to Boston and not drink a little?  Ha!

Most Amazing Feat At The Entire Conference: I made it to every session!  This did not happen last year in Indianapolis, but I pulled it off this year.  Go me!  even after being up WAY past my bedtime at the after-party the night before I was up and ready to go for the 9:30 Sunday session.

Most Generous Beer Bloggers: 2BeerGuys! Sean and Ryan, two Boston area bloggers who run 2BeerGuys.com were hooking us up all conference with some awesome local brews.  They really treated us southern folk right, even giving us some Heady Topper to bring home!   If they had a good beer out at their table, all it took was a tweet to find some showing up at ours.  If the Beer Blogger Conference is ever down here, we'll have to repay the hospitality.  

Best Beer Of The Final Day Of The Beer Bloggers Conference: Cigar City Hunahpu's Imperial Stout! Gerard of Beer In Florida brought this one to share, and after his report on the state of craft beer in Florida he broke it out and poured some.  So good, if this weren't so hard to find I'd have Cigar City a lot higher on my breweries wishlist.

Crazy Stat Of The Day:  Florida has almost 100 breweries! I could only name about 5, but apparently I'm a little low.  Puts Louisiana to shame, even on a per capita basis.

Best Reason To Not Have Died From Alcohol Poisoning: More beer!  Seriously, it never stopped... there was so much beer flowing, and it was still before noon.  Somehow we all survived the conference, but Dustin, Jay, and I didn't fly out until the next morning, so we still had some time to kill in Boston.

Best Place To Watch USA Soccer In Boston: The Banshee! The beer selection wasn't impressive, but they had some awesome burgers and they had USA soccer on every screen.  We watched the Gold Cup final there and then headed back to the hotel to crash.  It had been a long fun trip and we had an early flight to catch.

Best Fiance' Ever: Mandi!  For watching the house and the dogs while I was gone, love you baby!

Thanks again to everyone who helped put the Beer Blogger Conference together!  It was a fantastic time, expertly run as always, and a great learning experience as well.  Until next time... cheers! 

Parish Vanilla And Orange Canebrake Cask - Tomorrow Night At Pelican House

Alright, that's a long title, but it pretty much sums it up.  Parish Brewing will have a cask of Canebrake with vanilla and orange tomorrow night at Pelican House.  It's going to be tapped at 6 and once it's gone, it's gone.  

Pelican House will be pairing it with a blood orange, white gulf fish, and crab ceviche and sweet potato chips.  Sounds pretty tasty to me!  

Check it out if you can, but be sure to get there early!

Looking Back At WYES - Friday Private Beer Sampling

Alright, I've had a few days to recover from a weekend of drinking in New Orleans at the two-day WYES Beer Tastings.  In case you didn't make it... here's what you missed at the Friday night Private Beer Tasting!

First off, the location this year for both events was at Mardi Gras World, in adjoining spaces.  This is phenomenal for people like me from out of town because I can get a hotel (went with the Hilton Convention Center location) and easily walk to both nights, plus be in range of everywhere else we want to go.  Last year the Friday night event was at the fairgrounds and the Saturday night event was at the UNO arena.  This location plus having the events at the same location is far superior.

That said, how about the venue itself?  For Friday night we were in a faux-plantation room complete with trees and illuminated night sky.  The beer tables were spread all along the perimeter and honestly the only complaint I could have about the space is that it was really dark.  Too dark to take good pictures of the scene as a whole, but I took some of the highlights!

A few weeks back I wrote about all the beer I wanted to try at the Friday night event and honestly, I didn't even get to them all.  There was just too much good stuff. 

My regrets were not getting to Abita at all... you all know I'm not the biggest Abita fan in the world, but they had the Strawator and a specialty cask on hand and I missed them both.  I also missed out on a couple of new offerings from Sam Adams.  I also missed most of what Cajun Fire had to offer... by the time I made their table it was just the Root Beer Ale left.  Damn. 

The Highlights!
Parish Single-Hop IPA series: Andrew had Pacifica, Calypso, and Chinook single-hop IPAs, and all were delicious while also education regarding the hop profiles.
Great Raft Ermahgerd Hops: Awesome double IPA from this Shreveport brewery in planning.
Gnarly Barley Porter Rican: Delicious as expected.
Mudbug Cajun Stout: Really a well done beer.
Tin Roof Rougarou Black Ale: I hope we see this more often from the local guys.
Covington Anonymous IPA: I hope we see this more often from the North Shore! 
The Homebrews: Brasseurs A La Maison, Brewstock, Mystic Krewe of Brew, and George's Beers all had some great stuff.  I didn't try every one, but I cam close.

The Misses.
Chafunkta Brewing FontaineBlue Berry Wheat IPA: I love these guys, but this just didn't do it for me.
Mudbug King Cake Lager: The beer itself was tasty, but I spent the next several still tasting the cinnamon sugar from the glass.  I think it would be a great addition to a regular pint but didn't work well in a festival setting.
Old Rail Cow Catcher Milk Chocolate Stout: I wasn't too impressed with this one... fortunately their Seven Sisters IPA was quite nice.
Main Grain / Bombastic Brewers Crawfish Beer: I don't think I'm alone in this one.  Yikes. I applaud the creativity, but sometimes it's a swing and a miss.  Fortunately Ron's other beer was a Rum Barrel Russian Imperial Cream Stout, and it was a home run.

The WINNERS!
Alright, as hard as it is to pick a winner, I came away more impressed with Crooked Letter Brewing out of Mississippi than anyone else.  Maybe it's because they were new to me, or maybe it's because they brought a couple of awesome beers.  Their Mystery Romp Coffee Chocolate Porter was phenomenal and probably my favorite beer of the night.  Their other offering, the Mariposa Pale Ale brewed with mango, jalapeno, and cilantro was also delicious.  Mystery Romp is the only one I went back to for seconds, so congrats to Crooked Letter for impressing me the most of anyone Friday night!

And now for some pictures...

Brasseurs A La Maison

 

Crooked Letter Brewing... in case you can't read the shirt!

Great Raft Brewing

George's Homebrewing

Brewstock Homebrews

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

More Local Beer News! Southern Tier, Saint Arnold, NOLA...

Alright, as if American Craft Beer Week wasn't enough, here is even more local beer news:

Southern Tier officially releases in Louisiana today... just got this picture from Calandro's, looks like they also have some Parish Farmhouse IPA and Endeavour on the shelves, but the main point is all that Southern Tier.  Go get some!  The bar rollouts in Baton Rouge should be tonight at The Bulldog and tomorrow at The Cove. 

Also, today marks the official release of the Saint Arnold Bishop's Barrel #3.  Like the Bishop's Barrel #1 this is an imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels.  (All the Bishop's Barrel series are barrel aged, duh.)  Bishop's Barrel #1 was one of the best beers I've had from Saint Arnold, so I'm looking forward to this one as well.  It's only in bottles and only available at bars & restaurants, not retailers.  Look for it soon as the local places.  

More good news, NOLA Brewing is canning their Mechahopzilla Double IPA!  We knew this was coming, but it's still exciting to see the actual cans instead of just the artwork.  Look for this soon, don't know an exact release date.

Calandro's is also going to be running daily specials all week to celebrate American Craft Beer Week.  Today is featuring the locals and the neighbors, Saint Arnold, Lazy Magnolia, NOLA, Tin Roof, Abita, and Parish.  Other breweries will be discounting on other days, follow their Facebook page for more. 

That's it for now... I'm sure other things will be popping up soon.  Chance of dieting this week: zero. 

Parish Brewing's Farmhouse IPA Releases On May 1st!

Hello BR Beer Scene readers, some good news on the Parish Brewing front!  Their second big bottle release (following the Grand Reserve barleywine) is set for next Wednesday, May 1st.  This beer is going to be a Farmhouse IPA, hoppy but with a Belgian farmhouse flair.  I've been lucky enough to try a few early batches of this one, and I got to try some at the Zapp's Beer Festival, and I can say that you will want to grab a few bottles.  

The release will probably be similar to the Grand Reserve release back in November, except that there were 1,300 bottles of Grand Reserve, and there should be about 4,000 bottles of Farmhouse IPA.  Unlike the Grand Reserve, I wouldn't recommend cellaring this beer, it should be consumed as fresh and hoppy as possible, so grab a few bottles and share with your friends, or just drink up!

I don't have an exact list of stores, but you can expect the usual players like Calandro's, Matherne's, Cuban Liquor, and The Beverage Store to all get some.  The next big bottle release from Parish should be the L'Autre Femme Double IPA, so be on the lookout for that one in the future. 

The Great American Beer Boom: Jay's Beer Journey

My brother (Jay Ducote of Bite And Booze) spent a lot of time in 2012 going to different breweries and events and talking about several issues in the craft beer world, especially the role of the wholesaler, or distributor.  During this journey he got the chance to interview beer industry giants like Greg Koch of Stone Brewing and Andrew Godley of Parish Brewing with the help of Tommy Talley from TommysTV.  Yeah, Jay's a lucky bastard. I'm not TOO jealous though, because I'm headed to NYC tomorrow morning and guess what, it's the final weekend of New York City Beer Week!  Enough about me... here's Jay's video, check it out:








If you ask me, one of the most poignant comments was from Andrew, when he said that he wanted to focus on producing beer, and he didn't want to focus on delivering the beer. It really makes you think about what role the distributors do play in the industry. 

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!  

Best Craft Beer of 2012 Poll

The good people over at TheFullPint.com have put together themselves a "best craft beer of 2012" poll, and needless to say there are some good beers represented.  The rule was a beer had to be introduced in 2012 to be eligible... which is fine and good as there were plenty of top notch releases to choose from.  Of the 50 they put on the ballot I have tried 11 of them, and picking the best was pretty tough.  I narrowed it down to either the Russian River Row 2 Hill 56, or the Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary.  I was about to vote for the Stone when I realized that this poll allows for write-in votes!  My favorite new release of 2012 wasn't listed, the Parish Grand Reserve Barleywine!  So, I encourage all of you out there to go check out the poll and put in a write-in for the Parish Grand Reserve Barleywine.  Or vote for the one you like the best in the poll... or write something else in if you so choose, it's a free country after all.  

Either way, let them know what you think.  As of now the Saint Arnold Endeavour is in the lead, and while I love the Endeavour, it's no Parish Grand Reserve.

Feature Beer Friday! - Parish Grand Reserve

Alright, time for a special Feature Beer Friday treat, a sneak preview of the upcoming Parish Grand Reserve!  This barleywine styled beer is set to hit shelves in Baton Rouge at the end of November, and there should be enough to go around.  Parish Brewing (facebook - twitter) is also making a second appearance on Feature Beer Friday with the Canebrake being previously spotlighted. 

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), Jeremy Spikes  and James Lawson (Whiskeybomb.com), and Brenton Day (TheAleRunner.com)

Serving: 750ml bottle, the commercial release will be waxed.

Appearance: "Ruby red." "nice tan head on a red beer, residual foam." We all scored it 13 or 14 out of 15 possibly points.

Aroma: Caramel malt, rich, Brenton thought it found a nice hoppy-malt balance, and Jay picked up notes of apricot on the nose.

Taste: Sweet, a little hoppy, rich with caramel malts.  Brenton, Jay, and James all commented on fruit flavors coming through as well.  

Mouthfeel: "Creamy, smooth finish." This one really had a nice finish and the alcohol content really balanced well with the flavors.

Overall: This was the first beer to receive scores at 90, from two of us. It was very well received and will be up there as one of the best locally produced beers.  If you do get a chance to get your hands on some, be sure to age one and see how this one tastes in a year when the 2013 batch comes out!

Overall Rating: 86.66

My Rating: 90

Feature Beer Friday! - Parish Canebrake

If you don't know how the BR Beer Scene in conjunction with Raise A Glass Feature Beer Friday posts work, go check out the first one! Today we'll be taking a look at a beer from just over in Broussard, LA, the Parish Brewing (facebook - twitter) Canebrake.  I've talked about Parish Brewing and their Canebrake before, but this is a chance to really put it up against other beers with a few other opinions, and see how it fares.  As always, there is sure to be some bias, so get over it! 

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), Jeremy Spikes (Whiskeybomb.com)

Serving: 12 ounce bottle.

Appearance: "What you want for the style."

Aroma: Nice fruity notes with the wheat, good scores here.

Taste: Everyone enjoyed drinking this beer, and every score came in at 30 or above out of a possible 40 points on the taste.

Mouthfeel: "sweet & bready" 

Overall: This was very well received as a "workhorse" beer and an every day sessionable brew, especially in the hot weather of a Louisiana Summer. 

Overall Rating:74

My Rating:80

Review: Parish Envie Pale Ale

Would you look at that locally brewed goodness?

Thanks of course to Andrew for giving a few of these to Brenton Day of The Ale Runner and then to Brenton for passing one on to me!  This beer isn't out in the Baton Rouge market yet, but we should see tap handles before too long.  With all the success of Canebrake in Louisiana I'm sure it has been hard for Parish Brewing (facebook - twitter) to keep up with its demand let alone work on two other flagship brews and a limited release, but they have somehow done it.  So, without further ado, here's a sneak preview of the Parish Brewing Envie American Pale Ale!

First up, the pour... I went with the Spiegelau tulip glass, and I don't really care that it's not the "right" glass for the style.  Mostly I like that the shape allows the light to get through different depths of beer to really bring out the colors.  This beer is an orange-red brew with a bit of a white head... appetizing for sure.

On to the aroma... the first hit is mostly malt with a biscuity feel to it and some caramel in there as well.  A good swirl though, and the hops come alive and dominate but with a subtle flavor as opposed to an aggressive pine or grapefruit nose.  It's a really nice blend of hops and I think it leans a little toward the citrus and slightly floral range of things.  Very well done!

The taste is really a solid follow through on the impressive nose.  The malts probably come through a little more here than before, but each sip brings another whiff of hops to the nose that keeps it interesting.  

I'm a huge fan of this one, I dare say even more my cup of tea or, mug of beer, than the Canebrake.  This isn't a final recipe though, and Andrew has plans to tweak it even more on his new bigger brew system.  I know he still plans on going even hoppier and I have to say that I agree and would probably like this beer even more than I already do with a more aggressive hop profile.  So... until then, I'll keep drinking the Canebrake and looking forward to the future versions of the Envie APA and the South Coast Amber Ale.