Just a quick post to mention one of my favorite Baton Rouge hole-in-the-wall beer bars, Slinky's on Chimes St. Located just down the street from The Chimes past Highland Coffees, don't expect to see a sign on the front advertising the name of the bar, but when you see the neon beer signs and the front porch, you're at the right place.
Pam does a great job of keeping the place stocked with two coolers full of interesting beers, and on the second Tuesday of every month, starting at 9, they do a tasting of 6 different beers for $12. A good price and you get to keep the glass! A good many of the more strange and unusual beer glasses in my cabinet have come to me via a Slinky's tasting, and I plan on that trend continuing. I even wrote about one tasting a good while ago... and have made two trips to Slinky's for some drinks since then.
A few months ago I found my way there for a few beers after happy hour at Fleming's (never a bad idea) and the beer drinking commenced. It was a rare occasion for me, my phone died after taking one picture of beer I had been drinking... but I do remember a little about the 4 new beers I tried. One was the "Before - After" triple bock from the Rinkuskiu Alaus Darykla brewery in Lithuania... gotta say this is probably my first ever Lithuanian beer and I didn't think it was too bad. It was a super boozy 12% alcohol triple bock, so even maltier and stronger than a doppelbock. I also tried the RJ Rockers (@rjrockers) Patriot Pale Ale, the Lobster Lovers Beer also from Rinkuskiu Alaus Darykla and a Rosee' D'Hibiscus from the fantastic Canadian brewery Dieu Du Ciel.
More recently I found myself back at Slinky's for a beer tasting of Bavarian selections thanks to Clark Diehl at Uplifters Spirits. Uplifters is a distributor out of California specializing in Bavarian breweries, and Clark is their local representative. This tasting features two of the best sellers from three of their breweries, Hopf, Schönramer, and Reutberger. While waiting on the tasting to start I tried an Old Jock scotch ale from Broughton Ales in England, and an Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche Doppelbock, a famous smoked beer from Germany.
Then the tasting started... the Hopf Brewery calls themselves a weissbierbrauerie and they mean it, the only styles they offer are hefeweizens, dunkelweizens, and weizenbocks! This tasting feature their Dunkle Weisse, and their Helle Weisse beers, and as to be expected, they were both very thick with a wheat base. The Dunkle was naturally a darker and maltier beer but both were very smooth and easy to drink. The two Reutberger offereing were the Export Hell and the Export Dunkel. As opposed to Hopf, both of these beers were lagers, with the Dunkel of course being the darker and maltier beer, and the Hell being lighter and easier to drink. Third up was the Schönramer brewery, with a Pils and Gold offering. The Pils of course was a German-style pilsner, but the Gold was actually a malty Oktoberfest offering and maybe the best beer of the tasting. Well, until Clark brought out a few specialty beers. First up was one from Reutberger called the Josefi Bock, a malty beer with a good clean hop taste on the end as well. Finally, the Schönramer Saphir, a bizarre beer that's labeled as a doppelbock, but pours like an adjunct lager. Seriously, it was damn near clear, but the taste was anything but boring. It was bold, fruity, spicy, and all around delicious. Definitely the winner of the night.
After the tasting was over I saw one more new beer, the Sierra Nevada (@sierranevada) Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale, so I gave that a try and then it was on to Louie's for a big cheesy Lou and some pancakes!
Cheers everyone, and don't forget about Slinky's when you feel like finding a new beer. And for the tastings on the second Tuesday of every month.
