Catching Up On Louisiana Beer News - NOLA - New Belgium - SweetWater - Ballast Point

Readers, I've been away at the 2013 Beer Bloggers Conference learning how to be a better beer blogger.  And drinking, doing a lot of drinking.  It turns out the Beer Bloggers Conference is almost as much about the drinking and meeting new people as it is about learning how to be a better bloggers.  Almost.  

While I've been gone, here are some of the goings-on in the Louisiana craft beer world.  One of the things I learned over the weekend is that regurgitation of information isn't the key to a good blog... putting out original content is.  I'm going to ignore that advice this once and throw out some links to the LA bloggers that couldn't make the conference.  Then I'll get back to that advice and tell you what I think!

NOLA Brewing is teaming up with New Belgium from Fort Collins, CO for a special Louisiana Craft Beer Brewer Week release!  As reported by The Beer Buddha, the beer will be a Belgian-style single (or Abbey Ale) brewed with local Muscadine grapes, and named Swamp Grape Escape.  The name throws me off, because I keep wanting there to be an "ape" in there by itself, but there isn't.  No Swamp Ape, no Grape Ape... it's making my head hurt!  The beer though, I'm excited for, as New Belgium makes some great Belgian-style (duh) ales and I love the use of a local ingredient. And I'm really thrilled to see another big brewery come into Louisiana for a collaboration with the local guys. Not too long ago it was Stone coming down and brewing with NOLA, now New Belgium. Having these collaborations can only be a good thing for the local beer scene.

SweetWater Brewing out of Atlanta, GA is coming... I wrote about them being on their way back in April, but the official release date has been announced as August 19th!  I imagine that they will start at Avenue Pub, but Mockler Beverage in Baton Rouge has their local distribution rights and they have announced that the SweetWater team will be in town on August 21st to promote the new beers.  So worst case we're looking at August 21st in Baton Rouge.  They will most likely be starting with the core styles similar to New Belgium's market entry, with beers like the 420 Extra Pale Ale, SweetWater Blue, and their flagship IPA.  Honestly of all these, the Blue interests me the most because it would instantly be the best blueberry beer available in Louisiana.  There is a lot of competition for best pale ale or best IPA, but SweetWater would have blueberry on lock down. Hopefully more styles will follow!

Brenton over at TheAleRunner reported that Ballast Point Brewing out of San Diego, CA is planning on making an early 2014 entrance into the Louisiana market.  He even went so far as to confirm this with their VP of Sales/Marketing!  One of the other big points at the conference was to confirm with your sources and not just post rumors, looks like Brenton didn't need the conference to know that.  As he said, the popular and highly rated Sculpin IPA will probably be the biggest score, and we'll just have to see which other Ballast Point beers make it our way.

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!  

American Craft Beer Week In Full Swing!

Hey everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying a fantastic American Craft Beer Week so far, and if you haven't partaken in any of the festivities it's certainly not too late.

As for me, I kicked off the week a little early with a guest appearance on Jay's Bite And Booze Radio Show.  I've also been to the Tin Roof Brewing Company for a couple of their open houses, plus spent last night trying new beers with good friends at The Avenue Pub in New Orleans while Jay and I interviewed The Beer Buddha for our upcoming radio show called "Raise A Glass."  Yeah, another radio show!  I added 5 new beers to my 365 in 2011 list while at The Avenue Pub, my favorite was almost certainly the Dieu Du Ciel Equinoxe Du Primtemps (which I'm pretty sure means Spring Equinox) although the coconut heavy Bayou Teche XXX Grenade was also awesome.  I also tried a Raftman from Unibroue, the Dieu Du Ciel Recousse, and the Brookyln EIPA.  All fine beers but the first two really stood out.

Bayou Teche XXX Grenade and Dieu Du Ciel Recousse Altbier

Tonight I'll be at The Gingerman Pub in Houston with Mandi and a few Houston friends checking out what's going on across the state line for this beer celebration.  No matter where you are though, there are sure to be lots of good beers on tap at the local watering hole.  I know Tin Roof in Baton Rouge will be having an open house tonight from 5-7 with free beer samples and a brewery tour.  And The Avenue Pub will be celebrating more tonight leading up to their huge tasting tomorrow afternoon.  I wish I could make it, but I can't be everywhere at once.  And for that, my liver thanks me.

Cheers!

Some Local Beer Links...

First off, be sure to check out The Beer Buddha's Top Of The Hops ticket give away!   The give away is in particular for the North Shore edition of the Top Of The Hops beer festival. The breweries for 2011 haven't been announced yet, but there were a lot of good beers to try last year!  Unforunately this one is March 19th so I'll be busy with the St. Patrick's Day parade, but there is also the Top Of The Hops in Lafayette on April 9th so maybe I'll see some people there!

If anyone is planning on hitting up the North Shore tasting you might want to consider taking the bus to and from via The Avenue Pub on St. Charles Street.  Details can be found on Facebook here:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/AvenuePubNOLA  but it's a good way to minimize driving, parking, and maximize the beer! 

 

Also... another post from The Beer Buddha, about a Schmaltz Brewing beer dinner hosted by the Martin Wine Cellar location in Metairie.  Looks delicious, and should be some pretty good beer that hasn't proliferated the BR market yet.  Maybe the Martin Wine Cellar in Baton Rouge will be hosting similar beer dinners in the future?  We can only hope!

Enjoy, and happy drinking!

Newcastle "Walk The Dog" T-Shirt Giveaway - by The Beer Buddha

Just in case some of you don't read his blog as well, Jeremy (AKA The Beer Buddha) is giving away a handful of Newcastle shirts through his blog, The Beer Buddha.  I know telling all of my readers (yeah, all 4 of you) about this might hurt my chances, but whatever, he's a good dude and helping promote other local beer bloggers is sure to bring me some good karma in the future.  Or something.

So... check out his blog, e-mail him to win a t-shirt if you want, and good luck!

Cheers!

Eric

Link: Look Away! Look Away! Look Away! Dixie Land.

A solid write-up by The Beer Buddha on the Dixie Brewing Company in New Orleans.

I must say I completely agree with him.  Dixie really is missing out on an opportunity to capitalize on some nostalgia and desire to support local products.  We've seen a few new breweries open up in Louisiana recently and it's a shame that the oldest one still around (by far) is currently contract-brewed out of Wisconsin and seemingly doing little to reinvent themselves during the current craft beer renaissance of sorts.  It would definitely be nice to have another beer brand Louisiana could call its own and be proud of.