Top Of The Hops 2011 - Cajundome, Lafayette

Whew... Top Of The Hops... see, what had happened was, I had been drinking.  A lot.  31 new beers in fact at this past festival.  Yeah, that puts a large dent in the 365 in 2011 goal, with a month's worth of new beers in one afternoon.

You would think I wouldn't remember them all at that point, but you're wrong!  Apparently my memory for beers is a well oiled machine.  Anyway, a couple of Saturdays ago I took off with Mandi, Jay, and Jeremy and we headed down to the Cajundome to do some beer tasting.

The first thing I did after we got in was head to the Parish Brewing table.  Andrew has been a friend of the BR Beer Scene since the beginning and I knew he had a black IPA to try, and it did not disappoint!  Rich roasted malts with a bitter hop bite, I thought it was very well done and a great start to the day.  Andrew also had a hop infusion machine, pumping his Biere Amber through fresh hops and into your glass... and interesting contraption that created a sort of beer/hop tea.  It was tasty, and quite different than anything else on the day.

Andrew and Eric at the Parish Brewing booth.

Some other highlights of the new ones to me included the Brouwerij Het Anker offerings, several beers from the Sherwood Forest Brewery, several new offerings from Shmaltz Brewing, and I was able to finally try the NOLA 7th Street Wheat and Flambeau Red Ale!  The brews from Zea also made an appearance with their full lineup... I knew Zea was doing their own beer (although I believe contract brewed by Covington) but had never tried them before.  

Zea brews on display.

The NOLA tap handle.

After hitting up all the new ones I could find, it was time for some old favorites like Chimay, Stone, Unibroue, Affligem, and more...

That's a lot of empty Affligem bottles!

You can never go wrong with Unibroue.

All in all, a fantastic afternoon, capped off by a nice meal at Jolie's after the drinking was over.  I'll definitely be back next year!

Cheers!

100th Post Special! - An Update Of My 10 Favorite Beers.

When I first started this blog... oh, around 100 posts ago... I put together a top 10 list of my favorite beers that you can see over on the right side of the page.  Since I put together that list, which I haven't updated... yet... I've been lucky enough to try many many more delicious beers, so I figured my 100th post was a good time to update my top 10 list!

In count-down order, of course:

Number 10: La Trappe Tripel (Koningshoeven)

This fantastic Dutch-brewed Belgian style ale is among my favorite tripels, which is generally one of my favorite styles.  It was #7 on the original list, so obviously it's slipped a few spots but still held on to the last spot in my top 10.  For more about this brew, check out my World Cup of Beer post on The Netherlands... featuring this very beer.

Number 9: Hitachino Nest White Ale

Hailing from the far east country of Japan, this is the lightest beer in my top 10, and the lowest in alcohol content.  Don't let that fool you into thinking this one doesn't have much flavor though, because it's a bold Japanese take on a Belgian witbier.  The Belgian ales are known in large part to their spices, as is the orient, so combining the two in the right way is a flavorful masterpiece like the Hitachino Nest White Ale.  Much like the La Trappe Tripel above, this one is a holdover from the original top 10, dropping from #6 to #9.  And also, like that one it was featured in the World Cup of Beer tour... representing Japan.

Number 8: St. Bernardus Abt 12

Another holdover, dropping from #5 to #8, the St. Bernardus Abt 12 is one of the top "quads" in the world and a beer that can be found in a few select places in BR such as Calandro's.  They are called "quads" in reference to the style known as a quadrupel.  They are generally stronger, darker, and bolder than the dubbels and tripels that precede them.  And the St. Bernandus version is a great example.  Pick one up if you want to give something new a trip, but if you're jumping straight from Bud Light or even Abita Amber... might not want to make this the first stop, instead try one of the two beers above.

Number 7: Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Another repeat, and another beer featured in the World Cup of Beer representing Germany!  This one is both the most reviewed and the highest ranked doppelbock on BeerAdvocate, so I think it's safe to say it might be the most popular example of the style in the world.  And with good reason, as it's a perfect example of the caramel malt feel one should expect from the style.  Easily available in Baton Rouge, give this one a try when you get the chance!

Number 6: Westmalle Tripel

This is the second 'Trappist' beer on my top 10, and it's widely considered to be one of the best tripels in the world.  It's also the first style to make a repeat appearance on the top 10, but that's really no surprise to me.  This is also another one that can be found in the BR area, I've seen it at Calandro's before for sure.

Number 5: Unibroue La Terrible

Canada, welcome to the top 10.  This is the first of three new entries into the top 10, and the only one from North of the border.  Unibroue is better known for their tripel, La Fin Du Monde, but this Belgian Strong Dark Ale (BSDA) is my favorite offering of theirs, so far.  This one is a delicious blend of caramel malts, raisin, and boozy alcoholic goodness.  One of my notes in the review was that it reminded me of a rich bread pudding.

Number 4: Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout

Another newcomer to the list, this monster out of Great Divide Brewing in Colorado is unfortunately not available in Louisiana... but you can get some in Texas!  A few snippets from my notes when I reviewed this one:  "Looks fucking amazing. Easily one of the best looking beers I've seen in a while."  "It smells of bitter chocolate, a little dark roast coffee as well... very nice."  "One of the best Imperial Stouts I've ever tried. I'm really enjoying this one so far."  So apparently I really liked it!  Next time you're in Houston or even Beaumont, stop in at Spec's and bring a few of these back to me.  Thanks.  

Number 3: Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

I actually picked this one up at the Spec's in Beaumont on the same trip as the Yeti Imperial Stout above, and I'd say I hit the jackpot with these two.  Stone is available in Louisiana these days, but I have yet to see this particular offering on the shelves.  If I ever do, I'm going to be buying a few for sure.  It's considered an American Strong Ale by the good people at BeerAdvocate, and it reminded me a lot of a really really ridiculously good Double IPA.  Super hoppy, dominated by pine scents and flavors.  It tasted a lot like drinking a freshly cut Christmas tree.  So... if that sounds appealing to you, find one of these.

Number 2: Chimay Grand Reserve

Recognized as the Blue Chimay, this one is an old standard and still holds a high place on my top 10.  Another one of the 'Trappist' breweries in Belgium, Chimay produces world-class beers and if I wasn't limiting this top 10 to only one per brewery, their dubbel (red label) would also make the cut based on my review scores.  Easy to find all over BR, even at places like Albertson's, grab one without hesitation next time you want to try something new.

And that brings us to the number 1 beer on my updated top 10 list... and the view at the top has not changed...

Number 1: Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

Unfortunately this is one that isn't available anywhere close to BR, but it brings back fond memories of a trip to Chicago and a true introduction to how awesome barrel-aged beers can be.  This offering from Goose Island is one I first had on tap at the Wrigleyville brewpub.  The bourbon flavors are immense, but blend well with notes of vanilla and chocolate.  Maybe one day these guys will be available in BR, but until then, whenever you're up in the Midwest, find one and give it a try.

A few notes about this list... I only considered beers that I had been able to properly review for this list... I've had the pleasure of many tastings recently, but it's not fair to compare a tasting of a beer that I had mixed in with 10 others in a night to beers that I've been able to really review properly.  This unfortunately eliminated some great offerings from Brooklyn, and Russian River, among others... but hey, it's all an inexact science anyway!

Cheers!

Unibroue - La Fin Du Monde

After realizing that most of my recent beer reviews have been beers with funny sounding foreign names that are pretty tough to find in Baton Rouge, I decided to flip through my archive and feature a beer that has a funny sounding foreign name but is easy to find, even in Baton Rouge!  The flagship of the Unibroue brewery in Canada... La Fin Du Monde.  Unibroue is out of Chambly, Quebec and they pride themselves in maintaining traditional European brewing methods and bring them to North America.  Their specialties are Belgian-style ales (the La Fin Du Monde is a tripel) but also do some dark lagers and fruit-inspired ales.  

My first encounter came during my first trip 'Around the World' at the Chimes.  After starting off with some beers that I knew well I decided to cross Canada off the list and go with this funny sounding beer.  I can promise you that at first I didn't like it one bit... way too strong and different for me.  Fortunately as my tastes have developed I've grown to appreciate different beers, and this is one of the world's best. 

True to the style I poured this one into a goblet, after letting it warm a few degrees from fridge temperature.  The beer pours a hazy orange, small white head with good lacing. The smell is a mixture of citrus and hops, hints of floral flavors.  Exactly what you want from the style.

The taste bring out more of the floral flavors... a little bit of fruit, toasted malts on the end of the sip. I'm not picking up the hop presence from the aroma, but it's still a fantastic beer. A medium body on this one, superbly drinkable... the 9% is masked extremely well by the flavors.

A top-notch tripel and one of the best you're going to find outside of Belgium.  This one can be find all over Baton Rouge in the better beer bars (like The Chimes, Port Royal, The Cove, and The Bulldog) as well as the stores with the best beer selections.  If you want to try one of the beers that helped me get into craft brews, pick one of these up next time you see it.

 

My Rating: A

BeerAdvocate: A

Tripel