Wednesday, February 24, 2010

New Orleans Beer News: Release Parties, Classes and Festivals Oh My!



Got the below email from Lucy's Retired Surfer's Bar and Restaurant. They're doing a release party for Abita Strawberry. It's going to be a crawfish boil. Not really sure Abita Strawberry and crawfish pair real well but hey, it's beer and crawfish and I sure have been craving some crawfish.


Just so y'all know, we'll be opening the "Attic" upstairs at Lucy's for the Abita Strawberry Release Crawfish Boil - Plenty of space for all - great music, beautiful space, perfect crawfish and Ice Cold Abita Strawberry beer





Another bit of cool news came my way this week courtesy Polly Watts from Avenue Pub. The Pub has been selected as the location for Ray Daniel's Cicerone Program. Dates will be announced later. The Cicerone program gives those who serve beer to consumers the tools to maximize the consumers beer experience . It's similar to a wine sommelier. I hope to start working my way through the program over the next year.




On the beer festival front we have two coming our way. Not sure who was in charge of scheduling these two events but they are being held on the same day. Yup, you read it correctly. The. Same. Day. Since the Zapps International Beer Festival has been around longer we can only assume it is was the newbie festival that didn't check its dates. That newbie festival is called Top of the Hops and looks pretty interesting. They have some interesting vendors like Defend New Orleans and New Orleans Craft Mafia and also a nice beer list as well. I would give you more info on the Zapps beer festival but their website doesn't give me any. Anyways here is the dates, times, places and prices:

Zapp's International Beer Festival
March 20th 2010
3:30-6:00pm
Rural Life Museum/Baton Rouge, LA
Price: $30


Top of the Hops Beer Festival

March 20th 2010
2pm-6pm
Fontainbleu State Park/Mandeville, LA
Price:

GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS

$35 – Advance
$40 – Day of Festival

* General Admission Tickets Include the Following:

* Souvenir, Two-Ounce Sampling Mug
* Full Color Festival Guide
* Unlimited Sampling of 100+ Craft Beers
* Live Entertainment on the Full Sail Brewing Stage
* Free Parking
* Games
* Access to the Samuel Adams Brew University Tent with Seminars Such as Cooking with Beer, Brewing 101, Pairing Food with Beer and More!

STELLA ARTOIS VIP TICKETS

$60 – Advance
$65 – Day of Festival

* Stella Artois VIP Tickets Include the Following:

* Entrance into the Festival 1 Hour Early to Take Advantage of Exclusive Beer Tasting Experience
* Reserved Parking for Advance VIP Ticket Holders
* Access to the Stella Artois VIP Lounge
* Private Beer Tasting Selections Not Available to the General Admission Ticket Holders
* Complimentary Food
* Private Restrooms
* Souvenir, Two-Ounce Sampling Mug
* Full Color Festival Guide
* Unlimited Sampling of 100+ Craft Beers
* Live Entertainment on the Full Sail Brewing Stage
* Free Parking
* Games
* Access to the Samuel Adams Brew University Tent with Seminars Such as Cooking with Beer, Brewing 101, Pairing Beer with Food and More!

Have fun deciding which one to go to. Which one am I attending? Neither. I will be attending my daughters 4th birthday party!




Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

2 comments:

100beers30days said...

Your site is looking great!! Wish I could be there to go to the events!!

The Beer Buddha said...

Laurie,

Thanks! Yeah I heard you left town and moved to California. Is that true? Sucks to lose another New Orleans beer blogger! Good luck!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha