Monday, March 29, 2010

Stone Brewing Jazz Fest Extravaganza



So if you're a big fan of Stone Brewing like me this news will be exciting for you. The first weekend of Jazz Fest, which is April 23rd-25th, Stone Brewing Company will be having a tasting event at Avenue Pub. I haven't received confirmation of the times yet but as soon as I do I will post them.

Here is a list of beers that will be served on draft at the event:

- Imperial Russian Stout 2008 Vintage
- Old Guardian barley wine(two year vertical)
- Vertical Epic 09-09-09
- Sublimely Self Righteous **Louisiana premier**
- Double Dry hopped IPA
- On Cask:
- Ruination with simcoe and amarillo
- Vanilla bean porter

Hope to see you there at least one of the days!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

I Love Fucking Beer


So apparently there is a town in Austria called Fucking. No, I am not just making this up so I can continue writing fucking. It's Fucking true. There is a Fucking town called Fucking and it's Fucking hilarious. Ok, I'm sorry, finding out about Fucking has me Fucking rolling. There is a point to all this. I Fucking swear.

There is a German company that has gone to the EU's trademark authority with the request to trademark "Fucking Hell" beer and much to the chagrin of Fucking, Austria the EU has approved it.

Why Hell? Because Hell is the German adjective for "light". You may also see Helles which is a noun for "light one". So Fucking Hell is going to be a "light" colored brew.

So what's the Fucking issue you ask? Apparently the company has no brewery in Fucking and their is no Fucking plan to build one. Fucking's mayor is unhappy because of the popularity this will bring to the little town which has already had Fucking signs stolen. I say they should have Fucking thought of that before naming your town Fucking.

Anyways be on the look out for a bottle of Fucking Hell cause I want one for my beer bottle collection and if you want more info on the town of Fucking just click on the Fucking link.



Cheers!

The Beer Fucking Buddha

Reminder: Top 100 Beers at Avenue Pub

Just in case you guys forgot here is a reminder regarding Avenue Pubs Top 100 Beer Tasting.


Wednesday March 31st 7pm balcony
Boulevard Saison Brett
Goose Island Night Stalker
Olfrabrikken Porter
St Bernardus Abbott 12
Deschutes Black Butte Porter

Wednesday April 7th 7pm, Balcony
Lost Abbey Angel's Share
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Russian River Damnation
Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
Chimay Grand Reserve

Wednesday April 14th 7 pm Balcony
St. Bernardus Abbot 12
Goudens Carolus Cuvee Van de Kaiser
Supplication by Russian River
Consecration by Russian river


Wednesday April 21st 7pm Balcony
Stone Ruination
Stone Imperial Russian Stout Vintage
Stone Double Dry hopped IPA
Stone Double Bastard (Vertical 3 yr tasting)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Magic Hat Is Coming To New Orleans


Ok, so a source told me that it is official and Magic Hat Brewing is coming to town. This Vermont brewery, known for its Magic Hat #9 and also for having the worst website in history, is looking to enter the state "right around the beginning of Jazzfest" which is at the end of April.

If this roll out is anything like what they did in Florida we will see Magic Hat #9 on draft first for about 3-6 months and then Magic Hat #9 in 22oz bottles. I'm not sure about when their other products will enter the state. Either way this is another nice grab for the state of Louisiana. It seems like every couple of months we're getting new beer in. Now we just need to convert more people over to drinking better beer in order to drink it all!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Beer Review: Covington Brewhouse Ponchartrain Pilsner


Ok, so you know I like to support local breweries and if I have a choice I will almost always choose local. If I'm in Florida I will try and find a local Florida brewery. If I'm in Texas, I will try and find a local Texas brew. And so on and so on. When it comes to Louisiana it just isn't a state with a whole lot of breweries to choose from but slowly things are changing.

Tonite at Avenue Pub I saw a new tap that was from local Louisiana newbie Covington Brewhouse. I'll be honest, I don't really know what exactly Covington Brewhouse is. Are they a brewery? Don't know because why would they have Heiner Brau's logo on their website? Does that mean Heiner Brau is brewing their beer? I think they are but then why call yourself a brewhouse? I'm not sure but it's a bit confusing. Perhaps someone can chime in and let me know cause I'm clueless. Anyways, it was their Ponchartrain Pilsner and I had to give it a try. I feel that pilsners get a bad rap thanks to the big boys so I'm always looking for a good one. I think I may have find one. Here is my review:

Brewery: Covington Brewhouse

Beer: Ponchartrain Pilsner

Style: German Pilsner

Appearance: Beer was a golden straw color with a thin, white head. Lacing present throughout.

Smell: Nice crisp, clean aroma with a nice subtle hoppiness and sweet maltiness with hints of lemon zest.

Taste: Like the aroma it was a crisp, clean lager as it should be. Had a nice grassiness with just enough hops to balance out the sweet bready maltiness. Very easy beer to drink.

Mouthfeel: Crisp, clean with medium body.

Overall: An incredible local pilsner. Something that is very easy to drink during the oppressive Louisiana heat. I think this one will be a great seller here locally if marketed properly. It's that good.

Score: Photobucket 4 out of 5 Buddhas

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Beer Review: NOLA Brewing Hurricane Saison


Tonight was the release party for NOLA Brewing's Hurricane Saison at Avenue Pub. I have to admit that the turnout was very nice. Even NOLA's distributor, Glazers showed up which was very nice to see. I saw a lot of the local beer geek community and also met some people that are somewhat new to the beer geek scene. We'll see just how beer geek they are when we throw another BA Beer Bash though! Anyways, on to the review!

Brewery: NOLA Brewing

Beer: Hurricane Saison

Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale

Appearance: The beer came to me in a NOLA glass(nice to see!)a golden straw color with a nice fluffy white head. Lacing was present throughout the short life of the brew.

Smell: Subtle hop aroma with hints of pepper that balanced the malty sweetness well.

Taste: A drastic difference from the original batch I tried at the brewery. They cut down on the amount of sugar that in my opinion had made it too sweet. This version has a dry finish and is very spice oriented. The beer was perhaps served a little too cold but the warmer it got the better the beer was. Hints of pepper and cumin were very noticeable.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium carbonation.

Overall: Another very nice brew from NOLA Brewing. Not one of my favorites by these guys but still one of the best available in the state of Louisiana!

Score: Photobucket 3.5 out of 5 Buddhas

Monday, March 15, 2010

Support H.R. 4278

Do you enjoy drinking beer? Wouldn't you like to see your local brewery prosper more than it is? I'm sure your answer is yes or most likely you aren't reading my blog because you enjoy beer. And if you're not reading my blog because you enjoy beer then I'm just confused. Why the hell else would you read this blog? Oh, hi Mom!

Anyways back on point. Right now there is legislation that needs your support. H.R. 4278. It is federal legislation that would reduce the beer excise tax for the small brewer here in the US. What would that mean? Better access to beers and more jobs in your community just to name a few. What more do you want?

Please take some time and visit this link below:

H.R. 4278

And make sure you contact your US Representative today!!!!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Suck Da Head, Squeeze Da Tail, Drink Some Brew


Ah, crawfish season! There is nothing better than sitting outside enjoying the cool spring weather, sucking down a cold brew and nailing a couple pounds of crawfish. Crayfish, mudbug, crawdad or crawfish, whatever you call them they are delicious and they are the perfect party food. When you're throwing a crawfish boil you are usually inviting tons of your friends over and having a communal feast with tons of crawfish laid out on tables covered with newspapers. And there is nothing better to drink with friends and crawfish than beer.

Below are my top 5 picks of the best beer with crawfish. I'll warn you now that most of my picks will be local beers and for good reason. You should always support local first. But sometimes you just want an inexpensive and non-thought provoking brew so I have that covered as well.

1) Dixie- Yes I have Dixie on this list and I have my reasons. No, Dixie isn't the best beer in the world but when it comes to crawfish I think it deserves a place at the table and by default gets the number 1 spot. It's Dixie. It has history here in New Orleans and it's a crisp, clean lager which makes it easy to drink and it's easy to drink a lot of them.

2) Abita Turbodog- This roasty brown ale is probably one of Abita's best beers in my opinion. Again, it serves two purposes for me when it comes to crawfish. It complements the crawfish well and at 5.6% ABV you can drink a good amount.

3) NOLA Hopitoulas- I think most people will agree with me here that NOLA Hopitoulas is by far NOLA's best brew and possibly the best local Louisiana brew in the state. This West Coast style IPA pairs perfectly with the crawfish as it'll cut through that spiciness. Be careful though cause at 6.5% ABV it can sneak up on you. The drawback with this package is also possibly it's benefit. It isn't available in bottles but is available in draft packs for around $43 at most local grocery stores. In my opinion the draft pack is prefect at crawfish boils!

4) Pabst Blue Ribbon- Yeah, yeah you had to know I would pick this one. I'm not even sure I need to write anything here. You either get it or you don't.

5) Miller High Life- As I've said before I am not a beer snob. I like what I like and the champagne of beers is one of those beers. Like PBR and Dixie this one is an easy drinking lager that you can drink many of and they are inexpensive. Having lots of people over to your boil? This one is perfect.

So what beers do you like drinking at your crawfish boil? I'd love to know so please leave a comment with your top picks!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

Thursday, March 11, 2010

NOLA Brewing and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation Easter Keg Hunt

From NOLA Brewing:

After the huge success of last year's Scavenger Hunt, we've decided to do it again this year -- only bigger and better!

NOLA Brewing is teaming up with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation to create the First Annual Easter Keg Hunt! We're going to throw you one hell of a party -- the only catch is you have to find it using the clues we give you!

We will kick off at 12:00 NOON at Woldenberg Park, where teams will complete their registration. At 1:00 PM, we'll give out the first clue and send you on your way to find the FREE NOLA beer at the last stop on your hunt!

This year's course will be in the French Quarter/Marigny area -- which means participants will walk/run through the area (NO DRIVING!) from location to location, finally arriving at the undisclosed location of the Easter Kegs!

Here's what we want you to do:

1. Form teams of 2-6 people and come up with a clever team name (best team name wins a prize!) and pick someone to be your Team Captain. Submit your Team's Name the day of the event.

2. Have each participant begin their registration process online. Online registration will shut down on March 26th, so do it early! Anyone not registering online will have to wait in line to register the day of the Easter Keg Hunt and pay their $5 in cash (ALL of which goes to the cause). Registration will be capped at 600 people, so reserve your spot early. Register at:

http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e2rbn8ktdbf06ec3

3. Put on your drinking shoes the day of the event and head on down to Woldenberg Park to check in your team and give us your clever Team Name (registration is from 12:00 NOON until 1:00 PM). Your Team Captain will receive your first clue & a set of rules, and all teams will open their clues at the same time.

YOU MUST REGISTER ONLINE AT THE ABOVE LINK, CLAIMING YOU ARE ATTENDING ON THIS PAGE DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU A SPOT. REGISTRATION IS LIMITED TO 600 AND SPACES WILL FILL UP QUICKLY.




Happy Keg Hunting!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

Thursday, March 4, 2010

NOLA Brewing Hurricane Saison Release


NOLA Brewing will be releasing a new beer for the spring called Hurricane Saison.  The official release date is going to be March 16th and will be held at Avenue Pub.  Below are two descriptions sent over to me from NOLA's Vice President of Dylan Lintern.

Brief




Hurricane Saison is a Belgian-style farmhouse ale brewed with 5 different malts and 3 hops. This golden colored ale has a spice driven aroma created by the unique blend of spices and expressive yet slightly funky yeast strain selected by the brewers at NOLA. We hope you enjoy this 6.5% ABV spring seasonal release, as it is the first of our seasonal beers that we will be rotating throughout the year!



Full



The word Saison is the Flemish word meaning “season” and was originated in Wallonia in southern Belgium. They were brewed at the beginning of winter in a farmhouse brewery in order to quench the thirst of the farmhands who worked the fields in the summer. These beers had to survive the spring heat without becoming too infected by summertime. That is why this type of beer until this day is still fermented at higher temeratures.



We use 3 different types of wheat in our saison, including one un-malted or raw wheat, along with pilsner and aromatic malts. The three types of hops used are Sterling, Kent Goldings, and Styrian Goldings. Although there are more hops used in this style than most Belgian ales, the hops are added more for their aroma than bitterness. The use of various wheat malts makes for a smooth, balanced beer. The yeast strain chosen provides a dry finish, complemented by a unique blend of spices added in the kettle that includes cumin, black pepper, and grains of paradise.



The Hurricane Saison will be released in the middle of March and it will run through the springtime. It will be available in 5 gallon kegs as well as our draft packs for purchase in the store. We will come out with our summer seasonal 7th Street Wheat that is an unfiltered wheat beer brewed with lemon-basil.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Boulevard in Louisiana Rumor Just a Rumor


So I wanted to verify the rumor that Boulevard Brewing was indeed coming into the Louisiana and after a brief phone call I found out some bad news.  They are not coming into the Louisiana market and won't be for the next couple of years.  Very disappointing news.  Anyways I'll keep up on trying to find who is attempting to come into the state and will make sure you are informed!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

Beer Video Of The Month: March 2010

Great online commercial from Yazoo Brewery in Tennessee.



Cheers!

The Beer Buddha