New LATex Breweries

Just wanted to give a little shoutout to the gentlemen at NOLA Brewing Company, a new brewery in New Orleans. These guys have been working furiously to get going, and you think it's hard opening a microbrewery. Imagine opening one while dodging a hurricane or two. I consider myself a Texas/Louisiana beerman, as I spend a lot of time in both states. New Orleans has a history of being a bosshoggin microbrew town in times past before the big scare...er, Prohibition. You still see the old brewery buildings like Jax in the NO, except now they are full of shopping center selling throwback football jerseys and restaurants with surprisingly not that good crawfish.

Well, NOLA is working it's way into production of their Blonde and Brown Ales. Nothing like a good blonde while you are trolling through the French Quarter, and a beer would be nice too. I got a million of 'em! I'll be heading to the NO for some R&R with a few heavy drinkers, so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on more Gordon Biersch, some Crescent City, and hopefully some NOLA. I'm sure the Abita will be there a-plenty. Their amber hits the spot while waltzing on Canal Street.

Also, it looks like Southern Star in Conroe, TX (Just north of Houston) are really taking the bull by the horns. Their Pine Belt Pale Ale is kicking some booty, and I'm looking forward to hitting the Saucer for their new Buried Hatchet Stout and a Blonde Ale. They even have a Homebrew competition. These guys are professionals and probably have a lot of experience, but I do wonder how they are getting on with their system by bouncing around with the styles: American Pale Ale, then a Dortmund Export Lager, followed by a Rauchbier, then down to a Stout, and then back up to a Blonde Ale. I'm probably over-thinking it.

So far they are kicking arse and the Pine Belt looks like it's moving off the shelves a bit. I'm seeing their beer in our mega beer bars but hope they go on down to the smaller beer bars. It's harder to get Shiner and St. Arnolds at most beer bars in Houston though they have maybe a dozen styles out each at one time. Not sure how that works. Here's to hoping the Stars get more love. We need guys like this that are taking chances and going hard in Texas.

Oh, it looks like my Sam Adams Brown is out, time for another beer...