Beer in New Orleans, Again

In March a few of us went to New Orleans to party for a weekend. Just some old Texas fun, in New Orleans. I've been meaning to make it to some of the bigger beer bars, but once again I blew it. How can you stumble all the way to Frenchmen street when you have to pass Bourbon.

I've beered it up in the NO before and didn't think I'd find too many new things. I did want to hit Crescent city one more time, as well as try to find some NOLA. NOLA is a new brewery and their beer isn't all over the city just yet. But I did find...

March 20, 2009
Abita Strawberry Harvest
I'll make this simple, if you've ever had Frankenberry Cereal, that's what this tastes like with a skim milk. I always found Frankenberry lagging (Booberry MuthaF8cka!!!). 2 Star.



March 21, 2009
Red Stallion
This Crescent city brewhouse beer is their main attraction beer. At this point I'm feeling the beer a bit, as we've been drinking it up all day and the day before. But this redish amber beer has a bready sugar/cinnamon/caramel smell. Medium body on the moth and kind of boring after that. Nice moderate hops but not balanced. I'm thinking Noble hops. Low 3 Star.

Later on I got a bottle of some stuff from Mississippi

Lazy Magnolia Indian Summer Spiced Ale
Now that's one heck of a name. Nose is a little malty and vegetaly, with some cinnamon in there. Strong head. Frankly, the taste is kinda crappy, harsh unpleasant hop bite, a little grainy, and goes down watery. Low 2 Star if not a 1 Star. Come on Lazy Mag!

Now that I look at my beer book a month later, I could have sworn I drank more than that. I know there was a Gordon Biersch beer in there somewhere. Otherwise, nothing all that new. But I would recommend your wading through Bourbon street's swill and overpriced mixed drinks to hit Beerfest. A great beer bar that is oddball enough to not be totally filled, so you may be able to get a seat.

We did lush it up pretty bad in New Orleans. I managed not to expose myself to anyone this time, but it was an adventure. New Orleans is trying to get better, but it can be hard with all that crime going down. If you make it to the NO, just keep it cool.

Beering in New Orleans, Part 4 and Wrap Up

First the beer

State: Hot as balls in New Orleans
May 25th, 2008

Abita Wheat
In case you are wondering how hot balls are... 98.6 degrees.
Got this one at a bottle in the store. I had to make a choice between this one and Jockamo IPA. I am a hop head, but just couldn't feel an IPA right now while I'm sweating out my clothes walking the streets. That one will have to wait until I get back.
Wheat beer pours oange and smooth from the bottle to the plastic cup. Serious head on this one but a regular beer smell (if there is such a thing). The head is a little lacy. Some sweetness in the smell if I really try. Not bad. Medium-full body with hints of orange. I'm not a fan of the 60 second bitter aftertaste this one has. Though it has medium hops. I now step outside the hotel room. The hops makes it a slightly different experience for a wheat beer, and I can dig it. It definetly refreshes one at 95 degree heat. It still feels smooth, though no new flavors are coming out, save MAYBE a slight spiciness.

And that's it for the NO this time. I did not get to the Jockamo IPA, I got most of what I wanted to try. The other locations were beer bars (d.b.a., and Beerfest). I made it to beerfest but can't remember what we had outside of a jager shot.

I enjoyed beering in New Orleans and look forward to doing it again. I will likely stop by a grocery store to pick a Jockamo. I also did not get to Big Easy or Lagniappe. It seems that the local NO beers are really about being refreshing, not tossing your tastebuds around. Of course it was summertime, so it fits well. Not to mention that most tourists will drink their beer on steamy streets of the Quarter, which further boosts the case for not juicing the beer with lot of hops or malts.

Damn near anything will taste good after walking it out in NO for an hour. All the beer sold on the street are Miller and Bud lights, but it does the trick. I look forward to going back to NO in the winter for some winter seasonals to see how these guys get 'er done when it's time to turn it up.

Of course NOLA will not be ready until October 2008. In the meantime, I feel I have enough to give a top 3 beers of New Orleans.

#1. Abita Restoration Ale
I love the cause, but that was pleasant hop bitterness as well. Would be a great beer to have back in Houston. Just goes great with heat of NO, and whatnot. I also see on Abita's website the have a slew of Select beers. I can see I'll just have to make a day trip to Abita's brewpub.

#2. Abita Amber
Just so good and bready. Maybe b/c it was one of my early beers and we were partying it up, but I really enjoyed this one. It seems like if there was a general Amber beer, this would be it.

#3. Crescent City Red Stallion
I love the richness of this one. I'm a fan of Vienna style malts as well. This was CC's best beer, and I think it would work well as a foil for seafood. I have very rich ribs which kinda knocked down the sweetness, but I could see it still there. It's like if you eat pork-n-beans laced with brown sugar, and then try to drink Kool-aid. The kool-aid would taste like water. The act that I could get the caramel out of this one bodes well.

Beering in New Orleans, Part Trois

Crescent City Brewhouse

This is the only brewpub I could find within walking distance, so I hit this one. I had a hankering for some crawfish and the hotel said that CC would have me covered. I was still sobering up while walking over there, but I really wanted those crawfish. Wouldn't ya know it, they had no crawfish there at ALL. We already had our seats and whatnot, so I figured we'll just get a sampler and go for it.

May 24th, 2008
State: Still sobering up from the beering earlier in the afternoon.

Pilsner
Smells of bread and light hops. The taste is a good hop and bread taste (no surprise) with a pleasant bready aftertaste. I'm going backward again, but it's clear, with a light gold color and white, medium carbonation. I am really starting to appreciate the pilsner. Pale lagers still have a ways to go.

Red Stallion
I love the name. This one was clear with an amber color, white head and biscuit smell. I got a Vienna malt taste. It has a medium body with a low hop/carbonation. I'll say this one is full flavored, yet simple.

Weiss
I was a little worried about this wheat beer, as I just had the Red Stallion, but it was all good. Some banana flavor in there. Not much of a head left, so I couldn't get much of a smell. Full bodied beer hazy beer with orange-yellow color. The head has some lace. It's not bad but low on flavor

Black Forest
A rich beer with medium body. It has a reddish color with low smell on the nose. Low hops, but medium roasted malt. Not a knockout beer, but okay.

That's all I had in my notebook, and it's a shame I couldn't come in here with few more sobriety points to spare. I ate the BBQ ribs, but none of the beers seemed to complement it that well. But I'll give it to them on their Pilsner and their Black Forest. It seems as if CC is not into taking too many chances. I would like to see something with a bit more kick. I can get pleasant local session beers on every corner, but would love to see more umph out of the brewpubs. Maybe DuClaws in Maryland (my first brewpub) I go to the New Orleans area about every 2 weeks (offshore engineering), so I'll try to get back out there one of these times.