Celebrating artisanal beers and the breweries that artfully create them, this week also acted as a catalyst to convert the Budweiser, Miller, and Coors drinkers of the world.These big three make up 78% of the market share and are extremely influential in reducing the availability and marketability of better tasting craft beers via lobbyists and campaign fund donations in Washington, and their local control over distributors, wholesalers, and category captains. With FREE tastings spanning out over the crowded beer bars and stores of New Orleans and covering beers from Brooklyn, NY to Broussard, LA, the celebratory week seemed to be effective in emphasizing the enjoyability and availability of craft beer in the Louisiana market.
Our personal journey across the American craft beer map began at Breaux Mart on Tuesday with tastings of summer seasonals. Beer tasting at a grocery store? Yep. This is New Orleans after all, the only place in the South where you can walk in for Gushers and Capri Suns and stumble out with an Abita Party Pack doing the Wal-Mart Bounce and drunk off the pint of vodka and bottle of wine you just sampled next to the produce section. After sampling a few crisp and refreshing summer seasonals, Abita Wheat , Sam Adams Summer Ale, and Harpoon Summer, and smoking the chickens we received as a gift earlier in the week (pretty random), we made the 6 block walk to our next ACBW stop.
At the Bulldog, a bar that prides itself on its wall of endless taps as well as its gut wrenching chili cheese fries, we got to sample a rarity, even if it was brewed only 30 miles away. Normally a little overwhelming with its strong alcohol content, the cask conditioned version of the Abita Abbey Ale was mellower with a sweet dark caramel finish. Although this Belgian Dubbel was much more drinkable and mellow than the bottled version, we decided to grab a few of Erin’s newfound favorite craft brew, Magic Hat #9, before closing out Day 1 of our ACBW.
Like Day 1 of ACBW, Day 2 began at a locale other than a bar. This time we began at Cork and Bottle in the American Can Company building, where The Beer Buddha guided us through the lineup of brews produced by Wasatch Brewery in Utah. We started with the aptly named Little Slammers- 7 ounce bottles of Golden Ale. After this mainstream-ish beer, we then continued through a flight of the brewery’s Double Bock, Polygamy Porter, and White Ale. While running through the land of the Sister Wives beer selection, we converted a former Miller Lite only drinker into somewhat of a craft beer drinker before we made it to Wednesday at the Square.
Since I’ve written about The Square before and since this part of our beer journey was just a temporary stop, I won’t bore you with the details of the Square. Just know Abita’s sponsorship of the weekly festival allowed us to observe ACBW uninterrupted.
Our day was nearing the end, but we had to make a not-so-minor stop at Cochon Butcher for sandwiches and charcuterie on our mid-week, multiple-neighborhood beer journey that now included stops in Mid-City, CBD, the Warehouse District and the Lower Garden District.
When we finally arrived at Avenue Pub, the bar, including the upstairs balcony bar, was crawling with beer geeks as well as domestic drinkers. We first went upstairs to try some of the beers being featured as part of their Wednesday Night Tasting (Nano Night). Luckily, well for me at least, I was able to squeeze my way into the front of the line to get the last sample of Parish Brewing’s Canebreak. Brewed in Lafayette, LA and billed as an American wheat, this crisp sweet ale more closely resembled an amber ale than a wheat ale. Being simultaneously poured with the best of Dieu de Ciel, Brooklyn, and Unibroue at the balcony bar, the Americanized, heavily spiced, and fruity Saison Athene from St. Somewhere solidified itself as our consensus top pick of the night.Life is too short to drink light beer. If Hank Hill can enjoy Alamo Beer at Thanksgiving, I think anyone will find that craft beer, although a little pricey, is much more enjoyable than a six-pack of Natty Light tall boys.
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