Nora McGunnigle

Hey, check out this article that the Beer Buddha wrote for the Gambit. It covers the Quarter, the CBD, Uptown, Mid-City, and Metarie. Here are but a few words of wisdom. In the end, what you like is all that matters, but I hope my list will introduce you to some new places or new beers to try. Right now the beer scene in New Orleans is burgeoning. Searching out new beers and drinking establishments can be quite the adventure, so have fun! Cheers and Happy Mardi Gras! Also, his Top 10 tips for successful and good karmic beering HERE . And finally, his suggestions for canned beer which is easy to transport and legally drink on the streets. Check 'em all out. Good work, Buddha! May I be fortunate enough to ride your coattails!

The Avenue Pub hosted a Sierra Nevada tasting to celebrate the release of the only 2 (small) kegs of it in Louisiana. No other bars have it, and it's not in bottles here either. Apparently Texas didn't get any at all! You know what this means, right? THAT I AM SUPER EXTRA COOL! Anyway, enough of that, although I am willing to discuss that fact at length at a later time. The Hoptimum was the grand finale in a SN tasting that started with the 2011 Bigfoot Barleywine, the 30th Anniversary Grand Cru, the 30th Anniversary Fritz & Ken's Ale, Torpedo, and finally, the Hoptimum. While it was driving me somewhat crazy to wait so long, once I tried it, the finish made sense- as an Imperial IPA, that was palate-blowing. Delicious, but quite overwhelming. OK, the beers: the 2011 Barleywine. Eh. It was fine, but too fresh. Usually "beer" plus "fresh" equals optimum drinking experience, but in my opinion, the opposite is true for barleywines. Unaged barle

If you didn't get to the NOLA Brewing Cascade Crack Cask event at the Avenue Pub last Friday, you missed an amazing beer. Here is how it's described by the brewery: Join the brew crew this Friday for a cask-conditioned "Brewer's Crack." The NOLA version of a black and tan is made with NOLA Hopitoulas and NOLA Irish Channel Stout. Additionally, we have dry hopped the Brewer's Crack with fresh Cascade Hop Cones. Thus, we have Cascade Crack. GODDAMN it was absolutely like crack. I was on my third mug of the stuff when the cask blew at 7pm. LOVED IT. It says a lot that I actually saved some of my beer for Tom who was on his way over (late) to drink. A LOT BECAUSE THAT BEER WAS AWESOME. I know it's not the most sophisticated beer review, but honestly, my review is pretty much a Homer Simpson-esque, "mmmm....beer...[drooling noises]" Oddly enough, I cannot find video of the noises of pure Homer Simpson pleasure [shudder] that I want, so I will lea

This is a cross post from my other blog , but I figured it was beer-centric enough to go in here as well. February 6 is not only my dad's birthday (hi, Dad!) but it is also St. Amand's Day. Who is St. Amand, you might ask, and for good reason, because I never heard of him before J'Anita's and the Rendon Inn decided to throw a shindig celebrating him (and, er, the Superbowl.) According to Wikipedia , St. Amand is the patron saint of "all who produce beer: brewers, innkeepers and bartenders (and presumably also hopgrowers)." Fitting also that Tom bottled his inaugural New Orleans homebrew on Sunday as well. So anyway, the folks at J'Anita's (Craig and Kimmie) and the Rendon Inn (Marc), never ones to pass up a good old fashioned feast day with feasting, decided to create a special three course menu celebrating the beers of the only New Orleans brewery (so far), NOLA Brewing. First course: NOLA Brown Ale battered deep fried green beans. They were excellen

Tonight, Tin Roof Brewing (of Baton Rouge) debuted in New Orleans at Squeal BBQ . So, we went for dinner and to try a couple of beers. They have two flagships that they are focusing on- Tom, the brewmaster, said that he's tweaking and getting everything in place and exactly the way they want it to be. I think they have some solid potential, but they have some room to take it to the next level. In my conversation with the brewmaster, I got the feeling they knew that too. Which is exciting, because I am looking forward with what they come up with. The two beers, the Perfect Tin Amber and the Voodoo Bengal Specialty Pale Ale, came to our table looking more or less alike. There were some slightly redder tones in the amber than the pale ale, but it was a very subtle distinction. Perfect Tin: No noticeable aroma (although I am recovering from a cold), but the taste was clean, drinkable, and drier than I'd anticipated. This was a pleasant change from Abita, which has a sweetnes