SAVOR American Craft Beer and Food Experience press release from Bayou Teche

We (briefly) interrupt our coverage of American Craft Beer Week to share this press release from Bayou Teche. Being selected to present at SAVOR is a huge honor, and it's a very prestigious national event. I'm super excited because I will be attending this year to chronicle the Louisiana offerings and events (Abita is a sponsor and will be present as well.)

This is the press release in its entirety directly from Karlos Knott, co-owner of Bayou Teche. Has a lot of cool info about the beer, the food, the brewery, and the event itself.

Bayou Teche Brewing Hops to the Big Apple for SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience

Arnaudville,  May 14th, 2013  – Bayou Teche Brewing has been selected to be one of the representative breweries highlighting the pleasures of fine food enjoyed with remarkable craft beer at the SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience in New York on June 14^th and 15^th.  Of the more than 2300 craft breweries currently in America, only 76 have been chosen for the honor this year.  These 76 small and independent craft breweries hail from 31 different states and all regions of the country.

Presented by the Brewers Association and now in its sixth year, SAVOR is the premier beer and food pairing event and will illuminate the delights of craft beer for those in attendance. “We started our little brewery wanting to craft beers to compliment Cajun and Creole cuisine just over three years ago - this is our second time selected for the nation’s premiere food and beer event, and we are very honored.  Everyone at Bayou Teche Brewing is looking forward to being in New York for the event,” said Karlos Knott, one of the founders of Bayou Teche Brewing.

After five consecutive years being held at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., SAVOR makes its much-anticipated debut in New York City.  Each Brewery will pour two of its beers, accompanied by a reception-style sampling of sweet and savory appetizers designed by Brewers Association culinary consultant Adam Dulye, Chef/Owner of The Monk’s Kettle and James Beard Award-semifinalist Abbot’s Cellar in San Francisco, and a select group of chefs specializing in beer and food pairings.

Link to High Resolution Photo

“SAVOR is the benchmark event for craft beer and food pairing in the U.S. and a unique opportunity to sample rare craft brewed beers from small and independent producers, many of which are not regularly available in New York,” said Julia Herz, craft beer program director at the Brewers Association.  “We are so excited to bring SAVOR to the Big Apple and introduce New York beer lovers to the faces behind some of America’s most exciting breweries.”

As American palates become more sophisticated, many have discovered that craft beer is the perfect complement to food. Wine Spectator wrote of the combination potential, “One reason for beer’s versatility is that beer makers have more to work with than wine makers - particularly in the United States where they are less fettered by tradition.”

During SAVOR, Bayou Teche Brewing will be serving their recently released Cocodrie beer.  Cocodrie, saysBrewmaster Gar Hatcher “is the brewery’s interpretation of the celebrated Tripel IPA style of beer.  Two strains of French and Belgian yeast selected for their complementary fruit and spice flavors meld with several additions of elegant European hops and a generous amount of Pilsner malt which provides this beer its fruity, citrus, herbal and spicy hop aroma.  Cocodrie will be paired with Pork Sausage, Mozzarella, and Pickled Red Onion on Hot Honey Flatbread.    The event’s chefs feel that the honey in the flatbread calms the beer’s hop bite and lets the malt come through for a bit, before the sausage brings the hops back to the palate.   Also poured will be the brewery’s Barrel-aged Biere Joi.  Biere Joi is brewed with Belgian malts and spiked with Mello Joy Coffee.  The beer is aged in whiskey barrels for four months and then cacao nibs and chile d’arbols are added.  Biere Joi will pair with Aged Lardo on Pumpernickel for the evening.  The chefs agree that the beer’s coffee notes are enriched by the pumpernickel, while notes of chili in the beer cut the lardo away from the palate.

This year’s educational salons at SAVOR will feature the participation of just a few well-known chefs and craft brewers and require a separate ticket purchase.  Just 11 breweries are honored with participation in these small, very limited ticket Salons and Bayou Teche was chosen to open the series.  Their Salon is named, Cajun and Creole Artisanal Foods and Bieres in Quadraphonic Sensaround.  This exclusive event describes itself as straight from the farms of Louisiana to the tables of New York - artisan Cajun and Creole food paired with some of Bayou Teche Brewing’s specialty beers.  Four tantalizing beer and food pairings will be presented with a recording picked by the brewery of a noted Louisiana musical artist. 

The brewers at Bayou Teche Brewing maintain that the best way to experience Louisiana food, beer and culture is by a total immersion of all senses. The first course for the salon is called the Cajun Music Course and it fuses the brewery’s Saison d’ecrevisses with crawfish boulettes and a historic recording of Parlez-Nous a Boire by the Balfa Brothers.  The Swamp Pop Course fuses their Acadie with slices of artisan andouille sausage, tasso, and hogshead cheese with Bon Soir Catin performing Oh Catin.  For the New Orleans Brass Band Course the brewery is bringing together a special edition of their LA-31 Biere Pale with locally sourced Chevre (Acadian goat cheese) and a recording of Opelousas based Soul Express Brass Band performing a typical New Orleans arrangement of Superstition.  For the dessert/Zydeco course the brewery plans to feature their LA-31 Biere Noire with Gateau Na Na (slices of pastry filled with pecans from the Kitchen Shop in Grand Coteau) with a historic recording of Ti Na Na from the king of Zydeco music, Clifton Chenier.

For more information contact Karlos Knott at (337) 303-8000; 1106 Bushville Hwy, Arnaudville, LA 70512;karlos@bayoutechebrewing.com