Post-holiday Beer News

Highlight of the last couple of weeks: obtaining this bottle of beer

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July week/weekend. After I hit my deadlines early in the week, I pretty much vegged out until today. I'm resting up for what I imagine will be a bit of a crazy couple of months...this is my excuse in advance of why I probably won't be blogging as much as I'd like to.


This week, I have a guest in from out of town, and will be busy playing hostess and tour guide. Next week is Tales of the Cocktail, which I am covering on a media pass. I'll have a beer angle going that I'll get into later. The week after that, I go to Boston/New England for a week to hang out and attend the Beer Bloggers' Conference. In August, I will be spending a week in San Francisco followed by another week in Columbus.

Brewsday Tuesday continues (and was referenced in NOLA.com). I was a contributor to the Gambit's Top Bars issue, which was fun. Working on my first Louisiana column for Southern Brew News, hooray!

In news around town, Ancora (one of my favorite places for food and beer) has added a new draft tower to their lineup, which brings the number of beers on draft available up to twelve. Dat Dog on Magazine Street is planning a beer dinner with New Belgium on July 23. This will be New Belgium's first food pairing event in Louisiana. I've had a peek at the menu and it looks great. There's a beer brunch at Crescent Pie and Sausage on Saturday 7/13 as well, with special a la carte courses paired with NOLA Brewing beer.  Check out the FB event page for more info.

Also, on Wednesday night one of my favorite bars, The Aline Street Beer Garden, will be hosting Covington Brewing, who will be bringing a cask of their Maerzen conditioned with cocoa nibs and Steen's syrup. Maerzen is a Bavarian style of beer and seems to be pretty wide-ranging in flavor, color, and sweetness. I'm curious about how the cask turned out. Come on out and support cask ale, local brewers, and a local beer-focused bar! It's at 7pm on Wednesday, 7/10. You can bet I will be there.

Got a press release from Gordon Biersch as well- the whole chain is celebrating its 25th anniversary by brewing a special Blonde Bock and hosting a Blonde Bock Tapping Party complete with a toast from its famous boot-shaped glass and a complimentary birthday cake tomorrow night. The Blonde Bock will be available in July and August. They're also offering $2.50 Tuesdays from July 9-23 - $2.50 Gordon Biersch beers all day on the next three Tuesdays. I may need to investigate this Blonde Bock myself, I'm intrigued.

Parish Brewing's tap house will be opening officially this Wednesday (7/10). It'll be open seven days a week, starting at 2pm M-F and noon on the weekends. Visitors can have a pint at the 25-seat bar or take growlers or 750-mil bottles of their special releases to go. Also, their weekly tour date has switched from Friday to Saturday at noon.

Santa Fe Brewing will be distributed in Louisiana at some point in the near future. They're finalizing distribution contracts and talking publicly about it, so it should be here by the end of the year.

Otherwise... New Orleans' dog days of summer are upon us, and things are moving along at the appropriate pace. With cold beer in hand.