Grapes and Grain (and Food and Fun)

There's a beer-focused fundraiser (OK, also wine and food) happening in Mandeville on August 23, 7-10pm at Benedict's Plantation (1144 North Causeway Blvd.)

The big news (from my perspective) is that Chafunkta Brewing has announced that they will be debuting a brand new beer at the fundraiser. It's still a mystery right now, but Josh Erickson, head brewer, gave this as a hint:  "We wanted to bring our passion for quality, craft beer to a larger audience. We selected a style that, to our knowledge, is not currently being commercially brewed in Louisiana. It's one that we think will appeal to a broader market, but the style is one that still takes quite a bit of care to brew correctly."

***UPDATE! It's a cream ale called Kingfish Ale***

Also, there will be several other local, regional, and soon-to-be brewers at the event, as well as homebrewers.

The list of brewers include:  SweetWater, New Belgium, Covington Brewhouse, Bayou Teche, and Tin Roof. Gnarly Barley will be pouring their Korova Milk Porter & The Exchange Student Belgian Dubbel, and Ron Guzman of Main Grain (also on the planning committee of the fundraiser) is bringing a Dry Hopped Belgian IPA. Since I also spy a couple of Mystic Krewe of Brew members on the planning committee, I imagine the homebrew will be coming primarily from them.

Also, food, wine, dancing, silent auction, what have you. And it's for a good cause - to fund research that will explore treatment of cystic fibrosis. Tickets are $50 (or you could get another 9 of your friends together to get a VIP table for $1000) and you can get them at the event website.

You can read more about the non-beer aspects of the event on NOLA.com, as well as more info on cystic fibrosis itself.