News and Events From Around the Globe - er, I mean Internet.

How was your Thanksgiving? Uh-huh, uh-huh, that's cool, I don't really care. So much is happening in the wide world of beer!

My cover story for the current edition of Southern Brew News

FIRST of all, NOLA Brewing is gearing up to release their newest New Belgium collaboration called Black Strap Chicory Stout. It's a milk stout made with black strap molasses and chicory. Brewmaster Peter Cadoo and brewer Mike "Indy" Grap went out to Fort Collins at the end of October/start of November to brew the beer. Stay tuned for info on its release.

SECOND, the inaugural meetup for the New Orleans Girls Pint Out group will be a week from tomorrow - Wednesday, December 13. It will be at the Avenue Pub, in the back room of the upstairs bar starting at 5:30. If you're a lady who loves drinking beer (or know ladies who love drinking beer) come and join us and/or spread the word!

THIRD, speaking of the Avenue Pub, it got its well deserved accolades when Draft Magazine named it one of the best 100 beer bars in the country.  (UPDATE: this is actually the list that came out at the start of 2013, and the new list will be coming out next month for 2014. Dollars to dunkelweisse that Avenue Pub makes it on again, though.)

FOURTH, I am all over the internets, y'all. Check out my piece for Gambit last week on the upcoming releases of The Bruery and Terrapin as well as my hot off the presses piece published today about a roundup of holiday beers. Where Y'At published my rundown on beer bars in the city, and, I just published my first piece for a European blog called Beer Gazetteer. 

In other Louisiana beer news, Abita is releasing its first in a series of bourbon barrel aged beers, its Bourbon Street Stout. (Elio's - where I just got my Goose Island Bourbon County Stout today - has a few kegs of that for sale, if that's something you think might liven up your holiday party.) Parish's annual beer release of its Grand Reserve Barleywine is coming up soon, and Eric Ducote got a sneak peek of it and wrote a review. Next week also brings Great Raft's launch week in Shreveport, so check out the details here. 

In general beer culture, Foodbeast provides 22 facts about craft beer, the Hoptripper muses on the culture of the craft beer bottle share, and up in Maine, Carla Companion talks to D.L. Geary about being one of the first brewers in the state, and how things have grown.