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Showing posts from 2016

Content is King

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So this blog got a couple of shoutouts in the last week or so.  First off, I was notified that I made the list of 100 best beer blogs as compiled by Feedspot (an aggregation site). #99 baybee! 99, heh.

Louisiana Craft Brewer Week is here!

This week (Sept. 18-25) is the fourth Louisiana Craft Brewer Week. We've come a long way, with even more on the horizon. Go forth and celebrate.

So, you want me to write about your beer event...

I love writing about upcoming beer events. It's what I do! I help breweries/bars/restaurants get the word out and I help beer lovers find cool stuff to do. However, there are some logistical issues that I feel should be obvious to those who want me to write about stuff, but in practice, appear not to be. 1) It is in no way necessary to comp me for the event for me to cover it. Let's repeat that: IT IS IN NO WAY NECESSARY TO COMP ME FOR THE EVENT FOR ME TO COVER IT. If I get an offer, I may accept, but that's absolutely not why I write about events. Why DO I write about events? Well.... 2) ...first of all, the event should be interesting. Fifty cents off a pint plus some swag isn't super newsworthy. Is there a new or hard to find beer being served? Will the brewer be there? Is it a beer dinner? With the exception of ACBW or LaCBW, I don't do listings, I tell stories. For example, there was an interesting sounding event a while back, when the food and beer were

Prepping for LaCBW BRB

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Part of NOLA Brewing taproom's awesome mural, created by Monica Kelly (photographed by moi.) So, occasionally there's something that occurs in the local beer world that I end up needing to cover from several different angles for several different publications. Louisiana Craft Brewer Week is one of those things. It takes place September 18-25 and since there's so much happening - events, beer releases, etc. - it's an opportunity to tell multiple stories on the same general subject. I need to be careful I'm not plagiarizing myself! The fact that one piece is for a publication geared for locals and one is geared for tourists is pretty helpful in that regard.

Dusting off the ole blog, here...

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Beer and a shot at Tales I met a lot of new folks at Tales of the Cocktail last week and upon exchanging cards, I would hear, so I can keep up with your work on your blog, right? Well, yes... and no.

Eh.

Removed the homebrew website ad, those people didn't have their shit together. I AM A PROFESSIONAL, PEOPLE! Also, I don't sell out unless it's worth my time. Carry on, then.

American Craft Beer Week is here!

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American Craft Beer Week - ACBW - 2016 officially kicks off on Monday May 16 and promises a delightful assortment of beer events across the New Orleans area. My annual report on ACBW in The Gambit (this is my 4th!) did not include a full list of events, which honestly is just as well, since the lead time on getting those for print is a lot longer than a lot of bars and breweries are comfortable with. I did, however, provide a list of my Top 5 picks (basically events that just sounded kind of cool and different) and all the food pairing events that I was able to find out about. I also wrote an overview about how the local brewing community views ACBW and Louisiana beer growth as a whole. And, of course, I have my annual big list of events on this here blog/website . I'm always happy to update and add stuff, so just let me know if I need to, and keep checking back for potential new stuff. So far, I think I'll be hitting the Tuesday night draft barrel aged beer even

CraftBeer.com stories

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Happy Monday, y'all - it's been a little crazy getting ready for the upcoming Craft Brewers Conference being held in Philadelphia the first week of May. But I've been getting stuff up and published, including two pieces on CraftBeer.com, the web content arm of the Brewers Association. Having them published back to back is cool, but gets complicated considering that if I get a certain number of Facebook shares I get a social media bonus. So I've been dividing my pimping time between the two pieces, and as a result, the numbers have been climbing pretty slowly. I think they're both great pieces, check 'em out and see. 3 Overlooked Beer Styles to Pair with Food , in which I examine three different beer styles that are scientifically proven to pair well with certain foods. I discuss the whats and whys of that, based on a cool panel/forum I attended at last year's CBC composed of both beer and science nerds. Cask Ale’s Journey Into the Modern Beer World

Playing around with selling out

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So, I have a new banner, just under my logo, an affiliate link to Homebrewsupply.com. I haven't done any advertising on this blog at all, but I thought I'd experiment with this particular affiliate program - I don't anticipate having any conflicts of interests, and the site looks legit. So! If you are looking to order homebrew stuff, why don't you click on my link up there and browse around and see if this site has what you need. That way, you have supplies to brew a delicious beer and I get some cash! I'm interested to see if this results in anything significant. Spread the word, if you wish! #BeerWriterGotsToGetPaid

Beer Prom and New Breweries

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Man, it has been a busy... (looks at date of last post)... few months. Bypassed the holidays and Mardi Gras, looks like. Oops. Right at the new year, Tom Conklin opened his Chappapeela Farm Brewery. Then Mardi Gras with its various seasonal beers and cans . And riding Nyx with my krewe! (I acquired several beers along the route from various beer geeks who were able to catch me, heh.) And then this past weekend was Nuit Belge, probably the best beer event I've ever attended. It had amazing Belgian (and Belgian-style) beers paired with dishes from great local restaurants . Check out the (well, my) photos of a great, great night . Now, on the horizon: Girls Pint out at Cooter Brown's on March 8, and then another event there on the 9th - Sour Power , with sour beers from New Belgium, NOLA Brewing, and Great Raft (including the first New Orleans release of Great Raft's dry hopped Brett IPA Oceans Between Us.) On March 10, master sour blenders Eric and L