Nora McGunnigle

All About Beer posted a roundup of beer writer and brewers, and other beer industry folks' takes on the New Yorker cover above . I'm one of the writers that's quoted , though with company like Sam Calagione, Greg Koch, Ray Daniels, and others, I don't know if anyone will notice! I don't mind though, it's an honor to be included in such a stellar lineup. Check it out though, it's a pretty interesting discussion. In local news...

Me at the Avenue during ACBW 2010. We moved to New Orleans that week. Which is why I look exhausted and why I have band-aids on my fingers - because I broke a dish while unpacking it. I thought I'd be all up in the middle of ACBW this year, having turned pro with the beer writing, but it turns out, I'm too busy actually writing about beer to go out and enjoy it. Heh. However! After I meet my deadlines today, I should be footloose and fancy free. I want to go to dba for the Bayou Teche shenanigans, but also there's a bunch of stuff happening on Freret Street, including a book signing at Midway of the New Orleans Beer book by Jeremy Labadie and Argyle Wolf-Knapp. Buffalo Wild Wings has a cool looking cask, and the Aline Street Beer Garden gets in the ACBW game tonight, too.

...Delicious! Thanks so much to everyone at Covington and Aline Street Beer Garden for providing more delicious cask beer to New Orleans! Jason Comboy, owner of Aline Street Beer Garden, tapping that cask Robert Mingo, of Covington  Brewhouse, getting it set up Steadfast bartender Noel dispensing beer. The fruit of everyone's labor Delicious.

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.

Sunday was a glorious spring day after the rain and humidity of the few days preceding it. A little cool for a May day in New Orleans, but that made it perfect. We biked over to the Avenue Pub to partake in the Bayou Teche crawfish boil and Cocodrie launch. Cocodrie is a tripel Belgian IPA and weighs in at 8%. It drinks so beautifully that the guys at Bayou Teche got T shirts to indicate its deliciousness that comes with danger...

IT HAS BEGUN. Yesterday, the rain held off to ensure the crowds of beer drinkers in the Warehouse District were able to enjoy the offerings from five different bars as part of the Gambit's foray into ACBW, the inaugural FestivALES event. As an attendee, I was relieved at the unexpected break in the weather, but conducted my logistical plans in a manner that would be most efficient in case of downpours.

... that on the corner of Aline and Prytania, there's a German style beer garden with an amazing variety of German beer styles from different regions? It's called the Aline Street Beer Garden, it opened about 6 weeks ago, and I highly recommend checking it out. I had a weizen/wheat beer from Köln which was great (had a hoppy bitterness that played off the spicy, fruity yeast flavors) and very different than the standard Bavarian hefeweizen. Look at that gorgeous yeast settling! Sexx-ay! I'll be going into much more detail about this place in an upcoming blog post, probably next week. ... that next to the Beer Garden is a tiny British style pub (owned by the same guy who owns the Beer Garden) called the Sovereign Pub? While I find the strength of the beer selection true to the regional style is better over in the German-themed Beer Garden, the Pub quite accurately captures the vibe of a British Pub.  It has a great single malt selection as well, little conversation...