Nora McGunnigle

I've been playing around with my camera and have a few cool shots that actually came out well, as well as a couple that are kinda blurry. Once I get access to (and knowledge of) some photo editing software, I'll fix up the blurrier ones. A bit of a blurry shot of all the brewers at the Irish House Emilyand Cari taking pictures of the brewers

Did a photo shoot at Restaurant August for an upcoming article in Southern Brew News Hope everyone had a great Halloween! I know the weekend ahead is still the holiday weekend, sort of, so stay safe and drink well. I am sort of a fuddy-duddy when it comes to Halloween - living in Salem, MA for 5 years can do that to a person. But at least now I enjoy being Halloween-adjacent, if not quite celebratory.

Happy Thursday! It's a quiet week for my own work, but here's my second Oktoberfest column in the Gambit . Hope everyone is ramping up for Oktoberfest at Deutsches Haus or checking out the gorgeous Franconian lagers at the Avenue Pub. Prost! I did notice that Eater NOLA has been sharing many of my stories and calling me the "beer whisperer" which is pretty funny. There are a bunch of State of Louisiana enforcement shenanigans regarding serving homebrew beer at non-profit/charitable events going on right now. A lot of the activity seems to be in Facebook threads in the Brasseurs a la Maison homebrew club  out of Baton Rouge right now, but it seems that the state ATC commissioner is refusing to grant homebrew event permits due to issues of people indirectly paying for their beer as well as health and safety, by enforcing the provisions of the 2010 law that say that homebrew can only be served at homebrew club meetings to homebrew club members. It's a pretty n...

Several weeks ago I was contact by North Carolina blogger Bryan Roth , who has been working on what he calls " The Six Pack Project ." The idea is to select six beers that are in bottles or cans to properly represent the craft brewing culture of the state of Louisiana.

Covington Brewhouse has new ownership - one of the owners is the brewmaster, Brian Broussard. I'd heard rumors about it, but it's done and done and can be announced now.  It's staying in the same location, and I'm not sure about staffing changes... obviously Broussard is still in place.  The press release says that the main contacts are: David Arbo, President (david@covingtonbrewhouse.com) and Brian Broussard, Brewmaster ( brian@covingtonbrewhouse.com )

Image courtesy of Brian Broussard Not only has Chafunkta announced that they would be debuting their Kingfish Ale during the Grapes and Grain fundraiser, but also Covington Brewhouse will be releasing their Anonymous IPA at the same event. I'd already tried it at the WYES Private Beer Sampling in June, and thought it was excellent. So not only will Anonymous be available at another fundraiser, but according to head brewer Brian Broussard, it will released as one of Covington's beers during Louisiana Craft Brewers Week in September!

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."

...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.

I am so tired. I'm not hungover, and I've been getting a decent night's sleep every night - the precautions I've stuck to have definitely been working. It's like a cumulative exhaustion that gets more and more intense every morning I wake up. I love beer, I love drinking beer, I love talking to people about beer, I love seeing others enjoy beer. I love it more than pretty much anything else. I am still enjoying myself going to events. But I'm tired.

I just found out about a whole host of food-craft beer pairings that are happening this week at the Irish House . Chopped winner chef Matt Murphy has created a small plate to pair with a specific American craft beer for every night this week, starting tonight. All pairings are $11. Monday, May 13: Stone Ruination IPA served with an Irish cheese plate Tuesday, May 14: Ommegang Abbey Ale with fish & chips Wednesday, May 15: Harpoon IPA with truffled chicken Thursday, May 16: Green Flash West Coast IPA with baked redfish Friday, May 17: Rogue Dead Guy Ale with corned beef & cabbage Saturday, May 18: Anchor Steam with bacon & cheese croquettes Sunday, May 19: Covington Strawberry Ale with BBQ oysters Also on Thursday, May 16, the Irish House will be hosting a three course beer dinner with NOLA Brewing. It's $45 and starts at 7pm. Limited seating, call 504-595-6755 for reservations. Here's the menu:

OK, I'm late getting this blog post up - I am working on an article about American Craft Beer Week, so that's been taking up a lot of my beer brain space. But! Bugs and Brew For Drew was a huge success (so it seemed!) and a whole lot of fun. We were signed up for the cask beer "garden" tent, which had casks from Abita, NOLA Brewing, Covington, Parish, and Bayou Teche. Tin Roof didn't do a cask, but they did do a special keg of their blond ale fermented with Thai chiles which was crazy spicy on the aroma but pretty fruity and balanced on the tongue. Interesting, and a nice surprise. My favorites of the day were Abita's ZSB (Zach's Special Bitter), which I've had several times before, but this was by far the best. I think it's pretty cool that they have such a solid, approachable beer as exclusively served on cask. Definitely gives the concept a lot of exposure to folks who haven't had cask ale: I think the Abita name is trusted by the local,...

I haven't mentioned much about this, since everything's just beginning. But I've been working alongside other beer nerds to create a nonprofit that will promote New Orleans and Louisiana craft beer and craft beer culture. It's called the Louisiana Craft Beer Collective. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter , and a website with more on our mission will be coming soon. While exploring this idea, I got together with Conrad Rolling, the Executive Director of the Louisiana Craft Brewers Guild . The Guild is the professional organization representing the brewers in the state and their interests. (Keep an eye out for them opening their membership up to "enthusiasts" which is non-professional member category.) When talking to Conrad about potential partnership opportunities, he told me about his connection with the local fundraiser " Bugs and Brew For Drew " which is held annually to benefit the Drew Rodrigue Foundation, which has the mission to ...

OK, so the New Orleans International Beer Festival is this Saturday, March 9, from 2-6pm. Here's a few updates from Louisiana breweries as to what they'll be providing (folks that I didn't include in my last post .) Covington: Will be bringing a cask for the cask garden! Abita is bringing all their standards, including Abbey Ale, Spring IPA, Oyster Stout, and Strawberry Harvest Lager. They are contributing 2 casks to the cask garden: a cask conditioned version of Vanilla Double Dog and ZSB – Zach's Special Bitter. Bayou Teche (got this from the New Orleans International Beer Festival website ): LA31 Biere Noire, LA31 Biere Pale, LA31 Boucanee, LA31 Passionee, ACADIE, and their new seasonal, Saison D'Escrevisses. For more info on what beers will be available at the Festival, visit the Breweries page on the Festival's website. You can still buy tickets here . I'm pretty sure that Gambit and the Beer Buddha are giving tickets away, too. (NOTE, dead...

The New Orleans International Beer Festival is returning to Champions Square on March 9. It moved over here from the Northshore last year and has had a good turnout and reputation for engaging local breweries. It's sponsored by Abita, with participation of all local breweries like Tin Roof, NOLA Brewing, Parish Brewing, Bayou Teche, and Chafunkta. Yes, Chafunkta! This will be their debut appearance as a fully licensed and legally distributed beer - stop by their table and try their Voo Ka Ray IPA and Old 504 Porter, a coffee-infused vanilla robust porter. And congratulate them for their huge accomplishment! Andrew Godley with Parish Brewing says that he'll be bringing his trademark Canebrake wheat beer along with the first commercial batch of their new year round beer, Envie Pale Ale and a keg of 2012 Grand Reserve barleywine. Tin Roof is sponsoring the cornhole tournament (come out and cheer for New Orleans' own Beer Buddha team!) and will be bringing their fla...

Been fully neglecting my duties as faithful beer blogger while... chasing down info that I can blog about. Here's some quick info: Went to the Northshore this past Saturday to check out Abita, Covington, and Chaunkta. Was warmly welcomed by all breweries and had the opportunities to talk to brewers at Covington and Chafunkta. Lots of changes coming up for those two... one, which has just been announced publicly  is that Chafunkta just got their permit to brew and serve beer approved by the Commissioner of the LA ATC! NOLA Brewing had a Superbowl party that I was able to swing by and try Bayou Teche's new crawfish season beer (in big bottles) - Saison D'Ecrevisses. I only got a little sip but it was pretty good. Looking forward to seeing this come out on the market. NOLA also just got the can design for MechaHopzilla approved, so that is a go! Those will be some high-test cans of beer. In conclusion, Super Gras.  Be merry and safe! And dr...

Attn: all homebrewers! There are TWO upcoming homebrew competitions in Louisiana which sound quite exciting. 1) Aaron Hyde at Brewstock has announced the organization of Louisiana's first statewide homebrew competition in November 2013. It looks like it will coincide with all matter of beer celebration as well! The specific rules will be posted this month, but according to the press release : All 23 BJCP beer categories will be allowed for entry, with ribbons going to the top three beers in each category.  Prizes from sponsors will also be awarded.  The competition will be open to residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas only.  Judging will take place over the course of a weekend in November, to be determined. 2) Covington Brewhouse and Main Grain Homebrew Supplies are co-sponsoring an excellent homebrew competition that may result in your beer being produced for distribution! In the tradition of Iron Chef, Bombastic Brewer will p...