Nora McGunnigle

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.

As we stand on the edge of Louisiana Craft Brewers Week, let us think of the breweries that have joined the ranks since this time last year - Courtyard Brewery, Mudbug Brewing. Broken Wheel, Flying Heart, Second Line, and Cajun Brewing - and rejoice.

Hey, all - I didn't do my post of the week last week because I wasn't feeling well at all so things got a little FUBARed. However, one of the things I was working on was pulling the schedule together for Louisiana Craft Brewers Weekend, happening September 12-19, which will run in the Gambit next week. (In the meanwhile, you can peep the schedule here . Let me know if you know of any corrections, updates, or cancellations.) In other news, my All About Beer Magazine piece got put up online , and Beer Advocate released the cover of this month's issue, and the cover story (Family Brewed) is my story!

Gnarly dudes at the Bulldog I was a bit out of commission yesterday, but as I rest up for New Orleans On Tap tomorrow (I'm one of the judges for the homebrew competition so I need to be there early with a well prepared palate!) I wanted to post the schedule for wrapping up Louisiana Craft Brewer Week this weekend. Looking forward to all the NOOT related shenanigans as well as the Bayou Teche event at the Avenue Pub. That jambalaya will be delicious, and allegedly will have rabbit in it. Saturday, September 27 11 a.m. : The Barley Oak holds its annual Louisiana Craft Beer Appreciation Day. 11:30 a.m .: All pitchers of Louisiana-brewed beer are $2 off at the Bulldog Mid City. 1 p.m. : The fifth annual New Orleans On Tap charity benefit for LA-SPCA, at the City Park Fairgrounds. New Orleans on Tap is a family and pet friendly beer festival that features free admission, live music, over 200 local and national beers, food, homebrew competition, games and giveaways. Go to ...

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

The Tin Roof Single Hop Series at the Avenue Pub on Tuesday Things started ramping up last night- went to Avenue Pub to try the Tin Roof single hop series and its experimental sour beer, then off to the Bulldog Mid City to get my hands on the Chafunkta-Gnarly Barley collaboration, Black Tooth Grin. If you missed the collaboration last night, fear not, it's on at the Avenue Pub tonight at 4pm. Should be a fun night all around, see below for everything that's happening - and don't forget to keep checking on my schedule for the week's events . I've been updating it daily over the past week.  Tonight's events: Wednesday, September 24 11 a.m. : Happy hour prices on all Covington Brewhouse beer all day at the Columbia Street Tap Room 4 p.m. : Chafunkta/Gnarly Barley  Black Tooth Grin  collaboration party at the Avenue Pub. 5 p.m. : Abita cask, Pumpkin & Peach SOS, at the Bulldog Mid City. 5 p.m. : Parish Brewing visits the Avenue Pub. Tapping Export...

It has been a crazy week - I can't believe it was only one week ago yesterday that we were hanging out with the Bayou Teche guys, one of whom was dressed as Napoleon. I had some really cool experiences during this week, some of which I'll be expanding upon in the near future (either here or other publications). But for right now, here are some highlights: 1.

Parish Brewing's Dr. Hoptagon at the Avenue Pub on 9/25 Super link-a-licious this week. Not only has Louisiana's Craft Brewer Week hit the national press, but a few of my own articles came out as well.

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.

Andy pouring a pint at the Pub And Louisiana Craft Brewer Week continues with the release party of the NOLA Brewing/New Belgium collaboration beer, Swamp Grape Escape. It's a Belgian single style brewed with Louisiana local muscadine grapes, making it a perfect beer to kick the week off with.

Yesterday, Bayou Teche kicked off Louisiana Craft Brewer Week by bringing a pot of jambalaya and a couple beers to the Avenue Pub. According to brewmaster Gar Hatcher, the newly released honey braggot Miel Sauvage is a blend of two batches - one aged for 100 days in whiskey barrels and one aged for two months in fresh oak barrels.

Apologies for not getting these out yesterday, but I've been under the weather. This week was a two-fer for me in the Gambit: my feature article on Louisiana Craft Brewer Week and my regular Brewsday Tuesday column on the Avenue Pub's badass events in the recent past and near future. I also suggest you investigate my other blog to read about local eatery Salu's Oktoberfest kick off pig roast that's happening tomorrow, Saturday 9/21 for both lunch and dinner. Also, check this blog out for my writeup on the new NOLA Brewing taproom as well as suggestions as to how to help get the word out about it on national beer sites. Speaking of NOLA Brewing, Thrillist named it the best craft brewery in Louisiana in their story choosing the best craft brewery for every state. And also speaking of Louisiana Craft Brewer Week above, Todd Price did a great writeup in NOLA.com in which he spoke with local brewers like NOLA Brewing and Gnarly Barley. Love it! I am so ...

The NOLA taproom opened this week! I have been keeping busy working on a couple pieces for the Gambit and Where Y'At as well as hustling doing pitches for other publications, which is why I haven't been able to write a blog post about the awesome Bayou Teche beer dinner I had at Sainte Marie Brasserie last week (a week ago today, actually.) I'm really hoping to get that up with some pictures in the near future, because it was pretty kickass. The chef, Kristen Essig, was so warm and welcoming and so excited about the pairings! It was great. ANYWAY, for your links du jour:

I'm pretty excited about having been able to promote the Louisiana Craft Beer Collective in this week's Gambit column along with the Louisiana Craft Brewer Week and the Louisiana Brewery Trail. In other Louisiana brewery news,

Awesome news! I know that the LA Craft Brewers Guild has been working to get this resolution passed by the LA Legislature for a while- I think this will be huge to promote local craft beer as well as indicating that we do have support on the state level. That's huge! Here's the deets: