Nora McGunnigle

THANKSGIVING!!!! Man, I've been so busy writing stories about, like, pairing beer with turkey that I haven't even remembered to forget to update the blog.

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

Ommegang seasonal at Coquette Almost at the end of ACBW, hope everyone is holding up OK! Yesterday afternoon/evening was gorgeous in New Orleans and today is shaping up to be the same. I'm heading over to the Avenue Pub to drink some of the newer, smaller, local breweries' beer this afternoon - hey, did y'all know that the Avenue balcony opens at 1pm on Fridays? - and then head over to Crescent Pie and Sausage. I saw a bunch of ACBW stuff around on social media, and I thought it would be fun to post through other folks' eyes (i.e., Twitter accounts).

Son of a Peacherman collaboration between Fairhope Brewing and Druid City, both AL breweries First of all, congrats to Chris Paylor who won a pair of tickets to the NOLA Eats King Cake Tasting by suggesting a pairing of NOLA Brewing's Seventh Street Wheat with Haydel's king cake, on my Facebook page. Though I won't be able to make the tasting, I'm pretty excited to check this pairing out before Mardi Gras. Second, Stein't Deli's Annual Beer Day is happening on Saturday! It involves a brewing demonstration and a bottle share. Also on Saturday: Abita's 2nd annual Abita on the Avenue, the Avenue in question is St. Charles. Go here to check it out .

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.

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 was talking to Keith Pumila and Leo Basile of Abita at the beer share held at NOLA Brewing on Saturday (THAT is an entirely different blog post which will be published sometime this week) and got the scoop on a couple of new beers.

First of all, thanks for all the positive feedback on yesterday's blog post. It was a little on the personal side, so I wasn't sure how it would be received. As I do more and more writing, I'm trying to find my "voice" or style, something that's informative, interesting, and enjoyable to read. Last night was the St. Charles cask crawl. I showed up a little later than usual at the Avenue (had a meet & greet for Nyx riding members at Finn McCool's right after work.) I headed upstairs to try the Parish Envie cask and ran into fellow drinkin' writer Todd Price from NOLA.com who was celebrating his birthday there! That was very cool to finally meet, since we'd corresponded in email and on social media a bunch but never met in person.

And... we're off! (officially) Although the official span of ACBW is May 13-19, the weekend preceding had several fun events . But Monday is when things get real.

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 ...

This past week has been much less beer-centric than usual. I had many awesome food experiences which I'll be writing about on my other blog, norainnola.com this week. However, in the course of having lunch at Byblos on Magazine Street this week (I was checking out their overhauled menu) I caught a glimpse of their new tap list, which is much improved from their previous incarnation down the street. Got local beer represented, like Canebrake and Abita, regional with the Saint Arnold's Santo, larger national microbrews like Magic Hat #9 and Brookyn's Sorachi Ace, and yes, the Redd's is a Miller-Coors apple ale that sounds terrible (though to be fair, I have not tried it) it's more interesting than sticking a tap of Miller Lite or Blue Moon up there. I like seeing these random tap lists at places you wouldn't think would have stuff like this. I think it speaks to a shift to more local restaurants taking chances on craft beer that would previously not had t...

Yesterday was the 2nd Annual New Orleans International Beer Festival at Champion Square. As a member of the press, I was able to attend for free with a media pass, and also had VIP tent access. Being able to come in an hour early is one of the biggest perks of the VIP pass. Because by the time 3:30 rolled around, it was so crowded that getting around was difficult, and figuring out who was in line for what you wanted as opposed to just hanging out was near impossible. I think they sold too many tickets for the event. However, it was pretty cool to behold, and made me think, "who ARE all of these people?" Were they craft beer fans, or fans of being able to drink as much as they could? So, I arrived at 1pm and got my media pass, and made the rounds. Got to see Josh and Jamie from Chafunkta, Buck, Ben, and Wild Bill from NOLA Brewing, Bryan from Covington, Karlos from Bayou Teche, Andrew from Parish as well as other beer enthusiasts I consider friends. There we...

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...

Louisiana breweries have been getting some great press in the new year! Read about a Bostonian beer blogger's experience in New Orleans, especially at NOLA Brewing. Brenton Day AKA the Ale Runner updates us on what Andrew Godley and Parish Brewing are looking to accomplish in 2013. Jeremy "Beer Buddha" Labadie does his annual 2013 Mardi Gras roundup. NOLA.com explores the Old Rail's current bureaucratic limbo. Very cool to see more and more people talking about craft beer! A couple other items of note: NOLA Brewing is going to release Irish Channel Stout YEAR ROUND !  There will be an "Abita on the Avenue" pub crawl on Saturday that will feature several different kinds of very special cask ales. I want to try the Wooden Indian IPA, the Cask Conditioned Restoration Ale, and the ESB. ESB on cask! I hope it lives up to my expectations. It starts at the Avenue Pub at 3:30pm. I hope everyone turns out to support MORE CASK ALE in New Orleans! Ste...

Welcome to the latest in my Brewing Bigshot Interview Series!  Today's subject is Andrew Godley, Founder and Brewmaster of Parish Brewing  in Broussard, LA (in Lafayette Parish). Parish has gone through an ENORMOUS transition in size of facility and staff this year, and tomorrow it will be debuting Andrew's baby, the Inaugural Grand Reserve Barleywine at the Avenue Pub , so I thought the time was right to see what's going on here! Andrew Godley founded Parish Brewing back in 2008 while he was still working his day job as a chemical engineer. He was working in a rented commercial warehouse space on nights and weekends, brewing 16 kegs of Canebrake (his wheat beer brewed with Steen’s sugarcane syrup) a week. Then in 2012, he moved his operation into a new, large, state-of-the-art brewery and brewed more beer on his first day there than he had in his entire first year of brewing. To break it down into comparable numbers, Andrew was brewing 150 bbls a year in 2011, a...

I have done a lot of travelling this fall (which is kind of weird, for me) and as you might imagine, I tend to focus on beer-related activities while on the road. I have enjoyed many beers and breweries and beer bars over the past two months and would like to share what I've learned and seen. (and eaten and drank) First trip was to San Francisco. My trip to the Bay Area in early October was short and sweet, so I didn't get to go to the many beer places in the city. (Note: I've gone to the Anchor Brewing tour on a previous trip in 2009, as well as Monk's Kettle, Alembic, Toronado, and Magnolia, as well as outside of the city, where of course there's Russian River, as well as Bear Republic, Silverado, Moylans, Anderson Valley, North Coast, 3rd Street Ale Works, Calistoga Brewery, etc. We enjoyed excellent beer service at the French Laundry as well during that trip.) But this past trip, my primary beer activity was focused on my pilgrimage to Toronado - but I was ab...

This past week, the news broke that Green Flash from San Diego would be entering the New Orleans market , hopefully in late May-early June.  The details on the whens and wheres are still To Be Announced. Also, I just found out that Parish Brewing Company , who have been nanobrewing up in the Lafayette Parish for a couple years out of the founder's garage, and have recently build a really truly actual brewery, will be rolling out throughout the New Orleans market between May 24-26. They will be getting some kegs to the Avenue Pub during American Beer Craft Week starting on Wednesday May 16, so we'll get a little sneak peek of what's been driving our neighbors wild these past couple of years! Congrats guys, I'm glad you'll be able to expand your production and am looking forward to having more local craft beer choices. So, I'm excited about the continuation of the craft beer movement in New Orleans!  These are both very promising developments and all beer love...

A fun trip is a wander down Magazine Street. Once you get past the I-10 underpass, you’ll pass by many bars, restaurants, and shops. On a nice day, (i.e., not raining or summertime) you could probably have a nice walk starting from downtown at Magazine and Canal. Now, I’m not gonna lie to you. There’s a lot of Magazine Street to cover, and if you walk it, it will take up a big chunk of your day. Happily there is also a bus that runs up and down Magazine Street: the #11 bus. Just hop on and off when needed. If you begin your stroll downtown, you can stop at Capdeville which is right past the courthouse area; you’ll see the teeny street (called Capdeville Street, that’s your first clue) and if you duck up it, you can grab a NOLA Blonde or Hopitoulas, or a Pimms Cup or Champagne Julep if you’re in the mood for that kind of thing instead. Carrying on, you’ll pass the World War II Museum and John Besh’s American Sector restaurant within it. I highly recommend checking out t...

Unite! Or something. I have some people coming from out of town in the next couple of weeks and I have been thinking about places that beer lovers would enjoy an amazing New Orleans experience. Here are some thoughts: BARS: GOLD MEDAL: Avenue Pub : Anyone who has read this blog before knows that I spend a lot of time at the Avenue. Plain and simple, they have a large and thoughtful (and amazing) beer selection. Local stuff, Belgian stuff, great American Craft stuff... if you want to get your beer geek on, this is the place to be. SILVER MEDAL: places that have fun atmospheres and decent beer lists. Bulldog ( Uptown and Mid-City ), Bayou Beer Garden , Rendon Inn (Broadmore/Gert Town), Twelve Mile Limit - primarily an amazing cocktail bar but with a small but eclectic beer selection. d.b.a on Frenchmen. Crown & Anchor in Algiers (just hop the ferry!), Finn McCool's in Mid-City, and Cooter Brown's uptown . Also check out the Bridge Lounge on Magazine Str...