Nora McGunnigle

Got home from San Francisco in the wee hours, so I'm not quite focused enough to do a thorough summary and analysis, but here are the quick highlights:

So, obviously, a significant part of any trip I take is about the beers I can find and drink that I can't get here at home.  Therefore, I report here, the tales of my San Francisco beer adventure! First night in the Bay area, we were in Redwood City, south of SF. We went to an English/Scottish gastropub type place called Martins West , which had a very nice selection of beers on draft. I started with an Evil Twin by Heretic Brewing, which was fantastic. Such a well balanced beer.  Had a Honey Saison from Almanac Beer Co., out of San Francisco. I had a sample before committing- but I was impressed. It's a very nice saison, the yeast, hops, spices, and honey balanced nicely. I recommended it to someone sitting next to me, who dismissed it as "something girls drink" and therefore I needed to hold forth and lecture about what girls ACTUALLY DRINK. Which is to say, everything. The next day I enjoyed a Scrimshaw Pilsner with my oysters at the Ferry Building (I...

Wow, it's been a month since I updated? Crazy. It's been kind of a weird month. Hurricane recovery, birthdays, broken husband...  you better believe I've been drinking. Heavily. I kid! (Kinda.) Beer occurrences of note: NOLA Brewing released a new beer, the first in their new high-gravity series, Mecha Hopzilla. It's a pretty tasty beer- well balanced and quite hoppy. It's not really my wheelhouse, but I liked it. I think I like Hopitoulas better, which is good news too, because it'll be coming out in 16 ounce cans soon! In new beers in New Orleans news: Goose Island (from Chicago) has come to town! Right now it's just the three "Vintage Ales" - the Sofie, Matilda, and Pere Jacques. Sofie, looking gawjuss in the Goose Island goblet  I loved the Matilda, the Belgian style pale ale. Subtle, balanced, delicious. Sofie was pretty good, a light colored Belgian farmhouse ale- it was a little... insubstantial, maybe? Just didn't seem to l...

So, although I have about 3 cases of beer from Florida, I've been obsessed with obtaining a beer called Brux which is a collaboration between Russian River Brewing and Sierra Nevada. Because Sierra Nevada is distributed here in Louisiana (and, um, everywhere else in the country), this beer is able to get in this market. However, not a lot (allegedly), so there's been a run on it. Right after I heard about the beer, I went to Stein's after work to pick some up. There weren't any bottles out on the shelves but when I asked Andre, he brought one out from the back. "One per customer," he said. I asked if I could buy one and if Tom could buy one, and was denied. I think they may have milked the "last bottle sold" thing, as I heard that the Beer Buddha got the last bottle on Friday, but then heard about other folks buying bottles through the weekend. It's all a game, a show. Having bought my bottle, I heard that it's a beer meant to continue ...