Nora McGunnigle

I had the opportunity to try a few other beers and take advantage of the New England location while up in CT. Had a couple Brewtus Maximus beers at Max Burger in West Hartford.  Allegedly, it's brewed specially for them from Thomas Hooker Brewing .  It was tasty and went down oh so smooth. I also picked up, at the beer store, Sebago (in Maine)'s Local Harvest Ale . It was hoppy, malty, tasty deliciousness.  Damn, that shit was good. Highly recommend.  Look how pretty! As the Alström Brothers say , "High marks for bringing hop flavor to new heights, lordy be, this is an amazing beer."  I don't think I can say it better than that.  Maine, you totally rule. At the Atlanta airport on the way home, my gate was right next to the Sweetwater Brew Pub and I went in there and ordered a Sweetwater 420, which is a Pale Ale I enjoyed during our vacation in Florida.  I looked at the big board before ordering though, make sure I wasn't missing out on...

My beer at Willimantic Brewing Company. Forgot to take a picture till I finished my first pour, the cask Octoberfest.  So we have four of the five pictured!

While in CT, my wanderings brought me to Willimantic Brewing. Since I am here alone and it's about a half hour on back roads, I decided the best course of action was to get the five 4 oz samples. They all looked awesome, but here's what I got: 1). Overseas Mail Octoberfest - on cask.  Very helpfully described as a garnet bier brewed with German malts and hops. Way to be specific, guys. 5.8%. Anyway. Cask is served at proper cellar temperature. Mild malt, light hops. Biscuit aroma. Easy drinking. A nice beer, and god knows I'm grateful for the cask. A bit too subtle in flavor for my personal tastes. Glad it's on cask, I think if it was served any colder it would have been rendered even more subtle still. By the end of my 4 oz, though, I really was enjoying the flavor. Heh. (I'm liveblogging so you are going through the journey with me!) 2). Weiss is Nice. "An unfiltered tart Wheat bier loosely based upon tbe Berliner style." 3.3%abv. Beginner berlinerweis...

JustInteresting on draft- NOLA Blonde and Abita SOS, of all things. Taceaux are excellent, even though they only have the Seoul Man, a chicken taco with pickled vegetables and sirachi aioli. Really tasty. Tom is sticking happily to the Blonde (just like a man) while I started with the Blonde and have moved to an LA31.  Nothing fancy, but we're gonna listen to some music and it's all good.

Ok all ticket holders have gotten their beers and the Cantillon pours are open to anyone with $6. As of around 3:30, there are still Zwanze 2010 pours are still available. Which is bananas in its awesomeness. Go get you some!

Well, we came, we waited, we drank a lot of sour beer. Cantillon FTW- Zwanze 2010, Zwanze 2011, and Iris were all home run winners. Really excellent. Better pictures and full writeup to come. For now, we are enjoying an Ommegang BPA and the Pub Pils out on the back patio. Next: lunch.

FULL OF NOMS.

Zwanze 2010- (the paler beer on the right) man that is good. That is Tom's JAM! (Remember, he doesn't like sours) More tart than sour, well balanced, crisp, refreshing, mild tartness and subtle. Like a belgian berlinerweiss. Wheat is turned all the way up. Smooth. Biscuits and lemon juice, in a good way. Dances over the tongue leaving a trail of tartness behind. 2011- fruit lambic- grape. Lighter than the St. Lamvinus, crisper, more balanced, in my opinion. St. Lamvinus was a little overwhelming and intense. This is more fun and drinkable. Rose colored. Tart with full fruit flavor. In conclusion: some seriously tasty shit.

A gueuze that has been brewed with hops instead of wheat. A sour that Ton doesn't hate. Progress! Tart, sharp, a subtle hop bitterness on the finish. The sour and atypical bitterness marry well. Very refreshing while retaining the traditional gueuze sour characteristics. Recommended for sour lovers and sour skeptics alike.

Picture of the St. Lamvinus, a Cantillon grape lambic.

The purpose of this post is to a) test out my liveblogging photo options and b) show the list of beers for the 2pm tapping so I don't have to type that shit out on my phone. Enjoy!

We've been moved to the balcony to clear out space for later arriving beer geeks downstairs.

So I am here waiting on the tapping of Cantillon's Zwanze 2011. As previously mentioned, The Avenue Pub is only one of NINE bars in the US to get a keg of of this for the simultaneous worldwide Zwanze day tapping. It's a huge honor and I'm so psyched to be here for it. I'm experimenting with liveblogging the day as it unfolds. So far today we had a lovely breakfast at The Irish House (where our waitress is also a sour beer fan, so that was fun!) and bellied up to the bar to wait for the tapping and our turn at the Balcony kegs. Drinking Theriez Extra dry-hopped farmhouse ale right now. Pacing myself for an exciting day of beer drinking. Stay tuned!

Picked up the latest issue of Offbeat Magazine last night while hanging out on Frenchmen Street and found something of great interest to me in the Letters to the Editor section: STOCKHOLM FESTIVAL First of all, thanks for a great magazine. You have helped me so much in learning about the music and culture of New Orleans. On Friday we start the first ever New Orleans Festival in Sweden at my club in Stockholm [Akkurat Bar & Restaurant]. I have beers coming in from both Abita and NOLA Brewing Company. To my knowledge, it’s the first time these beers have been shipped on draught outside the United States. We will fill the empty barrels with Swedish beer and ship them back to Polly at the Avenue Pub on Saint Charles Avenue, who is doing a wonderful job for the beer culture. Hopefully we can have a continuous exchange program working in the future. We also got loads of food like po-boys and of course crawfish, which are in season in Sweden right now. Yes we eat them here too. —Stene I...