Nora McGunnigle

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.

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 )

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 ...

NOLA Brewing's tap room is now open for business 6 days a week for beer selling and general merriment. It opens at 2pm on the weekdays (except Tuesday, when it's closed) and 11am on the weekends, and closes at around 10pm at night. ( You can read more about it here .) As this is the second tap room opening in the state, and the first on in New Orleans for quite some time now, I'm hoping we can get the word out about it so that it becomes a must-visit stop for anyone in town looking for some fresh, quality beer. In order to do so, we need it to start showing up prominently on beer review sites like RateBeer and Beer Advocate. So, if you are an active member on either of these sites, go here to RateBeer and here to Beer Advocate and add your two cents. After you've checked out the new tap room, of course. I've been there three times now- once for the soft open during the last Saints pre-season game, once on their official grand opening, and once for my bir...

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:

My new print column! First of all, per last week's breathless announcement , here is the link to my Inside Northside article.  http://www.insidenorthside.com/craft-beer-revolution/ . Also, my Brewsday Tuesday post , which will be published in the upcoming print version.