Nora McGunnigle

Man, it has been a busy... (looks at date of last post)... few months. Bypassed the holidays and Mardi Gras, looks like. Oops. Right at the new year, Tom Conklin opened his Chappapeela Farm Brewery. Then Mardi Gras with its various seasonal beers and cans . And riding Nyx with my krewe! (I acquired several beers along the route from various beer geeks who were able to catch me, heh.) And then this past weekend was Nuit Belge, probably the best beer event I've ever attended. It had amazing Belgian (and Belgian-style) beers paired with dishes from great local restaurants . Check out the (well, my) photos of a great, great night . Now, on the horizon: Girls Pint out at Cooter Brown's on March 8, and then another event there on the 9th - Sour Power , with sour beers from New Belgium, NOLA Brewing, and Great Raft (including the first New Orleans release of Great Raft's dry hopped Brett IPA Oceans Between Us.) On March 10, master sour blenders Eric and L...

I've been continuing my beer dinner shenanigans this month, and I don't really need to bore you with the details, but I've noticed an interesting trend the last couple dinners I went to, where I've sat with a table of people who I don't know and aren't in the beer world. I had a great time talking to new people not only about the beer we're drinking together but also the beer scene in New Orleans and Louisiana. It's like doing craft beer outreach on an individual level. I love it! It's like evangelizing, spreading the good news about something I really believe in.

So, I've finished up my annual schedule of events for the Gambit. Hats off to all the breweries, bars, and distributors for getting all the requested info in to me in a timely manner - it gets easier every year! Here's my article and schedule in the Gambit - and I'll be keeping an updated version on this website , as I have done for the past few years.

Drinking a NOLA Brewing Rebirth Pale Ale while watching the Roots of Music band, which will be receiving a portion of the proceeds of the beer. I'm heading to Shreveport today to check out Great Raft and Red River Brewing, but before I go, a few things to share: Brewsday Tuesday article about Bayou Teche's collaboration beer with French brewery La Bambelle, Bayoust, which will be released at Lafayette's Festival International. Article on the founding of New Orleans' Girls Pint Out on the Alcohol Professor website. Great article in the NOLA Defender by Sam Nelson about the Cajun Fire folks.

OK, I know it was just Mardi Gras, but cowboy up and tackle St. Patrick's Day head on! I live in the Irish Channel so the parade on Saturday (3/15) is walking distance, as are the homes of several friends/neighbors who will be hosting get-togethers that day. I'm hoping to get my hands on a friend's homebrew, it's been a while since I had the privilege of enjoying it. I have other St. Patrick's Day tips here!

Winter beers are still my bread & butter right now: check out my writeup on the Alcohol Professor . I'm pretty sure next week I'll have yet another one published online. For my weekly Gambit column, I discussed Parish Brewing's upcoming Grand Reserve Barleywine release .

How was your Thanksgiving? Uh-huh, uh-huh, that's cool, I don't really care. So much is happening in the wide world of beer! My cover story for the current edition of Southern Brew News FIRST of all, NOLA Brewing is gearing up to release their newest New Belgium collaboration called Black Strap Chicory Stout. It's a milk stout made with black strap molasses and chicory. Brewmaster Peter Cadoo and brewer Mike "Indy" Grap went out to Fort Collins at the end of October/start of November to brew the beer. Stay tuned for info on its release.

Tin Roof's new seasonal out in cans I started a new column for Propaganda New Orleans, called "Hopaganda" (see what I did there?) and I'm really excited about working with them. It'll be a much more laid back style of writing, maybe like one step up from this blog in tone, but a step down from the informational, interview-heavy reporting that I have been focusing on. This column focuses on my memories and thoughts about the beer scene here as a New Orleans transplant back in 2010.