Nora McGunnigle

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.

IT HAS BEGUN. Yesterday, the rain held off to ensure the crowds of beer drinkers in the Warehouse District were able to enjoy the offerings from five different bars as part of the Gambit's foray into ACBW, the inaugural FestivALES event. As an attendee, I was relieved at the unexpected break in the weather, but conducted my logistical plans in a manner that would be most efficient in case of downpours.

The "Q" in "Qrawl" stands for "Quarter" as in the French Quarter. Yesterday was a fine day to wander about and drink beer. I don't hang out in the Quarter too often, so I thought this would be a nice opportunity to do something different and maybe see if there were any surprises for craft beer in the Quarter. It was an interesting day, for sure. We biked to the FQ and went promptly to the first stop on the crawl, Finnegan's Easy on St. Peter between Royal and Bourbon. Nice looking bar Santo and Canebrake! Dagger holding the Santo mascot Finnegan's was a nice place: long wood bar, great natural light, a gorgeous courtyard in the back. The Saint Arnold they provided was Santo , a "black Kolsch" which is easy drinking and flavorful. They also had Canebrake, NOLA Blonde, Tin Roof Voodoo Bengal, Guinness, and Abita Amber. I'd definitely duck in here if I was looking for local craft in that area. The Santo was $...

So this past weekend marked the 3 year anniversary of the first cask conditioned ale made by NOLA Brewing being served at The Avenue Pub. According to Polly Watts, owner of the Avenue Pub, you couldn't find cask ale anywhere in Louisiana prior to that. As I am a huge fan of cask ale, NOLA Brewing, and the Avenue Pub, you can imagine that the event planned to commemorate this would be relevant to my interests. The plan was a "Cask Crawl" on St. Charles Ave- NOLA would provide casks to both the Avenue Pub and the Irish House down the street. The weather even took a break from being either steamy or stormy, and just  was mild and comfortable. So, I was looking forward to this event... until I read the description of the one at the Pub. "Peter's Perfect Phirkin"... a Hurricane Saison cask complimented by pineapple, papaya, plums, poblano peppers, peychaud bitters, and dry hopped with Perle hops. OMG, I thought it sounded hideous. I first thought that I just ...

Exciting news for all you have been awaiting the release of this years's Flambeau Red Ale by NOLA Brewing.  This hoppy red ale is released only at Carnival time, so it is only fitting that it be debuted just prior to the Krewe du Vieux parade on Satruday, February 4. The Krewe du Brew Bar Crawl is set to begin promptly at 1:00pm starting at R-Bar (1431 Royal St). From R-Bar the Bar Crawl will then head over to Balcony Music Club (1331 Decatur St) at 2:30. After Balcony Music Club the Bar Crawl will meet at Turtle Bay (1119 Decatur St) at 3:45. Then to end the Bar Crawl everyone will meet at Molly's at the Market (1107 Decatur St) at 5:00. Each bar will be serving the Flambeau Red for $3.00 a pint during our hour there. The Krewe du Vieux Parade starts at 6:30 so everyone will be in perfect position. The "Mardi Gras on Fire" theme of the crawl pays homage to the imagry evoked by the name of the beer. Flambeau are lighted torches that would be carried during ni...