Beer Blotter

pic cred: beerbeatsbites.com

I stumbled across some interesting news today. My favorite beer bar in New Orleans and a strong contestant for “favorite beer bar in America” is joining forces with one of my favorite breweries in all the world.

Avenue Pub meet Cantillon, Cantillon meet Avenue Pub. Now, I know for most, this is just a tease. “Great, Avenue Pub, all the way in New Orleans is pouring Cantillon…” My love for this bar and this brewery drive my post.

From Avenue Pub’s Facebook Page.

Drumroll please…this is the announcement I’ve been dying to make…its official. The Pub has been chosen as one of the 10 bars in the US to tap Brasserie Cantillon Zwanze. It’s a big honor…check out the list of the other bars chosen and you will see why. More to come soon..there will be aged bottles that day too!

Zwane is an alias for the Pinot D’Aunis, a fruity lambic where only bottles are available at the brewery. So Avenue Pub is truly among the elite to be serving this beer. We were lucky enough to visit Cantillon in the flesh last year. Check out my post about the brewery and our experience here.

For more details (once they are released) about when this tapping will occur, contact Avenue Pub.

pic courtesy of brooklynbrewery.com. Love this place!!!

Lets take a break from Seattle Beer Week so I can tell you about these amazing beer events in New Orleans from May 15 through May 22nd during the 3rd Annual American Craft Beer Fest.

Now, from previous posts you must know how much we love Avenue One Pub – the best beer spot in New Orleans. This is where I fell in love with Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co.’s Jefferson Stout. Amongst their 40 or so taps, you will find some incredible beer.

Below are a list of events that will take place at this fabulous beer bar:

Avenue Pub events:

Sunday May 15th at 2pm Saint Arnolds Divine Reserve Tapping

Wednesday: May 18th – Nano breweries tasting event starts at 7PM: On Draft – Dieu Du Ciel! Equinoxe du Printemps, Dieu Du Ciel! La Rescousse, Dieu Du Ciel! Aphrodite, Dieu Du Ciel! Péché Mortel, St. Somewhere Saison Athene, St. Somewhere Lectio Divina, High & Mighty from Will Shelton, Parish Brewing Canebrake, Jester King (possible), Stillwater/Struisse. Bottles – Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial, Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura, Jolly Pumpkin iO Saison

Friday Night: May 20th-  “Locals Night” starts at 4pm on the balcony – Each of the local/regional breweries is contributing a special keg or cask for this evening. Brewers and owners will be present to meet with customers and talk about the ‘one off ‘ beers they created for the event. Abita Triple Citra Hopped Satsuma Wit, , Lazy Magnolia bourbon barrell aged Pecan Ale, Bayou Teche beer cocktails, NOLA Single Hops Series (Blonde Dry hopped 4 different ways), Abita double IPA on cask.

Saturday: May 21st -Super Saturday! ….. Big Finale tasting at the Pub , 1 pm till 8pm ( last ticket accepted at 9pm)
Just like last year we will have a lot of new releases, one off kegs, cask ale and we will open every bottle in the house.  There is NO Beer festival in La that has a  lineup like we will have on that day. Period. Check the web link for the list of specific beers and cask tapping on that day. A ticket is $20 and you gets 12 samples…each 4 ounces. Everything in the house is an option…high gravity, rare and cask beers. We will open every (American Craft) bottle in the house if someone wants to taste it.
A message from Avenue Pub:

As many of you know I’ve been working pretty hard to help put this week of events together. We have over 25 different events at 17 different locations around town. For the full schedule use the link below. Its not often you will see me ask you to go buy beer at other bars. For this week I want you to do that!

Save Saturday the 21st for the Big Finale at the Pub BUT during the week please patronize the events you see listed on the MASTER schedule.  A successful craft beer week will go along way to convincing the distributors to invest in craft beer and influence other bars to carry craft beer. Higher state sales mean more good beers will come into La. You want Dogfish Head, Deschutes and New Belgium? This one way to get them interested in La.

To show you how much I believe in this project and how important it is to our beer culture I am offering one free taste for each receipt you bring in from one of the other events during the week. I will give people that bring me a receipt from one of the other events around town a free taste per receipt you bring in …up to 3 per person( thats 12 extra ounces of great beer). That means your 20 dollars could buy you 15 samples of the best beer in the state…not just 12.

Here is that MASTER LIST of events:

http://theavenuepub.com/american-craft-beer-week

Drink up and enjoy one of the greatest cities on this planet!

Uber is Washington's top beer bar in new rankings

Oh yes, the annual RateBeer.com awards are upon us. Every year in January, beer nerds come out from the woodwork, run a regression analysis, compute multiple methodology, average the cosign – plus tangent – and come up with these pretty rad rankings. Bon appetite.

I believe its a bit more simple than I made it out to be, but the rankings are up and that means the chatter begins. I have always been a staunch supporter of the RateBeer rankings. In fact, they have led the way on a number of significant beer tours around this great globe. Lets see how they did this year.

Here are the top performers in each category and some notes about NW people performing well:

Best Beer: (Click here to see list)

Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter – If you have had this beer, kudos to you. I have looked, believe me. From Belgium to the Netherlands, you aren’t going to find it. Someday, someday. It is interesting to see Westvleteren 12 unseated. Perhaps the lore of Michael Jackson has finally left the building. For the NW – Deschutes Abyss came in at a very impressive #17. Hair of the Dog’s Matt and Adam both made the Top 100. Surprising that Adam still topples Fred.

Top Beers By Category (Click here for the list)

I am not going to spend a lot of time on these, you can review them here. Suffice it to say that the only showings from the NW were from a sake producer out of Oregon and a surpirsing top spot in dark lager for Rogue’s Chatoe Rogue Dirtoir Black Lager. Yikes. While expected, its so sad to see this repeated each year. Russian River whooped some ass, once again.

Best Beer in USA (Click here for the list)

Russian River Pliny the Younger – By now, we are all familiar with this hop monster. Though we would prefer to see something with a bit more complexity, its a deliciously unmatched hop beast. As for the NW, Deschutes Abyss at #13 and Hair of the Dog Adam #43 are all that made it. Strikeout, Washington.

Best Brewer in World (Click here to see list)

Three Floyds Brewing –  I like em; hell i love em. But are they really the best? Their lengthy list of offerings and impressive showings in multiple categories (stout, IPA, pale, etc.) probably gets them the spot. My choice would have been the #2 on the list – Founders Brewing Company. Great to Hoppin Frog, Akron, OH, at #17. Great work Fred! Oregon did incredibly well: Rogue #21, Hair of the Dog #24, Deschutes #49, Cascade Brewing #57, and Upright Brewing #92 (wow). Washington = Elysian #92.  I was actually surprised not to see Black Raven Brewing on this list. I think this is a testament to the fact that Black Raven is not yet bottling. Upright is probably smaller in production, but they send bottles into various states. I think thats the ticket here (plus great brewing).

Best Beer Bars in World (Click to see list)

The Kulminator –  Its probably the most deserving, considering their iconic collection of cellar aged beers. Kudos to them for keeping this epic collection rolling. Our visit to Kulminator in March could not have been more eye-popping. The most amazing thing on this list – Avenue Pub at #8!!! Congratulations to Polly, the bar’s owner, who has worked her ass off to deserve this recognition. This is the only must see in New Orleans. This is typically a strong category for Washington – perhaps the only one where they typically overtake Oregon. This year they did the same, but only 2-0. Uber Tavern was #14 and Brouwers Cafe was #22. This is a bit of a drop for both of these two. The list also booted Naked City Taphouse, who made a daring showing last year. Nothing in Oregon made the list.

Best Brewpubs in World (Click to see list)

Brouwerij de Molen – The Windmill strikes again! This place has climbed up and up the list and I will agree that it deserves this spot. In a remote area of Holland, Bodegraven’s only beer spot is hidden inside a windmill. Inside you can enjoy excellent food, phenomenal beer and a pretty incredible bottle shop with a collection of US brews that makes me jealous in Seattle. This is a must see for anyone in Northern Europe. Great to see Walking Man make the list at #10. We finally got out there this past summer and thoroughly enjoyed this sunny spot. Deschutes Brewing was #18, Cascade’s Racoon Lodge was #48 (and will be bumped next year for the new Barrel Room) and then there is Pelican Brewing at #26. 26? Cmon man. If you have ever been to this magical surfers cove, you would spit at anyone that left this out of their Top 5. Go visit.

 

Best Beer Store in World (Click here to see list)

Het Oude Schooltje – Struise Brouwers @ The Old School – Ummm, I’m confused. I was in Oostvleteren and never saw this place! Kill me now. This is my own fault and I’m stuck with the consequences. Next time. Great to see some Washington guys on here as well: Malt & Vine #27 and Bottleworks #29. Oregon got showings from The Bier Stein in Eugene and Belmont Station in Portland, who fell all the way to #44.

 

Best Restaurant in World (Click here to see list)

Ebenezer Kezars Restaurant and Pub – This is on my list and will be visited in June when we do a brief NE trip. Tucked away in the Maine mountains in the little town of Lowell – this gem awaits. Is it shocking to anyone else that despite the NW’s extremely well-received culinary presence and beer presence, we cannot produce one beer restaurant in the Top 50? What about Brouwers Cafe? Ebenezars is just a pub, too.

 

Best Breweries to Visit in World (Click here to see list)

Picobrouwerij Alvinne Den Bier- en Proefzolder – Yes, yes and yes x 1000. This is the single greatest beer visit of my entire life. If its a little strange that we have yet to speak about this visit here on BB.com, its because I am intimidated. Timperial and I have feared drafting this inconic article for just about a year. Alvinne is located in a large barn-like space off a highway in Belgium. We arrived after closing on St. Patricks day and were awarded with private drinking stock from the owner. An unprecedented adventure. I was so glad to see Hair of the Dog Brewing on here as well at #2. Alan Sprints has done an incredible job putting together their new taproom, which is a must for any visitor to the NW. Great to also see Upright Brewing (Portland), who has a very cool tasting room where you can grab some schooners and some tunes for a few hours. Rogue, Bridgeport and Hopworks also made the list. A complete zero for Washington.

Ugh. Washington has to take a failing grade this year. I am really disappointed to see so many of the stalwarts take drops. It was very encouraging to see the locations do alright, but what about our beer?!

In short, most of our beer stays here. I think you can somewhat blame that on our alcohol regulation rules, because they facilitate a healthy market at home. But, you can see that the Oregon brewers making a name for themselves are selling bottles.

Forget Rogue and Deschutes – they are pretty big. But, think about Hair of the Dog, Hopworks and especially Upright. These guys all have bottle sales that go across state borders. That stuff helps.

In the near future, we hope to see bottles from great upstarts like Black Raven Brewing, Schooner Exact, Fremont Brewing and more. Hopefully, we can start to show the world why Washington beer is so damn good.

Until 2012.

No Brouwers? Something went wrong there.

Washington Beer Blog reminded me that Draft Magazine put out their annual 100 Best Beer Bars this week. Thanks for the reminder, Kendall. Now let me go spend two unproductive hours ogling it!

Draft Magazine is a nationally published magazine focused beer culture. They have been around since 2006, sometimes featuring celebrities on their covers. All in all, its not the nerds guide to beer. Its more of a sassy celebration of all things barley pop.

Don’t let my description drive you away. Draft Magazine is good. In fact, all 3 of the Beer Blotter writers are subscribers. We enjoy the fact that Draft presents a global expose on happenings in the beer world. Its really a good way to locate beer venues from around the world.

Just this week, Draft released its annual Top 100 beer bars list. This list is sorted geographically into 4 regions. I was afraid that they were attempting to force options for each of these regions, but it appears that the selections are not equally divided (for example, the Northeast has many more than the South).  So, it appears that the choices are without prejudice.

In scouring the list, I was very pleased to see places like Avenue Pub (New Orleans), Apex (Portland), Blind Lady Alehouse (San Diego) and our very own Monk’s hole – The Stumbling Monk (Seattle).

But, one cannot peruse the list without finding their own list of absentees. While less deserving pubs made it (i.e. Cooter Browns (New Orleans), Green Dragon (Portland), McNulty’s Bier Markt (Cleveland)), some of the nation’s most celebrated beer venues are missing.

While that absentee list will differ for each of us, here are my Top 5 Absentees:

1. Brouwers Cafe (Seattle) –  They must have pissed off a Draft Magazine writer. Many of us know that Brouwers can sometimes rub the wrong way (and its been stated by commenters here on the site), but there is no better selection of ale in the NW. Brouwers routinely procures 60 taps of rare beer, one of the best bottle lists in the country and an unprecedented number of unmatched in-house beer festivals (See Sour Fest, Hopfest, Big Wood, and Hard Liver). Again, they must have pissed someone off.

 

2. Bangers & Lace (Chicago) – This might simply be too early for Draft to call this place a winner. But, Bangers & Lace has quickly ascended to the top of the Chicago beer world. Presenting an unmatched selection of rare beer, along with phenomenal food, B&L deserves a spot. Guest writer For Whom the Bell Toales agrees that this is the #1 beer venue in Chi-town.

 

3. Small Bar (San Diego) – Ok Ok, they got it mostly right. Hamilton’s Tavern, Blind Lady Alehouse, and O’Brien’s Pub should all be on the list. But, Small Bar gives that Top 3 a run for their money. Mixing a spectacular beer selection with epic food and spunky surroundings, I think it deserved a spot above many of the LA selections.

 

4. Brew Kettle (Strongsville, OH)  - Draft picked one of the many Cleveland suburb favorites – Buckeye Beer Engine. But, I think they got the wrong one. The Brew Kettle blends an incredible draft lineup (thank god for the connection with Founders), house made ales, and some spectactular bar grub. Get drunk enough? Go brew a batch in the back. Beyond that – its just a cool dark place to grab a beer.

 

5. New York’s Forgotten Trio – Ginger Man, Mug’s Alehouse and d.b.a. (NY, NY) – They picked a lot of NY spots. I can understand that its pretty tough to run into your editor’s office and say we picked the Top 100 – 20 of them are in NY. Its a tough job to pick between the excellent spots in NYC. In my mind, they got the top 3 on the list – Rattle N Hum, Blind Tiger and Spuyten Duyvil. Those three are iconic, and the three places that I spend the most time while in NY. But, the above three all deserve a shot at the list. The Ginger Man is just a few blocks from Rattle N Hum – many would say its the cooler bar. Mug’s is tucked away in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But unlike the uber-hipster crowd at Spuyten Duyvil, you will find comfort at this grog spot. d.b.a. is the lone East Village fave. d.b.a. has been pouring beer for a long time and has an excellent wide spread selection.

I will say, writing the Top 5 absentees was pretty tough. All in all they did a great job finding the appropriate bars. The Top 100 is a worthy list and you should take a glance.

What else is missing!?

Its alive! NOLA Brewing is ready to launch a killer stout.

- DSR

I have been on leave from BeerBlotter.com in order to peruse the alleyways, taverns, and sound of the mighty New Orleans. And so I apologize to my fellow Blotter brethren/sistern (made up) for having to pull all the weight of this hefty machine. Kudos to them for keeping it running.

But alas, I miss the daily musings of musty bottles and bitter pints. The Blotter has become a reflection of what we all are: loose lipped, eager to share, legend seeking beer drinkers.

So, I decided to chime in this morning and share a snapshot of my adventures through the dirty. This will only be a peak of what is to come on the Blotter in the coming week.

Loving Me Some NOLA.

Last year, we visited a fledgling operation along New Orleans’ historic tongue twister of a street – Tchoupitoulas. The newcomer to the Louisiana beer scene (and really the only true brewery in New Orleans since Katrina sank Dixie Brewing), NOLA Brewing hit the market in early 2009 with two products: Brown and Blonde. They grabbed instant success and imminent growth could be smelled from a mile away.

We were not wrong. NOLA Brewing has grown in production size, quality, distribution, and of course – their lineup. Now brewing 4 year round beers and several seasonals, they are all grown up.

I decided to pop in, unannounced (sorry Dylan), and grab a taste of the new, the recreated and the “whats to come.” Luckily, I was able to siphon off a taste of the new Irish Channel Stout before its release. I was floored. Much more to come on these guys. Don’t miss that write up.

Holy Crap – What Happened Here?

6 years ago, craft beer was just a scant curiosity for me. I knew nothing, cared little and grabbed Schlitz cans without a second thought. But living in New Orleans, you had to notice the Abita Brewing stranglehold of 25 years. So, we took a little trip to the brewery.

6 years ago, the trip was just a hoot – now its an experience. Abita Brewing has undergone a dramatic face lift, expanding to an almost 50,000 square foot facility. Whats more is that they added a 100 barrel Merlin brewing system, a plethora of 300 barrel fermenters and a shiny new tasting room. Luckily for us they didn’t change the “be your own bartender in the tasting room” rule, which makes this the best brewery visit around.

Still On Top. Zero Challengers.

Last time I waxed poetic about New Orleans beer, we sat Avenue Pub right at the top. There is nothing that can change my mind about this choice.

Avenue Pub has all the factors: amazing taps, great bottles, phenomenal food, incredible aura and mind-boggling comfort/location (balcony over St. Charles!). With a direct line to Stone Brewing and Brooklyn Brewing’s top of the line beers, I am always surprised. With the new commitment to Belgian beer, my jaw drops with each visit.

Kudos to Avenue Pub’s Polly for keeping this one on top.

For now, I must rest as I embark on my final journey through New Orleans, tomorrow. I am going to peg gater and eggs, oysters on the half shell and some Liuzza’s gumbo for the day. How will I wash it all down? We’ll see what NOLA has to offer.