Red Brick Hoplanta

While at Avenue Pub in New Orleans, I ordered a glass of Red Brick Hoplanta. The beer pours an orange amber color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of lemon, tangerine, orange, grass, and pepper. The taste is bitter and citrusy with orange, lemon, and tangerine flavors giving it a nice fruitiness. There is a bitter spruce and peppery bite on the back of the throat, and the after taste leaves spruce linger for quite a while. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. I thought this was a rather good IPA with nice citrus flavors, bitter hop bite, and overall nice balance.

Parish Brewing Company Canebreak Wheat

I ordered a draft of Parish Brewing Company Canebreak Wheat while at d.b.a. in New Orleans. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of wheat, lemon, and has a strong sugar presence. The taste is lemon, caramel, cane sugar. The sugar addition makes it nicely sweet before a grassy finish that leaves behind a lingering light tartness in the background.The alcohol content is unknown, but I would estimate it to be about 5.5% ABV. Overall, this is a slightly sweet beer that has some decent balance to it. I would recommend it for the cane sugar flavors alone.

Southern Star Brewery Pine Belt Pale Ale

I ordered a can of Southern Star Brewery Pine Belt Pale Ale while at d.b.a. in New Orleans. The beer poured into a glass, pours a golden color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, toffee, candy, lemon, and pepper. The taste is sweet but bitter with a great caramel and toffee base that stands up to the strong lemon, pine, and pepper accents. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. This was a good and nicely hoppy pale ale that was balanced well due to its solid base.

NOLA Brewing Hurricane Saison

I ordered a glass of NOLA Brewing Hurricane Saison while at d.b.a. in New Orleans. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon, pepper, wheat, grass, and earth. The taste is peppery and spicy with Belgian spice, hints of lemon, but most notably it has a large grass profile. The finish brings out a biscuity flavor. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. This was a really good saison that provide a dry and grassy finish that lingered for quite a while. I would definitely seek out this beer again and was quite impressed with all of the beers that I have tried from NOLA brewing.

Abita Amber

I ordered a glass of Abita Amber while out to dinner at Me’lange in New Orleans. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of lemon, caramel, and toffee. The taste is very caramel forward with some toffee and a light lemon hop flavor. A grassy finish balances out the sweetness of the beer. The alcohol content is 4.5% ABV. While this isn’t a beer to seek out, it is a great beer to drink while in New Orleans since it is local. It is a solid tasting beer, but it won’t knock your socks off your feet.

NOLA Brewing Hopitoulas

While out to dinner in New Orleans at Me’lange, I ordered a glass of NOLA Brewing Hopitoulas. The beer pours an orange-tinted gold color with a frothy white head that leaves a lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of orange, tangerine, lemon, and pepper. The taste is bitter and has nice citrus presence including tangerine, orange, lemon, and grapefruit. A peppery finish with a bite on the back of the throat rounds out the beer and works well with the caramel and toffee backbone. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This was quite a delicious IPA with a strong west coast feel to it. A wide variety of citrus flavors made it extremely enjoyable and it was easy to drink.

Crescent City Brewhouse Red Stallion

While at Crescent City Brewhouse in New Orleans, I noticed that they were known for their Red Stallion, so I decided to order a glass after being disappointed with the Belgian Ale. The beer pours a red-amber color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, grass, sweet malts, and toffee. The taste starts with caramel before a metallic off-taste takes over. Some grass and light toffee peek through, but the finish almost has a chlorine flavor. I noticed that most of the beers had a similar off-taste. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. I absolutely abhorred this beer and would never drink it again. The metallic and chlorine flavors were so off-putting that I barely could finish a glass.

Crescent City Brewhouse Belgian Ale

While in the French Quarter of New Orleans, I stopped in to Crescent City Brewhouse to try a few beers, the first of which being the Belgian Ale, one of their Special Ales. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy cream colored head. The aroma is spicy and yeasty with some raisin accents and is a little musty. The taste is caramel, candi sugar, Belgian spice, yeast, grass, and has a peppery finish. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would estimate it to be about 6.0% ABV. This beer can best be described as a decent homebrew, and nothing more. I wasn’t impressed with it, and the flavors did not blend well together at all.

Birrificio Le Baladin Nora Sour

I ordered a glass of Birrificio Le Baladin Nora Sour while at Avenue Pub in New Orleans. The beer pours a golden color with a faint bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon, tartness, bread, and a hint of vinegar. The taste is refreshing and lemony with a light grass flavor. Overall, it is lightly tart with a slight barnyard funk and a bready mouth feel. The alcohol content is 6.8% ABV. This was a wonderful tasting beer with a great tart flavor. This would be a beer to give to a sour novice to help them get in to the style, but is also appreciated by someone who loves sours.

Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 12

I was able to get a glass of the Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 12 on release day while at Avenue Pub in New Orleans. The beer pours an amber color with almost no head. The aroma consists of caramel, toffee, lemon, and grass. The taste is boozy with a caramel and toffee sweetness. A helping of hops gives the beer a grassy finish with a hint of lemon, and pepper lingers in the after taste. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. This beer was pretty decent while drinking fresh, but I feel that with age it would become even better. The alcohol was a little too hot in this beer, but the rest of the flavors were quite exquisite.

Evil Twin Yin and Yang Black and Tan

While visiting Avenue Pub in New Orleans, I ordered a glass of Evil Twin Yin and Yang Black and Tan. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of tangerine, grapefruit, orange, spruce, chocolate, and toasted malts. The taste is bitter and dry with plenty of citrus including tangerine, orange, and grapefruit. These bitter flavors play well with dry toasted malts. A dark chocolate finish and spruce after taste finish out the beer drinking experience. The alcohol content is 11.1% ABV. The impact that both the Double IPA and the Imperial Stout had in the beer was amazing, as neither drowned the other. Each provided wonderful notes and made a very dynamic beer.

Abita Turbodog

Another beer I ordered while at the Abita Brewpub in Abita Springs, LA was Turbodog. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy beige head that leaves a film on the glass. The aroma consists of caramel, toasted malts, and strong coffee. The taste is bold with coffee before settling in with some chocolate and a strong toasted malt presence. There is a dry roasted finish as well. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. This was a very well done English Brown Ale that had a great coffee presence, tying the chocolate and malt flavors all together nicely.

Abita Andygator

On my recent trip to New Orleans, I ordered a glass of Abita Andygator while at the Abita Brewpub in Abita Springs. The beer pours a golden color with a thin bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of alcohol, caramel, grass, toffee, and malts. The taste is sweet with an earthy spice, grass, and pepper. Caramel and toffee construct a sweet base, while a slight alcohol burn appears on finish. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. This beer was sweet but well balanced overall and had nice alcohol burn on the finish that really tied the beer together.

Joboy's BrewPub BPA (Belgian Pale Ale)

On a recent trip to Joboy’s BrewPub in Manheim, PA, I ordered a glass of the BPA (Belgian Pale Ale). The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of yeast, pepper, Belgian spices, banana, cloves, and grass. The taste is sweet and spicy at the same time with a good banana base with lemon accents. Pepper and Belgian spices accentuate the sweetness nicely and it has a grassy finish. The alcohol content is 4.5% ABV. I enjoyed this Belgian Pale Ale, as it was neither overly sweet or spicy, but very complimentary on both sides.

Duclaw eXile X-1 Imperial Chocolate Rye Porter

I had my buddy pick up a bottle of Duclaw eXile X-1- Imperial Chocolate Rye Porter and I decided to share it at our weekly bottle share. I previously had the bourbon barrel aged version of this beer, but I wanted to try the base beer. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan colored head. The aroma consists of rye, toasted malts, coffee, chocolate, and milk. The taste is toasted malts, coffee, rye spiciness, and an overall roasty flavor. The finish is pepper and most rye spiciness. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. This was a rather delicious beer, and it was only spoiled by the fact that I had the bourbon barrel aged version prior to this one.