Three Blind Mice: A Hoppy Experiment

by Blair "B-Rex" Loup

Six IPAs blind tasted by Brenton Day, Eric Ducote, and Chuck P.

Before working for Bite and Booze, I wasn't much of a beer drinker. Mainly because I was in college and most of the beer that surrounded me tasted like water gone wrong.

After tasting Saint Arnold's Santo, I wanted to learn more about different beer styles and the craft beer industry. My next beer hurdle was the IPA. Every time I tried an IPA, I couldn't cross the bitterness threshold.

During my first few months working at Bite and Booze, we recorded a radio show while sipping on Parish Brewing's Ghost in the Machine Double IPA. Seeing the label featuring a skull whose head is full of hops intimidated my tastebuds, but it was love at first sip.

Since that 1/4 glass of Ghost, I'm all hops all the time. 

I decided to wrangle some of my favorite hop heads to do a blind tasting of IPAs at the Tin Roof tap room. Each brew was ranked in the following categories: appearance, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, and overall. 

Eric Ducote, older brother of Jay Ducote, is a home-brewer and craft beer fanatic. You can find him on BRBeerScene.com. 

Accountant by day, home-brewer by night, Brenton Day writes about his beer adventures on The Ale Runner.

Chuck P. is a man of many talents. Rock star drummer for local band, The Anteeks, rock star dad, manager at the Tin Roof tap room, and Jay Ducote's "hetero life mate," Chuck P. also produces the Bite and Booze Radio Show when we record out of studio and his own podcast, Me and My Big Mouth.

After tasting all six beers, the scores were averaged. Here are the results (worst to best):

Covington Anonymous IPA (6.2% ABV): 33

Covington Anonymous IPA

With a dark orange color, Eric mentioned that this one "tastes like someone went to make a Black IPA and didn't go through with it."

Very malty, this IPA was bitter, but lacking in flavor. Having that said, IPAs are not meant to sit on shelves for very long. I couldn't find a bottle date, but it is highly likely this had been sitting for too long.

RJ Rocker's Hop Quake (6.5% ABV): 38

RJ Rockers Hop Quake IPA

Hop Quake has a slightly lighter orange hue with a heavy amount of haze. Little to no aroma, the beer had contained only faint notes of pineapple.

This one, too got the, "more bitterness than hop flavor," note. The lingering finish didn't please Brenton, Eric, or Chuck P.

I love when I can smell the beers as I'm pouring this one. I got my nose so close to Hop Quake looking for any sort of aroma, I accidentally snorted some... Still no aroma.

Lagunitas IPA(6.2% ABV): 53

Lagunitas IPA

Extremely different than the previous two, Lagunitas' IPA is very clear and yellow in appearance. The beer's aroma doesn't match the flavor. While there isn't much of an aroma, the bold flavors of the beer surprised our tasters.

It finishes clean, which we all enjoyed after having a few lingering finishes.

Tin Roof Juke Joint (7% ABV): 59

Tin Roof's Juke Joint IPA

Described as "biscuity," "funky," "chewy," and  even "barnyardish," the Juke Joint was well-received.

Brenton wanted more hops, Eric enjoyed the grassy chew, and Chuck P. found it to be a pleasant IPA.

Slightly orange and hazy, Juke Joint is medium-bodied and finishes clean. I like drinking it with boiled crawfish, probably because of that funky, grassy taste.

Founders Centennial IPA (7.2% ABV): 69

Founders Centennial IPA

The initial pour is instantly aromatic with smells of citrus and tropical fruits. This beer has a golden, slightly orange hue. The guys found this one to be an easy drinker with only a little lingering bitterness.

Eric found it to be a little one noted, but this was my personal favorite.

Sam Adams Rebel IPA (6.5% ABV): 74

Sam Adams Rebel IPA

I originally bought this as a joke, so it seems fitting that it ended up on top.

Extremely clear and bright yellow, the Rebel IPA boasted citrus and bready aromas, bold flavors, and a crisp finish.

Brenton mentioned that he had the Rebel IPA once before and didn't like it as much as he liked it this round.

While Brenton scored this beer much higher than the others,  Eric was the only one of our tasters that scored the Founders Centennial higher than the Rebel IPA.

Don't Tempt Me with a Good Time: Louisiana Brewers Bash

The modern Louisiana craft beer scene got its start in 1986 with the Abita Brewing Company. Last year the Louisiana Brewers Guild, comprised of the owners and brewers of Louisiana's breweries, along with craft beer enthusiasts, got state legislators to approve the first Louisiana Craft Brewers Week. This September there will be a plethora of LCBW events across the South celebrating local brew, but perhaps the event with the biggest bang for your buck is the Louisiana Brewers Bash at The Irish House on St. Charles in New Orleans on September 24th.

This is the only event during LCBW where all nine breweries distributed in south Louisiana will be under one roof (the only Louisiana breweries that are unable to attend are Great Raft and Red River Brewing in Shreveport, LA, because they aren't commercially distributed in New Orleans). Tickets to the event are $45 and that covers beer-inspired Irish pub fare by Chef Matt Murphy, pours of eighteen different beers, and the opportunity to mix and mingle with other beer enthusiasts as well as some of the owners and brewers themselves! You can buy your tickets at brewersbash.eventbrite.com.

We've asked the breweries to supply a flagship, seasonal, or new release beer in addition to a one off specialty brew. This event will completely over take The Irish House and beers will be flowing both upstairs and downstairs throughout the night. This is the craft beer event you cannot miss! Here are the beers we have confirmed so far:

Big Chefs in Small Towns: Country Roads Magazine Names 2014's Best Small Town Chefs

Country Roads Magazine in conjunction with Triumph Kitchen is awarding the Best Small Town Chefs Award for the first time ever. There are many great chefs that go unnoticed in small town settings around the state, so Country Roads and Triumph Kitchen decided to change that! Three restaurants are represented in the inaugural awards: Chefs Keith and Nealy Frents of LOLA (Covington), Chefs Cody and Samantha Carroll of Hot Tails (New Roads), and Chef Jeremy Langlois of Houmas House (Darrow) are this year's Small Town Chefs.

A celebration of their work will be displayed at a special dinner on June 26th featuring passed hors d'oeuvres by Triumph Kitchen and Louisiana Culinary Institute students and a tasting style menu showcasing signature dishes by each Best of Small Town Chefs of 2014. Wine pairings, live music by Kirk Holder, and tours of the LCI Demonstration Kitchens are on the list of activities at this inaugural event.

Early bird tickets for the event are on sale now until the end of May for $65 and enter you in a drawing for a free leisure class at LCI. After May 31st tickets are $75. Proceeds benefit the efforts of Triumph Kitchen.

"Month of Salads" Post VII: Columbia Street Tap Room's Spinach Salad with Raw Oysters

Spinach Salad with Fried Oysters at Tap Room

While in Covington, Louisiana filming a bunch of beer I figured it would be the perfect time for fried oysters. Then I remembered that I should also make one last effort at a "Month of Salads" post. Fortunately the Columbia Street Tap Room allowed me to have my cake and eat it too. I added an order of fried oysters to my spinach salad and it turned out to be a winner. The oysters were delicately fried with a nice crisp exterior and a flavorful interior that retained the proper texture of an oyster. The spinach salad itself came dressed with slivered almonds, grape tomatoes, goat cheese, and a fruity vinaigrette. All of the flavors balanced each other well and the oysters proved to be a nice addition. Plus, the salad also paired nicely with my Old Ray, a mixture of the Old 504 Vanilla Coffee Porter and the Imperial IPA from the Northshore's Chafunkta Brewing Company!

"Month of Salads" Post VI: Chimes Covington's Caesar with Blackened Salmon

Blackened Salmon over Caesar Salad at The Chimes in Covington

While on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain to film a teaser for a beer documentary, our crew wound up at the Chimes in Covington for an interview with our fixer and Craft Brands Manager from Champagne Beverage, Vanessa, and their beer buyer, Shane. After the shoot we settled in for lunch where keeping true to my "Month of Salads," I opted for the Caesar with blackened salmon. I've long been a fan of the Caesar salad at the original Chimes in Baton Rouge. The salad in Covington lived up to expectation with the hard boiled eggs, grape tomatoes, parmesan cheese and theirs signature creamy Caesar dressing. The blackened salmon had a great burst of flavor from the spices while being served rare on the inside just like I ordered it. If you're a big fan of the Chimes in Baton Rouge, I definitely suggest that you make the trip to Covington and see that location. It is impressive to say the least. I also had several beers while at the Chimes including a Voo Ka Ray IPA from Chafunkta and the Woot Stout from Stone. Balancing out the beers with a salad and a nice piece of fish is something I could almost get used to!

A Craft Beer Tour of the Northshore

Old 504 Vanilla Coffee Porter from Chafunkta at The Chimes Covington

I've been to a handful of places on Lake Pontchartrain's Northshore, but overall I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to the entire area other than driving through on I-12.  I've competed in the Hammond Blues and BBQ Festival twice, filmed at the local breweries and eaten at the Abita Brew Pub, and I have visited The Barley Oak a handful of times, but the rest has remained sadly foreign to me.  

This past week I had the opportunity to change that.  I rode around with Vanessa Gomes, the reasonably new Craft Brands Manager at Champagne Beverage, to several popular craft beer retailers on the Northshore.  I had the pleasure of meeting some of the people that are making the craft beer scene flourish in an area that probably gets less attention than they deserve for adding culture to Louisiana.  Our first stop landed us at The Chimes in Covington fairly early in the morning.  Being a Baton Rouge guy, I am certainly familiar with The Chimes by LSU's campus and the one on Coursey, but the Covington location promised to out-shine both of them.  The property that the restaurant sits on is gorgeous.  Along the river in Covington, they still have old courthouse that was built in the 1800s on site as you drive up.  We sat down with Shane Waller, the bar manager and now beer buyer of sorts for all locations, to chat about the restaurant and their beer program.  I began with an Old 504 Vanilla Coffee Porter from Mandeville's Chafunkta Brewing Company since I can't get it in Baton Rouge.  We had a great chat about the business and the push to move towards more American craft beer instead of the previous domestics and imports model of "Around the World" get-your-name-on-the-wall fame.  I support that movement despite my name being on the wall twice at the LSU Chimes.  Shane showed me the keg room and the massive kitchen as well.  They definitely do some volume!

Adam Acquistapace and Jay Ducote

Vanessa and I's next stop came at Acquistapace's Covington Supermarket.  There we met with Adam Acquistapace who manages the the alcohol department and pays especially close attention to his craft beer selection.  Adam and I actually knew each other from undergrad at LSU, though I couldn't recall exactly how we met over a decade ago.  Much like Calandro's here in Baton Rouge, Acquistapace's has become one of the the Covington area's go-to bottle shops.  Paying careful attention to shelf life, storage temperatures, and stocking the right beers individually and in packages, this store definitely has an impressive spread of superb craft brews!

Chicken Fried Steak at Columbia Street Tap Room and Grill

Lunch time came along and that brought us to the Columbia Street Tap Room and Grill, also known around the area just as the "Tap Room."  This Covington hot-spot owes a lot of its success to Jonathan James, the beverage manager and entertainment director.  He joined myself, Vanessa, and Alex from Champagne who had previously met us at Chimes as well.  Before long we added Josh Erickson and a couple of his colleagues from the Chafunkta Brewing Company.  Before we left, Matt and Kyle from LA Craft joined the party as well.  I had a deliciuos chicken fried steak for lunch with an awesome white gravy, mashed potatoes, and sauteed veggies.  I also had several beers from the local selection such as the Chafunkta Voo Ka Ray IPA seen below, another pint of the the Old 504, and a bottle of the Parish Farmhouse IPA.  Life doesn't get much better!

Chafunkta's Voo Ka Ray IPA as seen at the "Tap Room"

Jay and Vanessa enjoying a Gueuze

Our last destination on the voyage took us to Hammond where we visited The Red White & Brew bottle shop.  Owner Todd Delaune greeted us with a smile.  Vanessa and I perused the selection of wines and his expanding craft beer stock.  Todd's store is one where you can take a bottle or twelve to go, or you can stay and drink on site.  The space has a very comfortable charm as you can sit around the bar in the middle of the retail floor.  Todd joined us in drinking a bottle of Gueuze Tilquin, a sour beer that is just sensational.  I'm usually not a huge fan (I appreciate, just don't love) of sours like lambics, but a gueuze doesn't have fruit added like a lambic, which clearly is what I don't enjoy, because this beer was top notch.  The Red White & Brew also just put in a 6 tap beer system so they can feature some local beers that they can't get in bottles.  Hello Chafunkta and Parish in Hammond!  I'll be back to this place for sure!

My small sampling of the Northshore made me want to go back for more.  Obviously Barley Oak and the soon to open Old Rail Brewpub are must-visits as well for the craft-beer loving traveler or local.  Everywhere I went made me want to come again and explore someplace new.  Perhaps next time I'll find a way to stay for dinner and some more evening drinks!  Thanks Vanessa, Champagne Beverage, and everyone I met or met up with along the way!

VIDEO: Louisiana Craft Breweries

I recently got a hired by Louisiana Travel to help document craft breweries in Louisiana.  With a film crew of Tommy Talley and Dan Jones from tommysTV, we trekked to all seven of the state's active breweries for on-camera interviews with their presidents, CEOs, brewmasters, and keg washers.  I also wrote a profile on each brewery that will be active soon on Louisiana Travel's website.  Check out the video that we filmed below!

    

Produced by Jay Ducote and Tommy Talley 

Director of Photography: Daniel Jones

B-Cam Operator: Tommy Talley

Edited by Daniel Jones

Special thanks to Theresa Overby from Miles Media/Louisiana Travel and Conrad Rolling with the Louisiana Craft Brewers Guild.  Also thanks to Abita, Bayou Teche, Chafunkta, Covington, NOLA, Parish, and Tin Roof for welcoming us in and giving us beer!

Photo to the right taken at the Pelican House in Baton Rouge.  Disclaimer: they can't get Chafunkta beer yet, but they actually had all other taps.

American Craft Beer Week: May 13-19

Over the last few years, American Craft Beer Week has become one of my favorite weeks of the year.  This year, it is even more important as Louisiana boasts one of the most rapidly advancing craft beer scenes in the country.  Just check out all the official craft beer events going on here: http://www.craftbeer.com/news-and-events/calendar.

Eric Ducote with BR Beer Scene laid out all the Baton Rouge craft beer events this week on his blog.

Calandro's Supermarket on Perkins is doing daily craft beer specials.  Keep up on their Facebook Page.

For those in New Orleans, make sure to check out The Beer Buddha for his picks this week.

Louisiana currently has seven operational commercial breweries with quite a few more on the way.  The operational breweries are:

Abita, Abita Springs
Bayou Teche, Arnaudville
Chafunkta, Mandeville
Covington, Covington
NOLA, New Orleans
Parish, Broussard
Tin Roof, Baton Rouge

So if you see any of them on tap or in stores this week, make EXTRA sure to support your local breweries.

Additionally, Louisiana has several other breweries in the planning process such as Great Raft, Gnarly Barley, Courtyard, Mudbug, and Cajun Fire.  So prepare to enjoy even more local craft beer soon as the Great American Beer Boom continues to explode in Louisiana!

Bite and Booze Radio Show: Louisiana Craft Beer Tasting

Eric Ducote from BR Beer Scene, Brenton Day from The Ale Runner, Chuck P from the Me and My Big Mouth Podcast, and Ross from Ten Sheets Zine all join me on this episode of the Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket where we celebrate the upcoming American Craft Beer Week (May 13-19) by drinking and scoring some local craft beer.  Each of these beers will be featured on a Feature Beer Friday post on BR Beer Scene.  The beers include Abita's Lemon Wheat, Covington's Bayou Bock, NOLA's Brown Ale, and Tin Roof's Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

The Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket airs on Saturdays at 5 PM on Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.  It is also available on iTunes.  The show's sponsors include Calandro's Supermarket, Visit Baton Rouge, Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning, Louisiana Cookin' Magazine, Juban's Restaurant, the Tin Roof Brewing Company, and the Louisiana Culinary Institute.

Bonefish Grill

Bonefish Grill is one of those national chain restaurants that I really can't help but like.  I'm usually such a fan of local cuisine and privately owned eateries that I just naturally stay away from corporate chow.  However, when food is fresh and cooked properly it can be delicious no matter who is seeing the bottom-line profits.  In much the same way that I have been a fan of Fleming's, I'm also a fan of Bonefish Grill.  The seafood selection is always spectacular, the chef creations are rotating specials are sensational, and I always leave there full and happy... of course it helps that I'm usually with Eusebio and only paying an above-average tip whenever I dine there.

My most recent trip to Bonefish Grill was fairly typical of how they all go.  We started with an off-menu Crispy Oyster Appetizer that contained select Apalachicola oysters with a spicy remoulade sauce.  Apalachicola sounds really fancy but unfortunately all it means is that they came from a particular region of the Florida Gulf Coast.  They were really good, but unfortunately one of the drawbacks of corporate dining is not always eating Louisiana oysters!  Oh well, at least they were still delicious, salty gulf oysters, fried golden brown, and served with a spicy remoulade sauce that complimented the magnificent molluscs very nicely.  We also had the seared tuna appetizer.  It was pretty good, but not as memorable as it has been in the past.

Crispy Oyster Appetizer

I have been drinking a lot of wine and martinis lately and was time to drink beer!  Bonefish had one on tap so I decided to give it a try.  Heiner Brau out of Covington, La has recently come out with a Strawberry Ale that I had never had before so I ordered a pint and gave it a taste.  The Strawberry Ale is a light and refeshing beer with just a hint of strawberry so I did not find it to be overly sweet.  I'm not sure that it could really compare to Abita's Strawberry Harvest, but it was pretty good and is available on draught and year round.  I finished my first pint and ordered another!

Heiner Brau Strawberry Ale

For my main course I went back to the daily specials.  I ordered the Atlantic swordfish topped with a crab cake over asparagus.  The entree was served with garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.  The wood-grilled swordfish was dense and flavorful.  It was tender and flaky like a typical fish but also had a consistency that reminded more of alligator tail or frog legs than a typical fish.  The crab cake was made of lump crab meat a served with a creamy sauce that had a great taste to it.  A bite of the crab cake and swordfish on one fork was a party in my mouth!  The asparagus was tender with a bit of tang to it from sitting under the fish and crab cake sauce.  The garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables were average but still satisfying to a hungry stomach.

Wood-Grilled Atlantic Swordfish with a Creamy Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, Asparagus, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Seasonal Vegetables

For dessert Eusebio couldn't resist ordering a bowl of vanilla ice cream with raspberry sauce.  I had a couple spoon fulls myself and it was quite delicious.  It hit the spot and properly capped off the meal.  All in all I left full and satisfied again.  The service at the bar was kind and friendly and our food tasted terrific.  No reason to ever complain about that!