Beers with Chuck: Toast Under the Oaks

by Chuck P


Most first year craft beer festivals aren't successful enough to return for a refill. There are several things that can go wrong along the beer-soaked trail to impending doom. Fortunately, I think the folks behind Toast Under The Oaks, held a few weeks ago at the beautiful Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, will definitely be around for years to come.

Enjoying the scenery while sipping some suds.

Jay and I were eager to check out the selection of beers from local breweries and homebrewers as we made our way onto the lawn. As soon as we walked in we saw our friend Brenton Day (www.thealerunner.com) at the Brasseurs a la Maison home brew tent. He welcomed us with one of his personal brews and one of my favorites, The Mighty Quinn Coffee Vanilla Porter.

Brenton Day's Mighty Quinn Coffee Vanilla Porter

I get excited every time I find out Brenton is brewing a batch. The coffee and vanilla notes are just spot on. Being that it’s a thin-bodied porter means this is something I would drink even in the middle of the brutal Louisiana summer and the barrel-aged version will blow you away.

We made our way over to the local craft beer tents and stopped at one our favorite local breweries, Great Raft from Shreveport. I was happy to see that their session IPA, Make Believer was on tap and instantly ordered one. There’s a mild dankness that comes through from the citra hops and those juicy, citric notes from the galaxy hops were very bright. Their Commotion Pale Ale is my “go-to”, but if you can get your hands on their Make Believer, don’t pass it up!

Great Raft's Make Believer

Jumping back to the coffee beers, we stopped at Thibodaux’s Mudbug Brewery tent for their Cafe Au Lait Coffee Stout. Very light in body for a stout, the coffee and chocolate flavors balance themselves nicely making it another one fit for summer drinking.

Mudbug Brewing's Café au Lait Coffee Stout

It was nice to see a big turnout by the local breweries for this first year event. We were able to catch up with all of our friends from Chafunkta, Tin Roof, Bayou Teche and more. I’m happy to say Brenton Day took 3rd place in the homebrew competition with The Mighty Quinn and 1st place with his Citrattak IPA! 

I’m sure that this time next year Jay and I will both be enjoying delicious, local and homebrewed craft beers under the oaks again.

Taking a Tour of Louisiana's Craft Beers at Zapp's International Beer Festival

– Sydney "Brown Nose" Blanchard

Needless to say, it was a pretty exciting day. Two thumbs up.

I don't claim to know too much about beer. As someone who turned 21 only a couple of years ago, the world of booze is still pretty new to me. My drink of choice tends to be whatever can get me intoxicated the fastest for the least amount of money.

Don't judge; I'm a college student.

But since I've been interning with Team Bite and Booze, I've learned that my Mic Ultra just isn't cutting it.

In order to further my education, Jay and Blair brought me to Zapp's International Beer Festival on Saturday to literally get a taste of the local craft brew scene.

My goals were simple: drink as much delicious beer as humanly possible in three short hours while staying sober enough to be able to recall and write about the experience later.

Despite the rain, the mud, and getting separated from the group for an hour, I managed to accomplish my goal.

Without further fanfare, here is my (amateur) list of stand-out beers at this weekend's Zapp's Beer Fest:

Blair and I were smart enough to wear sensible shoes...but we still got muddy.

Seven Sisters IPA by Old Rail Brewing Co

Out of Mandeville comes the Seven Sisters IPA. Caramel colored and served ice cold, this was my first beer of the event and one of the most memorable. Seven Sisters is pretty hoppy, which isn't usually my jam, but the sweet and malt flavors sold me.

Berry-ly Legal by LA Homebrew

Based in Baton Rouge, this home brew supply shop can set you up with your own at-home brewing system stat. Luckily for us Beer Fest attendees, they served up some creative home brews. The Berry-ly Legal is a raspberry honey wheat beer. Light in color and slightly syrupy, this brew is best in small doses. I'd take this over Abita Strawberry any day.

The Saison of Saint 14 by Bicycle Brew Club

This Baton Rouge club's brews were going fast. Before they ran out, I was able to sample their festival darling, the Saison of Saint 14. I wasn't a huge fan of this dark brew, but everyone else couldn't get enough. I'd give some tasting notes, but it was that unmemorable.

Stout Chocula by Redstick Brewmasters

This chocolate stout, brewed by Brad Bendily of Redstick Brewmasters, was one of my favorites. I'm a huge fan of chocolate beers, both to drink and to cook with. Stout Chocula was rich, creamy, and not overwhelmingly chocolatey.

Blonde Sugar Sex Magik by Tin Roof Brewing Company

It's no secret that we're pretty big fans of Tin Roof. Turnrow with a burger is as close to food heaven as I can get. But I wanted to try something different at the Tin Roof tent, so I opted for the Blonde Sugar Sex Magik. I'll admit I only picked it for its name, but I wasn't disappointed. Cool and crisp, this was a pretty standard blonde but with a hell of a kick at the end (re: chili pepper). It was more spicy than sexy or magical, but it was an interesting brew.

The Blue tasted like my childhood. 

Blue by SweetWater Brewing Company

I never thought I'd be writing this sentence, but Blue would make an amazing breakfast beer. This blueberry ale tasted exactly like the frozen Leggo blueberry pancakes of my childhood in the best way possible. It was more refreshing than sweet, which was a nice break from all the dessert beers I'd been drinking.

Revenge of the Quakers by LA Homebrew

I heard a group of beer aficionados singing the praises of this brew, so I trekked back through the mud to the LA Homebrew tent to see what all the fuss was about. The sign described this brew as a "chocolate vanilla coffee infused Bourbon oatmeal stout." That's a mouthful, but it perfectly described the layered flavors of the beer. The chocolate, coffee and oatmeal flavors stuck out the most to me.

Larry's Famous had some interesting concoctions. 

Vietnamese Iced Coffee Stout by Larry's Famous

At this point I was fairly intoxicated, rain-soaked, and caked in mud up to my knees. But I wasn't going to let a little rain keep me from trying this Vietnamese Iced Coffee Stout. I love Vietnamese iced coffee, so I knew I'd be into this stout. It tasted exactly as I imagined it would: a boozier version of my favorite caffeine fix.

Black IPA by Larry's Famous

IPA's really aren't my jam, but I'm learning I like the darker ones, and this Black IPA was no exception. One of the pourers at the tent recommended this one to me, and I had low expectations. It just sounded kind of boring. But the flavor was dark and rich, and I caught some hints of berry at the finish.