Louisiana has lots of great beer. And what better time of the year than October to have a beer tasting session to compare, contrast, and indulge in some good Louisiana beer. We tried the Heiner Brau Marzen, Abita's Vanilla, Covington Bock, LA 31 Granade, LA 31 Biere Pale, Lazy Magnolia(I know it's from Mississippi!), and Abita Pecan. Most of the beers have pictures, however, we were way too excited about drinking to worry about the damn camera so some of the pics just show the bottle and the Covington brew doesn't even have a pic. Oops! Got way too excited about beer...
Here's what we came up with:
Heiner Brau Marzen:
copper/amber in color, not much of a head-dissipates back into the beer. Definitely malty with a hoppy finish that wasn't completely unpleasant. It looked promising, but fell flat like the head. Not the worst marzen ever, better than Godon Beirsch.
Abita Vanilla Double Dog:
So Arielle and I decided that Turbo Dog was probably the bastard child of this beer that Abita kept hidden until its 25th anniversary. It poured with a foamy, tan head and looked uncannily like bourbon and coke. It was a vanilla, chocolatey, malty, less offensive beer than Turbo Dog. Quite smooth, but not our favorite. Reminiscent of Steens cane syrup.
Covington Bayou Bock:
Nice golden color with short lived head. Almost boring in taste. For just a plain lager, its pretty good. Nothing to write home about. But, we liked this beer. It wasn't the best and Abita Amber is definitely our go to beer if drinking, but this would be good at a crawfish boil or any outside event with seafood. Might not be good enough for BBQ. It's nice and light, but still has some flavor. Not a complete let down. Probably better if tasted and not seen, keep it in the bottle folks!
LA 31 Grenade:
Looks and smells like apple juice! We were a little scared about the passion fruit as passion fruit tends to be rather overwhelming, but this was so good. Only a slight fruit flavor on the end. Both of us wanted to pair it with something special like a steak or even almond/wedding cake. Pretty sure this "bottle of amazing" and champagne will be served at my wedding if that ever happens. It reminded me of a darker Hitachino Nest White Ale, probably because of the fruity-ness. Smooth, beautiful, and tasty...to be sipped or paired with fine foods as desired...
LA 31 Biere Pale:
This beer was NASTY! I almost puked...It tasted like dirty dishwater. I'm pretty sure dawn was the main ingredient. It was strange, I took a sip and it wasn't too bad at first, normal pale ale. But as soon as the beer moved to the back of the throat, soapy water taste commenced and gagging ensued. EW! Arielle flat out refused to try it. She had tried it once before and I got the "I told you so" after me and my open-minded self decided to give this nastiness a try despite her warnings. I cannot believe that the same brewery that produces that heavenly elixir, Grenade, could produce such foulness. What's next dirty socks? I went to the website to read about this beer and at the end it says "A votre sante!" My foot! I think they confused this with the bottle of dawn they used to clean up. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan:
Yes, its a Mississippi beer, but it's still within our general proximity. They're in our backyard. Beautiful caramel amber color. Sweet in a molasses sort of way, but not overwhelmingly so. More sweet than nutty, but pecans can be bitter so its a nice balance. It's not as thick as one might think. Arielle and I decided this needs to be a dessert beer despite its sweetness it has a dry finish that would pair nicely with chocolate. Super smooth. We should have tried the Abita first...this one is so much better than the Abita and it kills us (and our brand loyalty tendencies) to favor this MS brew over our beloved Abita...
Abita Pecan Harvest Ale:
Abita we love you, you know that right? This was definitely a savory beer. Could replace the Amber for my go to just for drinking beer. However, it has that signature Abita bite in the finish. It's got a great molasses and pecan flavor, but it lacks the refinement of Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan. It was SO PAINFUL for Arielle and I to admit our preference for the Lazy Magnolia over Abita. Sorry love, you just didn't do it for us this time. Don't get us wrong, it won't stop us from drinking the Pecan Ale, but if I had to choose, Southern Pecan would win.
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