I have a love/hate relationship with Louisiana. I love the food, I hate the beer. While visiting the Festival International in Lafayette this month we were surrounded by multitudes of drunken revelers staggering hither and yon, enjoying the festival as only folks from Louisiana can. But Louisiana is, for the most part, a state that prefers booze. Sweet, potent, icy drinks served in fishbowls and plastic half yards, and few decent beers to be found. 
We visited several watering holes attempting to find a decent brew and were thwarted in every attempt. Whenever we asked for something other than fizzy yellow piss water we were met with confused gazes and invariable offered Abita. Errrrrrkkkkk. Not many breweries in the US produce more shitty beers than Abita. "no, no", I tell the bartender, "I am looking for an import, something with flavor". "Well, we have Shiner Bock", offered one misguided soul. Errrrrkkkkk. "Surely there is a local brewery. Someone just has to be producing something with flavor around here". The light of recognition slowly dawned in his eyes. "Local"? "Yes". "Well there is the Parish Brewery in Broussard". "Do you have any of their beers"? "Yep, you want one"? "That would be nice, and preferrably something with flavor". The oaf nodded and plodded down to the other end of the bar, pulled me a tall glass and practically danced back to me with his treasure. "This is made with locally sourced sugar cane syrup, and it's really strong". Hallelujah.
The beer is a medium bodied wheat beer. Kind of sweet. Lots of carbonation. It tasted almost exactly like Dundee Honey Brown Lager and is only available on tap in the area surrounding Lafayette. I cannot find anywhere what the ABV is but am quite sure that it is quite low, maybe 4.0% - 4.5.%. It was explained to me later by a friend raised in the area that his people are not interested in a flavorful, strong beer. They are interested in having beer that they can start drinking at 9:00 am and drink it until 2:00 am the next day. *sigh* Looks like a fruity drink in a fishbowl next time.
Parish Brewing Company
613 E 2nd St. Ste B
Broussard, LA 70518
http://www.parishbeer.com/parish_home
I am an Beer Hound and have had - and enjoyed - top level beers all over the world including Mexico, Norway, Germany, the Caribbean and Key West to name a few. True to my Beer Hound ways I don't favor one type of beer but prefer to drink beers that suit the climate, environment, vibe, and temperature of the place I happen to be in and the mood I am in. I find Canebrake to be a highly drinkable beer with a somewhat sweet taste. Most non-pretentious beer hounds would probably enjoy it. There is NO hope for snobs.
ReplyDelete