“That’s one of the reasons I opened the Tap House,” Black says. “Tons of people came to town every year and no one was capitalizing on that.”

For his first Great American Beer Festival (GABF), he says, “I just put on decent beer.” Now the Tap House has 31 events over six days and does a month’s worth of business during that time.

(TRAVEL: Beer Lover’s Guide to the Denver Airport)

Black’s ecstatic that other Denver breweries, beer bars and restaurants are joining the party, offering an increasing number of special beer events. Owners and event organizers aim to impress the thousands of beer lovers who descend on Denver during GABF week, and it takes a ton of careful planning. Here’s how they pull it off.

7 Rules Denver Bars and Breweries Live by During Great American Beer Festival Week

1. Prepare in advance – WAY in advance

Black says most brewery showcase spots at his bar are locked in by the end of June, to the consternation of those who think a call in August or September is going to result in anything fruitful.

“We do six months of preparing for GABF every year, and then six months of catching up from GABF,” jokes Nick Nunns, owner of TRVE Brewing. TRVE also runs a small distribution portfolio, so Nunns is expanding the number of breweries and events they’re organizing on behalf of those brands.

2. Offer a wide range of events for every level and palate

Jesse Claeys, public relations coordinator at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado, says that the brewery does about 10 to 11 events in Denver, from sour beer tastings to more low-key offerings at local watering hole Star Bar’s “Kenny Lagers” event. “We try to have something for everyone,” he says.

Jason Forgy at Freshcraft beer bar and restaurant says that anyone interacting with the public needs to be able to work with all levels of beer drinkers, from beginners to experts. “We all need to try to have patience with newbs,” he says. “We need everyone to be included in this beer world.”

(READ: Craft Beer Bars That Changed Their City’s Beer Scene)

Euclid Hall Bar and Kitchen serves special beers around themes, like Locals’ Night, where they’ll tap kegs from Denver-area breweries that aren’t usually distributed. They also plan their well-known Sour Night.

Sometimes breweries prefer to stick with their personal vibe, such as TRVE, which is a heavy metal brewery, according to Nunns, so a lot of their events outside the brewery involve concerts and heavy metal music.

3. Make sure the lines move fast

“I hate seeing people standing in line at my place,” Chris Black of Falling Rock Tap House says. Since the number of people crowding the Tap House is unlikely to decrease (very much the opposite), Black’s implemented several GABF protocols over the past 10 years to get everyone moving. The thing that’s helped the most, he says, is numbering all the taps and having the kegs and the menus organized accordingly. That way, the staff doesn’t need to memorize the names of the beers they’re pouring, since they literally change every hour.

4. Have a game plan with a great staff

In order to get everything in order to keep lines moving and customers happy (or at least not too frustrated), a flexible, passionate, energetic, smart team is key. So is a well-communicated plan of attack and an understanding of how to operate if something goes wrong (which of course it will).

“It’s important to make sure communication between everyone is happening in all aspects of the process,” Great Divide’s Matt Sandy says. The brewery’s two tap rooms have more tours, longer hours and more staff during GABF. “We’ve got someone who all they do is check IDs, along with a dedicated glass runner, someone on hand to sell swag, and more people behind the bar,” he tells us.

(READ: Great American Beer Festival Do’s and Don’ts)

Jules Bouchard at Euclid Hall says that the service staff takes a weekly mandatory beer class throughout September in preparation.

Chris Black may get all the public attention directed at Falling Rock, but he’s quick to point out that he couldn’t do it without his assistant Beth Walter, who’s completely involved in the process. Her job covers everything from setting up distributor meetings in the spring to all the menu creation/formatting/distribution prep work, to staying on top of social media.

Although he mostly uses his existing staff, he has one person dedicated to changing the kegs, and a friend of his comes by every year just to bus glasses on Friday and Saturday nights.

5. Organize down to the smallest detail

With all the extra staffing and all hands on deck, organization is key. Freshcraft’s Jason Forgy swears by Excel or other spreadsheets to keep everyone and everything organized, such as keg size, keg location, keg origin, schedule of tapping, and keg pricing.

“It becomes our lifeline over the course of the week to keep us on track when we’re just exhausted,” Forgy says.

Another organizational tip he’s discovered is ordering the kegs strategically in the cooler so they’re lined up exactly as they’re supposed to be tapped. “Saves us looking around everywhere to find that one keg.”

Falling Rock’s numbering the taps, as mentioned earlier, along with accurate and up-to-date printed menus is a huge thing to keep organized. Since new ones need to be distributed every half hour (the inside changes beers at the top of the hour, and the outside bar changes on every half hour), every single beer needs to in place, with the correct corresponding number that the customer can use to order, which is found on every menu. That takes a hell of a lot of organization. Chris Black says they try to do as much as possible ahead of time, but things can go off track easily, and a well-organized system can help quickly spot an error.

(LEARN: Beer 101 Online Course)

6. Ensure the beers are at their best

TRVE’s Nick Nunns says they set aside special kegs all year to save for GABF week. “We want to make sure we bring out our coolest and best beers,” Nunns says. “Of course we want to show off.”

Matt Sandy at Great Divide says they are particularly mindful of their brewing schedule leading up to GABF week to make sure their beer supply is as plentiful and fresh as possible.

“We want to make sure we bring out our coolest and best beers.” Nick Nunns, TRVE Brewing

7. Build relationships with brewers all year long

You might ask, “Why do these breweries and businesses push themselves so hard every year?” I mean, honestly, at this point, people are gonna come in and spend money regardless, right? But the service industry is different from a cost-benefit analysis point of view. Not only do outlets want to provide a fun, cool experience for their guests, but they want to support all the breweries they’ve been working with, whether it be one year or 10 years.

TRVE’s license to distribute means they can help their friends in the industry put on events and spread the gospel of their brand to new, wider audiences. That’s why they’ve gone from representing two breweries last year for GABF to eight breweries this year.

Both Freshcraft and Euclid Hall also feel that supporting brewers during GABF is the least they can do for breweries that have supported their businesses through the years.

(BEER TRAVEL: 5 Epic Craft Beer Road Trips)

“People who take care of me year round get to showcase their beer at the largest beer festival in the country,” Jason Forgy says.

Jules Bouchard agrees. “Promoting beer and breweries during GABF are the outcomes of the relationships that Euclid Hall has built over the years.”

Established breweries like New Belgium and Great Divide are happy to take the opportunity to reach out to beer lovers who may have overlooked them in favor of the newer breweries. “We want to let people know that Great Divide is still doing some good stuff,” Matt Sandy says.

Breweries want to reach out to other breweries, too. Jesse Claeys notes that GABF is huge for New Belgium due to the connectivity on the industry side, with the opportunity to continue building relationships every year.

(READ: 7 Offbeat Places to Drink Craft Beer)

Get Your GABF Game Face On

These Denver businesses have the standard advice for attendees, like stay hydrated and find a source of info for all the events happening on any given day at any given hour (ProTip: Download the My GABF app). However, Nick Nunns at TRVE suggests the radical idea of not making a plan and just letting circumstance take you where you need to be. “Don’t make a list,” he says. “Just follow fate.”

Great Divide’s Matt Sandy says, “You can try to make a plan, but you probably won’t stick to it.”

It’s OK though – Denver’s breweries, beer bars and restaurants have been planning for months to show you a good time, so lean in and let it happen.

And most importantly, according to Freshcraft’s Jason Forgy: “Have fun, because beer is supposed to be fun, right?”

The post Denver Bars and Breweries Go Into Overdrive for Great American Beer Festival appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

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Over the past 30 years or so, a growing number of bars and pubs have focused on bringing beer drinkers a better variety of beers, especially those from small and independent brewers.

The connection between beer bar and community is stronger than ever, be it a showcase for beers made steps from the bar, or a place where beer geeks from all over the world can come together to drink and discuss the newest trend to classic styles.

(READ: Craft Beer on Major Airlines)

In cities with passionate local beer scenes, you’ll often find a craft beer bar that’s anchored the scene, be it for five, 10, 20, or 30 years. The longer the beer bar has been around, the earlier that community of brewers, publicans and drinkers came together as a cohesive community enriching everyone.

Here are six iconic U.S. craft beer bars which have strengthened beer communities in the cities where they operate, from oldest to newest.

The Toronado | San Francisco

As a brewer, Jesse Friedman from Almanac Beer Co. says being able to say you’re on tap at the Toronado is a big deal – a life goal. As a customer, he adds, the gruff demeanor of the Toronado bartenders is part of the whole experience.

Dave Keene opened the now-iconic Toronado about 30 years ago in San Francisco’s Lower Haight neighborhood on August 5, 1987. The service is no-nonsense, the beer is cash-only, and the bathrooms are well known for being small and grungy. It’s also one of the most prestigious and well-respected beer bars in the world.

Friedman says that while the pioneering Toronado cares about freshness and cultivates relationships with breweries, hype doesn’t really matter to Keene & Co. “They set their own path and invariably it works out their way.”

Vinnie Cilurzo, co-founder of Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, California, notes that the Toronado is one of the oldest craft beer bars in the United States.

“I think it goes without saying that Toronado has influenced the San Francisco and Bay Area beer scene more than any other establishment,” Cilurzo says. “It really means something to a brewer or brewery to have their beer on tap at the Toronado.”

(READ: 8 Farm Breweries to Visit This Year)

San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewing co-founder Nico Freccia jokes, “I love to talk about the Toronado. It’s one of my favorite subjects and where I asked my wife to scatter my ashes.” (He notes that Keene does not know about this plan.)

When Freccia started going to the Toronado regularly in 1994, he describes it as primarily a neighborhood bar, but also one of the few places anywhere where Belgian beer was available. He also points to the bar’s Barleywine Festival, which started as an annual event in 1993 until 2015, as evidence of Keene’s beer-forward thinking.

“People didn’t know what a barleywine was [in 1993] and most breweries didn’t brew one,” Freccia says. But the Toronado found more than 30 examples in those early years, and as the festival progressed over time, added multiple verticals, which helped people understand how beer ages.

The cash-only bar only sells two things, beer and t-shirts, which Cilurzo sees as one of the reasons for the Toronado’s success. “Because of this, they can focus on selection, inventory and clean lines.”

Hopleaf | Chicago

Michael Roper, owner of the 25-year-old Hopleaf beer bar in Chicago, remembers that in 1992, there wasn’t much of a local beer scene in the area.

“It was a very small, very troubled scene,” he says. Chicago city leadership did not issue one permit for breweries or taverns in the 22 years Richard M. Daley was mayor (1989-2011). That’s why Three Floyds opened in Indiana, Roper says, and all the employees live in the Chicago area and commute.

Hopleaf opened in February 1992 with eight beers on tap and 35 bottles. Roper refused to carry the popular standard macro lagers of the day. Early customers who walked through the door were always surprised.

“Why do I have to carry beer that I’m not passionate about?”

Of the bar’s 65 taps, 15 are reserved for Belgian beers and 15 for Chicago breweries. He believes carefully curating your beer list is the key to staying relevant.

“Our draft list changes every day,” he tells us. “I print out 250 menus every day. It’s a full-time job just to keep up with the thousands of beers available now.”

The Hopleaf has supported the legacy breweries like Firestone Walker, New Belgium and Sierra Nevada from the very beginning.

“Because of that loyalty we get a lot of special releases from those breweries,” Roper says.

Gabriel Magliaro founded Half Acre Brewery in 2006, and prior to that (and since then) visited the Hopleaf frequently.

“It had the best selection of Belgian beer, and early on provided a true, authentic publican experience,” he says. As soon as Half Acre was incorporated, he started working with Roper. “It’s a great example of a place we’d love to have our beer sold.”

(LEARN: Take CraftBeer.com 101 Course)

Falling Rock Tap House | Denver

Falling Rock Tap House’s 20th anniversary is June 2017 and owner Chris Black has scheduled a week of celebration. He’s flown all over the country to brew collaboration birthday beers with some of the breweries that have come to think of Falling Rock as a second home, especially during the Great American Beer Festival (GABF).

GABF is a big part of why Black opened Falling Rock Tap House in 1997. He’d moved to Denver from Houston, following a career in beer, working for beer bars like the Ginger Man, breweries and distributors. He moved to Denver to do something with beer, and although the Wynkoop Brewpub was popular at that time and Great Divide was making local beer for the market, there were no beer bars.

“During GABF, bars would put up banners, and sell a bucket of Sam Adams longnecks for $20, but that was the extent of it,” he explains. “I thought if I opened a place and put on a whole bunch of cool beers, no one else is doing that and I had all these contacts going back 10, 15 years. That would appeal to the uber beer geek coming out to the festival.”

Lauren Limbach (formerly Salazar), the specialty brand manager and wood cellar blender at New Belgium Brewing in nearby Fort Collins, says, “During GABF, we share [the Tap House] with the entire beer drinking community. It’s the maddest of all madhouses. Tappings every hour on the hour. Everyone comes out of the woodwork.”

Last year at GABF, the Falling Rock Tap House held 31 events in six days, with special brewery offerings being tapped almost every hour. Although during the high season of the Great American Beer Festival, rare kegs are plentiful.

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“We were the only game in town for a decade. Then things exploded. Now, there are three or four places in Denver I really like to go. Great Divide is my local haunt if I don’t want to be at the Tap House.”

Brian Dunn from Great Divide verifies this, adding that his staff are regulars at Falling Rock. “Chris comes to our taproom bar, he’s a big supporter of local breweries. We go there all the time, and he brings his crew to brewery events.”

“We’re lucky to have them in Denver,” Dunn says. “And after 20 years frequenting the Tap House, there are so many stories I can never tell.”

J. Clyde | Birmingham, AL

The Birmingham scene was bleak when Jerry Hartley opened the J. Clyde on April 13, 2007.

“There was nothing here. No place to get craft beer, and only one brewery in the state,” Hartley says.

He moved to Birmingham in 2004 after living in Germany for several years and tried to find quality beers in his city, like the ones he loved overseas.

Originally, Hartley wanted to open his own brewery, but Alabama’s restrictive laws regarding breweries and beer at the time made it too difficult. Instead, he opened the J. Clyde, a beer bar and restaurant and worked to help change state laws and the local beer culture.

“If there were people like me looking for quality beer,” Hartley says, “I knew there would be others.”

The J. Clyde started with 40 taps, which Hartley filled with imports and quality craft he could find under the state’s legal ABV limit. He worked with the legislative advocacy group, Free the Hops, to change the antiquated beer laws and the group used the J. Clyde as a meeting place and rallying point.

In 2009, the ABV limit was raised from 6% to 13.9% and in 2011, The Brewery Modernization Act was signed into law, allowing breweries to open taprooms and sell their beer on site.

“As taprooms opened in 2012, that ignited people’s interest in local beer,” Hartley says. “We remodeled our back bar with 13 taps exclusively for Alabama beers and four more to pour at cellar temps.”

(LEARN: Details on 75+ Popular Beer Styles)

The J. Clyde helped Good People, Birmingham’s first brewery, in their early days with “research and development.”

“Whatever they brewed, we’d tap it and give them the feedback we heard,” he says.

Michael Sellers, Good People Brewing co-founder, says that both the brewery and the J. Clyde started around the same time, which created a common goal between the two businesses to promote craft and local beer.

“You could get beer there you couldn’t get from other bars and you were exposed to different styles of beer,” Sellers says “There’s so much more craft now, so the impact is lessening but for years, it was the place to be for craft beer in the area.”

ChurchKey | Washington, D.C.

Greg Engert worked at the Brickskeller in Dupont Circle before joining the Neighborhood Restaurant Group as a partner and beer director. The Brickskeller first opened in 1957 and was the site of the first tasting that Michael Jackson held in the United States, due to its strong Belgian beer program.

The owners of the Brickskeller, the Coja family, took advantage of Washington DC’s singular import and distribution laws that permitted bars to serve beer from all 50 states.

Although the Brickskeller closed in 2010, its owners set into motion a progressive beer culture, which is directly responsible for the current success of all beer bars in Washington, D.C. The legendary beer hall, Engert says, continues to influence DC beer culture due to the Coja family’s pioneering vision.

Engert and his partners opened ChurchKey in 2009, the group’s first property in Washington, D.C. The concept, as overseen by Engle, includes a five-engine cask program, heightened levels of service, and a temperature-controlled draft system. The 50 beers on tap are carefully sourced. The attention to service means menus are always updated, the food menu complements the beer, educated staff is at the ready, and proper glassware will be deployed.

(COOK WITH BEER: Hundreds of Recipes)

“ChurchKey has provided a lot of consumer education – for example, breaking the menu down into approachable style categories with descriptors,” DC Brau founder Brandon Skall says. “Now it’s an educated populace.”

DC Brau, the first distributed brewery in Washington, D.C., opened in 2011, two years after ChurchKey.

“The city’s been purveying great beers since the 1950s,” Engert says. “We were a city of beer bars before having a brewing community.”

The Avenue Pub | New Orleans

Polly Watts took over her father’s neighborhood bar on St. Charles Avenue knowing nothing about beer. Now, she’s the local leading expert.

The Avenue Pub converted to a craft beer bar in 2009, the same year that NOLA Brewing began producing beer. At that time, the only other local option was Abita, Watts says.

“The only other breweries we had access to were Rogue, North Coast, Harpoon and Brooklyn. That was it,” she tells us. “There was very little out there.”

National breweries and local distributors were unwilling to take a risk and send specialty styles to the untested New Orleans market. But Watts began talking to her connections with importers, and they would go through their list line by line with her.

“We started turning people onto sours, Belgian pale ales, saisons and barrel aged imperial stouts,” Watts says. “And all the beers were exceptional – they blew people away. You do that a few times and you get a beer person.”

She transformed the beer selection.

“No one had heard of anything on the menu before, and that was a deliberate strategy. If you put on a bunch of new beers and one familiar, people will gravitate toward the familiar,” Watts says. “This way, at that time, chances were that no one knew anything about the beers or the styles and they had to talk to the bartenders to learn about them. It got people to be more experimental in the city.”

“The Avenue proved that there was safety in showcasing the higher end, experimental beers – and they could really shine there,” says Dylan Lintern, COO of NOLA Brewing.

Watts says after a while, American breweries started to trust her, so they started sending her special beers.

Over the past five years, the number of breweries in Louisiana has tripled, and working with the Avenue Pub has helped local breweries succeed.

(FOOD: Craft Beer and Cheese Guide)

“Part of our job is to champion the best local beer. And I always give new breweries a chance,” Watts says. “At first, if they brewed it, we’d tap it — but now we have to be more selective.”

“She changed the game and there are still no other places like it,” Lintern says. “She brought a new element to the beer world here.”

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The post 6 Craft Beer Bars That Changed Their City’s Beer Scene appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Below are seven cities in the South that have undergone significant cultural and epicurean changes over the last five years, and seven breweries in those cities that represent the growth of their communities.

Urban South Brewery | New Orleans, LA

New Orleans’ beer culture has been slow to take root, but it’s blooming rapidly. There are three production breweries in the city (up from one in 2010) with five more in differing stages of readiness. Urban South opened in March 2016 and has been in such demand that within the first six months of operation, they had to double their tank capacity.

Urban South’s brewers are focused on brewing traditional lagers and hoppy IPAs, with a wit and porter thrown in for good measure — all beers designed and brewed to appeal to a wide spectrum of palates and levels of beer drinkers.

“Our philosophy is to brew beers that we love to drink that fit our place and climate,” Urban South founder and president Jacob Landry says. “We don’t think that can be done without brewing lagers. From an economic standpoint for a startup, they don’t make a lot of sense. We can turn twice as much ale in our tanks in the same time it takes to turn a batch of lager. However, what is the hot humid South without crisp lagers?”

More breweries: NOLA Brewing, Second Line Brewing, Crescent City Brewhouse Bars/Restaurants: Avenue Pub, Cooter Brown’s, The Bulldog, Junction, Ale Bottle shops: Stein’s Market and Deli, 504 Craft Beer Reserve, Elio’s Events: NOLA On Tap

Trim Tab Brewing | Birmingham, AL

Alabama, like several other Southern states, had state laws which limited beer ABV on the books for years, which made it hard to produce a wide range of beers. In 2009, legislation passed to raise the ABV limit from 5.9 percent to 13.9 percent — a game changer for the state’s nascent brewing industry.

Birmingham is an industrial town without the industry of its heyday. However, new bars and restaurants are making the city more appealing to young professionals, a demographic partial to local and craft beer.

“This is a very rapidly emerging city, mostly in very creative ways,” Trim Tab co-founder Harris Steward. “Something that was an afterthought — craft beer — is now something that everyone gathers around. It’s almost like you can take the temperature of the city based on where the craft beer scene is now.”

Trim Tab Brewing opened in early 2014 in a space where beer, art, conversation and performance come together. The brewery has received accolades for its flagship, Pillar to Post Rye Brown Ale, as well as seasonals such as a Raspberry Berliner Weisse and Rescue Ship Pale Ale.

More breweries: Good People Brewing, Cahaba, Avondale, Ghost Train Bar/Restaurants: Carrigan’s Public House, Dave’s Pub, J. Clyde Bottle shops: Hop City Events: Fall FestivALE

Holy City | Charleston, SC

Charleston is one of the most visited cities in the South. Its historic charm has spawned a significant tourism industry. Residents and visitors alike enjoy a growing food scene which extends to local beer as well. The port city is spread over the banks of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, and breweries are tucked into nooks of every neighborhood.

Holy City opened its 15-bbl brewery in July 2011 and produced over 5,000 barrels in 2015. Taproom manager Paul Pavlich says that Holy City brews both upfront, true-to-style, traditional beers such as English milds, German bocks, Irish stouts, and American IPAs, as well as beers that “we get to have a little fun with,” like Brain Squasher Pumpkin Stout brewed with local hot peppers, Lost Resolution Dopplebock fermented with French saison yeast, or Earthworm Rye Ale made with petite wormwood.

Pavlich also notes the Charleston brewing community supports one another. “We all drink each other’s beer,” he says. “There’s just still a lot of room to grow in this market.”

More breweries: COAST Brewing Co., Edmund’s Oast, Frothy Beard, Freehouse, Palmetto, Revelry Bar/Restaurants:  Craft Conundrum, Closed For Business, Bay Street Biergarten Bottle shops: The Brew Cellar

(MORE: Beercation Destination: Charleston)

Ponysaurus Brewing | Durham, NC

“The beer beer would drink if beer could drink beer,” so says Ponysaurus’s slogan. Originally based in a startup incubator, Ponysaurus Brewing moved into an expanded, 4500-square foot space last year with a 15-bbl brewhouse, taproom and a significant outdoor beer garden space with plenty of grills for guests to throw something on to cook themselves — the ingredients are available to purchase in the taproom. “Basically, it’s everything you want in a city park, plus you get to drink beer,” co-founder Nick Hawthorne-Johnson says.

The name Ponysaurus comes from brewmaster Kyle Jensen’s background as a special education teacher, a field in which both ponies and dinosaurs are venerated. While deciding between the two for the new brewery’s name and theme, the team realized that they didn’t have to. The mashup of the two animals reflects the brewing philosophy of Ponysaurus. “A ponysaurus is a magical creature,” Hawthorne-Johnson says. “And we’re engaged in a magical endeavor — brewing is like alchemy.”

More breweries: Fullsteam, Durty Bull Brewing Co, Bull Durham Beer Co., Bull City Burger and Brewery Bar/Restaurants:  Criterion, Surf Club, Dashi, Geer Street Garden, The Federal Bottle shops: Beer Durham, Bull Craft Bottle Shop, Sam’s Bottle Shop Events: 919 Beer Beericana, World Beer Festival Durham

Creature Comforts Brewing Company | Athens, GA

Athens is a progressive college town that embraces new ideas quickly, and the locals have been enjoying great beers even before the current brewing boom. The Classic City Brewfest has been educating the population for over 20 years and is held in conjunction with the city’s craft beer week in April.

Creature Comforts opened in 2014 and came out of the gate an instant success. They can barely keep shelves stocked due to consumer demand outpacing their capacity. They’ve recently expanded with several 120-bbl tanks. Local beer writer and event planner Owen Ogletree says the brewery’s central location infuses downtown Athens’ air with the malty smells of brewing.

According to Ogletree, Creature Comforts’ success is because they make good beer which is distributed in a small area. “I think some of the appeal comes from the fact that it’s hard to get,” he adds. Tropicalia IPA is always in demand, and their small but growing barrel aging program also gets a lot of attention.

Don’t Miss: Southern Brewing Co. Bars/Restaurants: Trappeze Pub, Royal Peasant Pub, The Catch 22 Gastropub, Chops & Hops Bottle shops: Five Points Bottle Shop Events: Classic City Brewfest

The Black Abbey | Nashville, TN

According to Black Abbey founder Carl Meier, Nashville is one of the friendliest cities in the country, especially when it comes to local breweries. “We’re all connected to each other, which has created a close sense of community.” Community also figures into the theme of Black Abbey, which is based on the history of Protestant Reformationist Martin Luther (rumored to have escaped his religious persecutors in a monastery that brewed beer), with its taproom called Fellowship Hall.

“The link between beer and religious history takes something esoteric and remote and makes it approachable,” Meier says. That philosophy carries over to their beer recipes, which take traditional Belgian styles and gives them a twist to make them more accessible.

Another addition to the beer scene is high end beer festival Nuit Belge, which pairs local fine dining chefs with Belgian or Belgian-style beer.

Other breweries: Yazoo, Blackstone, Southern Grist, East Nashville Beer Works, Tennessee Brew Works, Jackalope, Little Harpeth, Czann’s, TailGate Beer, Harding House, Smith & Lentz Bars/Restaurants: The Hop Stop, Hurry Back, Butchertown Hall, Hops and Crafts, 12 South Taproom and Grill Bottle shops: Craft Brewed Events: Nuit Belge

(MORE: Beercation Destination: Nashville)

Ethereal Brewing | Lexington, KY

Ethereal Brewing co-founder Andrew Bishop notes that each of Lexington’s breweries have a different focus: Country focuses on experimental brewing; West 6th loves its well-hopped ales.

“Everyone has their own ideas,” he says.

Ethereal, founded in 2014 by Bishop and Brandon Floan, focuses on Belgian farmhouse and American craft styles. Bishop notes the region’s proximity to bourbon distilleries means they have easy access to bourbon barrels. They’ve also experimented with brettanomyces fermentation, pediococcus and lactobacillus. They recently hosted the Funky Farmhouse Fest to showcase the region’s sour and Belgian farmhouse style beers.

Although the taproom serves a few guest taps, the main focus is its own beer, like Fleur Rouge Hibiscus Saison, Peach Better Have My Money or Chinookied.

Lexington’s tourist bureau, VisitLex, promotes its local breweries with the Brewgrass Trail: “Come for the bourbon, stay for the beer.”

More breweries: Alltech, Country Boy, West 6th Bars/Restaurants: The Beer Trappe, Pazzo’s, HopCat, Marikka’s Bottle shops: Shenanigan’s, The Beer Trappe Events: Lexington Fest of Ales, Alltech Craft Brews and Food Fest

The post Craft Breweries to Watch in 7 Southern Cities appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

At the 2015 Craft Brewers Conference in Portland, Ore., Craft Beer Program Director for the Brewers Association Julia Herz moderated a panel of sensory specialists from the beer world as well as the scientific community including Randy Mosher, Pat Fahey, Lindsay Barr and Nicole Garneau, Ph.D.

The purpose of this sensory culinary working group was to examine how and why we perceive flavor and other important aspects of food and beer (like texture or mouthfeel), how to standardize a lexicon describing those perceptions, and how to spread that information to the larger beer and food worlds to create more mindful pairings.

(10 Beer and Food Pairings That Wow Craft Brewers)

While this seminar went in several interesting directions, one, in particular, caught my attention: the concept that sensory science supports the idea that pairing food and beer can elevate each into something more than the sum of its parts.

Master Cicerone Pat Fahey, also the content creator for the Cicerone Certification Program, notes, “When you put two things together and get something that wasn’t there before, those are some of the most interesting beer and food pairings–when we’re able to create something new through the pairing.”

As a Louisiana beer writer, I’ve long advocated that underrated local beer needs to be paired with food to realize the true potential of beer brewing and drinking in a food-focused culture. And now, science supports that.

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“Science can support intuition in some cases,” says panelist Lindsay Guerdrum Barr, Sensory Specialist at New Belgium Brewing Co. “We’re just trying to put science behind what we intuitively know in the beer-food pairing world.”

For example, IPA and potato chips have been proven to interact in a sense-pleasing manner. “The reason we like that [pairing],” Guerdrum Barr says, “is because of the peripheral interactions that happen at the taste receptor level between the saltiness of the chips and the bitterness of the IPA.”

It’s in this context that often overlooked styles can really shine in food pairings elevating the pleasure derived in drinking them by matching what’s happening on a chemical and biological level with the right dish.

Brown Ale

Adam Dulye, executive chef for the Brewers Association and CraftBeer.com, points to the humble brown ale as an often overlooked sleeper of a beer style, “the pinot noir of the beer world.”

“You can drink it on its own; you can pair it with fish, poultry, game or beef. A lot of that is due to the Maillard reaction in the malt,” which references the chemical process which transforms enzymes and carbohydrates through heat to a highly aromatic compound, adding flavor to meat, coffee, bread, and beer.

Dulye says that the brown ale style contains the same range of flavors on the palate as the receptors of the Maillard reaction, hitting the “sweet spot” right where people perceive that chemical interaction. He recommends a roast duck breast or confit to complement the fruit undertones of the darker malts in the beer.

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One revelatory pairing I had at Restaurant August in 2013 was roasted lamb with green garlic-oat risotto served with Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan. I lacked the terminology at that time to adequately articulate the reasons for the pairing’s success–if I tried it now, I would likely point to each component enhancing the other in the roast/Maillard chemical similarities specifically. Also, the increased malt sweetness of the beer style balanced the gaminess of the lamb and the sharp freshness of the green garlic, creating a harmony that remains to this day the best combination of food and beer I have ever had.

Southern Pecan is not a flashy, sexy beer. It’s a 4.4 percent ABV brown ale with sweet malt notes and caramel undertones. It gets fair ratings on various beer sites, but because the style is so standard, it doesn’t get much attention. It could be considered, as Chef Dulye says, a “sleeper” beer, but pair it with the right food and it becomes divine.

Saison

Another often overlooked or misinterpreted style that tends to work well with food is the saison. Dulye enjoys using it for pairing because it’s a good gateway beer for those who are new to beer or beer-food pairings.

He notes, the citrus/lemon notes from the yeast along with the high level of carbonation typical of the style is great with food and dishes like asparagus or a scallop-English pea risotto. The ocean sweetness of the scallop and the bright, fresh peas along with the effervescence and lightness of a saison creates a “springtime party in your mouth,” he says.

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Also, risotto has a rich, creamy, fatty rice base, and according to Nicole Garneau Ph.D., Director, The Genetics of Taste Lab at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, “Fat can be scoured by CO2. We use the language ‘palate cleansing’ because CO2 is one of the best ways to scrub the palate.”

Smoked Beer/Rauchbier

The almost savory aspects of a smoked beer come from the brain’s association of smoke with meat like bacon or barbecue. This can make the enjoyment of these types of beers difficult since the dominant flavor targets a sense memory not typically associated with beer or any beverage.

Dr. Garneau calls this kind of cognitive association congruence, and it is a significant aspect of sensory interaction since the brain is what takes all the input from the senses and makes a decision based on that information. It also makes smoked beer, which can be an acquired taste to drink on its own, perfect for pairing with food.

In a recent interview, Dr. Garneau noted that the aroma of smoke has been associated with meat and the cooking of protein over fire throughout human history and evolution. “Smoke isn’t a flavor, it’s an aroma,” she adds.

Specific cultural and nostalgic associations with smoke aroma layered on top of the more broadly based cognitive recognition create a cross-modal interaction, Dr. Garneau says, which is a point in the brain where two or sense memories come into play to make an even stronger connection to the flavor or aroma in question.

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Grilled foods also trigger that cultural and evolutionary association. Also, foods rich in umami, “the fifth sense” that recognizes savory glutemates, also carry that sense memory. Mushrooms, Parmesan, cured meat, and fermented fish sauces or Worcestershire sauce are examples of umami.

According to Karlos Knott, co-founder of Bayou Teche Brewing in Arnaudville, La., when developing their smoked beer in the early days of the brewery’s founding, “We wanted to create a beer that reminded us of my grandfather. When we were thinking of what style to brew, we all said at the same time, it has to be smoked, because he smoked almost everything he butchered on his farm.”

Thinking about how the beer would affect food pairings, Knotts says that while developing the recipe, he and his family wanted a much lighter smoke profile in the beer than the traditional German Rauchbier. “Cajun food is pretty complex with the roux, pork fat, smokiness from the meat, onions, garlic, cayenne pepper and such. You really need beer in South Louisiana to be a supporting partner to the meal, not a standout.”

Chef Dulye says, “Generally if I am working with a smoked beer I will let the smoke in the beer be the only smoke in the pairing. Pairing a smoked beer to a smoked dish can overwhelm the palate as well as make it harder to discern where the smoke notes are coming from.”

Pairing is Personal

Beer is more than the sum of its ABV and IBU numerical parts. The potential to make significant, scientifically sound cognitive connections through the five senses is significantly increased by adding the right flavors, aromas and textures to the equation with food pairings. The number of outcomes exponentially increases by the fact, as Herz says, that “perception is personal, and therefore pairing is personal.”

So in addition to scientific facts and culinary intuition, Dr. Garneau says, “At the end of the day, if you like it, you like it. And it’s not just based on your ability to detect and perceive, but also your experiences that are personal or cultural: social context, where you’re eating, nostalgia, emotions.”

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The sensory pairing team of beer and scientific experts that presented at last year’s Craft Brewers Conference has been continuing its work and will be holding another seminar at this year’s conference in Philadelphia to bring the brewing community up to speed on its progress.

“Crowdtasting: A New Approach in Beer and Food,” will be held on Thurs., May 5, and will feature several original members of the group: Julia Herz, Randy Mosher, Pat Fahey, and Nicole Garneau, Ph.D.

The post 3 Overlooked Beer Styles to Pair with Food appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

The idea of what cask ale can and should be in the United States runs counter to the traditional parameters set by the UK-based advocacy group the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). But, in a way, it makes sense. The American beer industry has pushed the boundaries of flavor, style and ingredients, and bringing that creativity to cask-conditioned beer could be considered a logical step.

However, the ever changing and evolving brewing culture in the United States has taken the cask conditioned-beer tradition and put its own spin on it. American brewers are more likely to add creative or experimental ingredients to the cask, such as fruit, wood, herbs and spices.

Cask True Believers

For the last 12 years, the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting has been Owen Ogletree’s contribution to promoting the tradition of cask beer in the South. The festival drew 650 people in 2015 with a total of 47 casks of both American and British cask ale, making it the largest cask ale festival in the Southeast.

”People think that cask ale is warm and flat,” Ogletree says. “But it actually has a soft sparkle of carbonation and allows you to enjoy the fermentation character. And it’s not warm—it’s cool, but not too cold, so you really taste the full flavor of the beer. I just really enjoy the unfiltered, unpasteurized beer out of a cask. It tastes more like what beer should be.”

Dave McLean, founder of Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery in San Francisco, says, “[Cask-conditioned ale] provides a heightened awareness for the base ingredients, and brings out all sorts of subtlety and nuance. You’re able to discover the additional beauty that’s already there in any well-made beer.”

According to Oskar Blues’ Head of Brewing Operations, Tim Matthews, “Not all carbonation is created equal. When you take a sip of cask ale that’s been properly conditioned, you see the CO2 is dancing until it naturally evolves out of solution. There’s an elegance to it which is almost hypnotizing.”

Crimes Against Cask

All too frequently, U.S. bars that serve cask conditioned beer don’t know how to handle the delicate liquid, leading to an erroneous understanding of cask, according to cask ale enthusiasts at breweries such as Hogshead Brewery.

When tapping a cask, the science of brewing meets the historic artistry of the real ale tradition and mishandling the beer during the brewing or serving process leads to unpleasant looking pints of murky liquid with little of the natural carbonation that real ale lovers crave.

Jacob Gardner, brewer at Hogshead Brewery, a Denver brewery known for traditional English-style ales served on seven beer engines, lists the various crimes against cask: “Heaving the cask up on the bar right before serving. Speed venting it so that the beer loses its carbonation. Not letting it settle before serving. When you’re pouring flat beer that looks like pond water, it’s a disservice to the entire industry as well as the American beer drinking public.”

To fight these crimes, breweries like Oskar Blues created a document which educates retailers and distributors about handling and serving cask ales and outlines what cask ale is, how it’s made, its cultural significance, why it’s special and how his brewery prepares it. For example, it’s recommended that the brewery and distributor keep and transport the cask in the position it will be eventually served in, and moving it as seldom as possible.

The instructions include a tapping method for casks tapped on top of bars. Vent the cask one day before the event and put on the bar at least 1-2 hours before tapping. This ensures that the proper carbonation level is reached in time for service. When inserting the tap, do so gently and with as few hits as possible, so that the sediment doesn’t get shaken and the beer is cloudy when served.

Experimental Casks: Evolution or Bastardization?

When breweries use non-traditional ingredients to create cask-conditioned ale, it can be seen as either groundbreaking and experimental, or as a tortuous expression of the pure version of the British ideal of low-gravity beers served without added CO2.

“There’s nothing inherently wrong with casks using crazy ingredients as long as they’re done well,” says Stephen Kirby, owner of Hogshead Brewery. “But serve it like real ale, don’t do a dog and pony show.”

According to McLean, “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. I’m not completely against that, though. Dry hopping is a traditionally acceptable augmentation of cask-conditioned ale and [adding adjunct ingredients] comes from a really logical place.”

There are several compelling reasons that breweries turn toward more creative ingredients in cask ales. One is that the market demands it. That’s the case in Louisiana, according to Mark Wilson, head brewer at Louisiana’s Abita Brewing, which produces around 70 firkins per month.

“People want to be part of a special event, something that’s served for just one night,” Wilson says. “It’s the natural evolution of craft beer, which is always doing something new.”

NOLA Brewing, also in Louisiana, focuses almost exclusively on experimental casks, which serves the brewery’s needs as well as its consumers’. Brewery president, Kirk Coco points out, “Casks bring something unusual to the table, something that isn’t what you can get at the grocery or your average bar.”

Baltimore brewery Heavy Seas Beer has a robust firkin program, which allows retailers to design a personalized cask. They first choose from a selection of five base beers, then choose hops, wood treatments and adjunct ingredients. “About 90 percent of casks we sell are customized,” brewmaster Chris Leonard says. “The bar owners come to the brewery and build the cask themselves, like kids in a candy store.”

With American brewers, retailers and consumers excited about the enhanced flavor potential of cask ales with nontraditional ingredients, this trend has taken on a life and technique of its own. It’s no longer an anomalous process—it’s a part of the culture as much as traditionally prepared casks.

From the Cask to the Glass

A growing number of beer bars have worked with local breweries to attain understanding, invested in beer engines, and include storing, tapping and serving cask ale in every employee’s orientation.

At The Hay Merchant, owner Kevin Floyd knew that he wanted a strong cask ale program from the very beginning of planning his beer-focused bar in Houston. He’d been exposed to the joys of drinking and selling cask-conditioned beer at his first bar and it was something he knew was part of the true beer experience. “This was the first time I had the opportunity to be in charge of my own beer program,” he says. “I knew I wanted to include a beer engine in the design of the bar.”

Floyd installed not just one, but five engines to dispense cask ale, an investment gamble that worked out well, selling 50 casks the first month in business and growing steadily ever since.

Dan McLaughlin, owner of The Pony Bar in Hell’s Kitchen, says that his bar installed two beer engines, and sales of cask have been strong ever since. “We go through probably about four firkins a week, on average,” McLaughlin says. “At the start, though, the pickings were slim. We bought casks and mailed them to breweries all over the country.”

Cooperage is an often overlooked part of the casking process—the manufacture of the cask vessels themselves. Before American breweries started cask programs, the beer would often be made to order with casks the retailers sent because the breweries didn’t make them frequently enough to have the proper equipment. Since more breweries like Oskar Blues, Abita, Real Ale Co. and Heavy Seas have developed in-house programs with their own cooperage, the process is much easier for today’s publicans to navigate without investing in expensive casks to send out and be filled.

British-style, traditional casks can be tough to come by in the U.S., according to Avenue Pub owner Polly Watts. “Beer geeks here are interested in crazy, exotic ingredients and bars are always looking [to provide] unique beer and beer experiences.”

“I get why traditionalists are upset,” Watts adds. “But, you know, Americans are going to do what they want to do.”

The post Cask Ale’s Journey Into the Modern Beer World appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

But things are quickly getting better. In recent years, the city’s distributors and the state’s breweries have stepped up to guide inexperienced bars and restaurants towards best practices in serving beer, and have educated them on a wider variety of styles.

As a local, I’ve watched with growing pride as the 10 New Orleans beer bars and restaurants below either started strong right out of the gate, or adapted to the demands of craft beer and craft beer consumers.

1. The Avenue Pub | 1732 St. Charles Ave.

The Avenue Pub is the undisputed leader of the New Orleans beer movement. Polly Watts’ 24-hour beer bar has close to 50 taps of local, regional, and national craft brands, as well as imports from Belgium, Germany, Italy and the U.K.

When brewery owners roll into town, The Avenue is their first stop. Greg Koch from Stone Brewing Co., Brian Strumke from Stillwater, Steve Hindy from Brooklyn Brewery, Brock Wagner from Saint Arnold, and Patrick Rue from the Bruery are only a few of the craft beer celebrities that have dropped in, either to host events or just to hang out.

Watts is also the first (and so far, the only) bar owner in New Orleans to require and publish “kegged on” dates for every IPA she serves. The Avenue Pub should be at the top of any beer lover’s list when visiting New Orleans.

2. The Courtyard Brewery | 1020 Erato Street

Open for just under a year, The Courtyard Brewery has already changed the New Orleans beer game. It provides a very different—but still excellent—craft beer experience from the nearby Avenue Pub.

Co-founder Scott Wood brews and sells his own beers amongst a variety of hand-picked guest taps. The rotating lineup represents what Wood and his wife and co-founder Lindsay Hellwig consider to be the best beers available in the state at any given time.

The space is a rustic renovated warehouse, with folding chairs inside and out, and empty cable spools for tables. Wood and Hellwig have hosted several events with Houston’s Saint Arnold Brewery, including an intimate cheese and chocolate pairing. Wood, a San Diego native, also features tap takeovers from his hometown.

3. NOLA Brewing Tap Room | 3001 Tchoupitoulas St.

The city’s first production brewery since Dixie left town in 2005, NOLA Brewing has expanded tremendously over the past six years. This summer brought a newly renovated and enlarged tap room, which is the perfect place for locals and visitors to try the brewery’s flagships, its new line of sour beers, and the experimental batches made on its pilot system.

4. Junction | 3021 St. Claude Ave.

Junction is new on the scene, having opened in the Bywater neighborhood at the beginning of 2015. Though Junction is well-known for its delicious burger menu, manager Lloyd Miller says that he runs a beer bar first, and a burger joint second.

Miller and his team are committed to working with local and national craft breweries. Every other Thursday, you can find brewers and representatives from breweries like Chafunkta Brewing, Brooklyn Brewing, Southern Prohibition and Lagunitas on hand to meet customers and share their beers.

The beer list has a few standards that are always on tap, like Southern Tier’s Live, an American pale ale that’s one of my personal favorites. Junction also cycles through new beers and seasonals regularly. The bar’s beer menu is great for educating new beer consumers — it’s a flipbook with brand graphics and extended information about each beer.

5. Snooty Cooter | 509 South Carrollton Ave.

The venerable Cooter Brown’s Oyster Bar and Tavern has been around for about 40 years, but last year manager Jonathan Junca decided to focus on the booming craft beer trend without disturbing the traditional sports-bar-and-saloon vibe beloved by its many long-time regulars.

He and owner Larry Berestitzky turned Cooter Brown’s back bar (already furnished with gorgeous marble-and-brass tables and cozy wood booths) into a craft beer-focused space called the Snooty Cooter. Junca has held several events with breweries like Gnarly Barley, which provided special casks, and New Belgium, which sponsors regular pint nights with new releases.

6. d.b.a. | 618 Frenchman Street

This music club and beer bar has the best selection and best vibe in downtown New Orleans. Just outside the French Quarter on Frenchmen Street in the Marigny, d.b.a. has live music every night — including free early shows most nights — and a great draft list. It was the only place in town where I could find Brooklyn Pennant Ale (before it was discontinued).

d.b.a. often plays host to Bayou Teche Brewing from nearby Arnaudville, a brewery that loves to combine beer and music. When Bayou Teche throws a pint night, expect limited-release beer and a musical act featuring fiddle player Louis Michot (member of the Lost Bayou Ramblers and Soul Creole), who also works part-time at the brewery. If you’re lucky, someone from Bayou Teche will also bring some jambalaya or gumbo to share.

7. Boucherie | 1506 S. Carrollton Ave.

Since opening in 2009, Boucherie has been supporting craft beer. Way back in 2010, before most New Orleans restaurants even had craft beer on their menus, Boucherie hosted a truly legendary beer dinner with Brooklyn Brewing—complete with brewmaster Garrett Oliver in attendance and wearing cape!

When chef-owner Nathanial Zimet was shot in 2011 in an attempted robbery, local beer geeks banded together to put on an event to raise money for Zimet’s medical expenses. Their contributions served as a small thank-you for all he and his restaurant had done to elevate the profile of craft beer in New Orleans.

8. August | 301 Tchoupitoulas St.

This John Besh flagship restaurant has been upping its craft beer game of late. General manager Robert Wailes has added food-friendly beers from Lazy Magnolia, Parish Brewing, Stillwater and Evil Twin, as well as beer from Belgium, Spain and Montreal.

August hosted its first beer dinner with The Bruery in September, with pairings like venison carpaccio with smoked onion and mole, paired with Gypsy Tart (a Belgian-style Flanders); royal red shrimp creole with tomato butter and stozapretti, paired with Jardinier (a Belgian-style pale ale); and pan-roasted striped bass with turkey necks and rapini, paired with Mischief (a hoppy Belgian-style golden strong ale).

9. Pizza Domenica | 4933 Magazine St.

When Mississippi brewery Yalobusha debuted its beer in New Orleans, this upscale Uptown pizza joint was one of the first places it appeared. The beautiful and rustic Pizza Domenica is the sister restaurant to Domenica Restaurant, downtown in the world-famous Roosevelt Hotel.

When Pizza Domenica opened in 2014, manager Stephen Jeffcoat commissioned a copper glycol-chilled draft system to serve local and Italian craft beers from twelve taps and numerous bottle offerings.

10. Stein’s Market and Deli | 2207 Magazine Street

Dan Stein’s Philadelphia-style Jewish deli has the best selection of packaged craft beer in the city, as well as some of the best sandwiches. However, due to city zoning laws, you can’t enjoy them together.

Stan’s Deli has an off-premise permit, so first place an order for the Sam (hot pastrami, swiss cheese and coleslaw on rye bread with Russian dressing), the Kelly (prosciutto, Delice de Bourgogne cheese and apple on house-baked ciabatta) or one of the daily specials (like the Philly cheese steak, roast pork with broccoli rabe, or meatball sub). Then peruse the back room for hard-to-find exports and craft beer rarities.

Stein’s carries an amazing variety of beers from across the country, plus all the special releases from the locals. Look for NOLA Brewing’s Funk series; Bayou Teche’s limited releases of Cop Cop, a French-style biere de garde, and Syrup in the Sky, a smoked beer; and Tin Roof’s Smiling Ivan Russian imperial stout. Basically, if it’s distributed in New Orleans, Stein’s will have it—or will know when it’ll be there.

By the time you’ve chosen a beer or three, your sandwich should be ready. You can dine in if you want, but I recommend taking your goodies back to your home, hotel, or a nearby park to fully enjoy the combination of a tasty sandwich, a fantastic craft beer, and the beautiful city of New Orleans.

The post 10 of New Orleans’ Best Beer Bars & Restaurants appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

However, the local craft brewing scene has struggled to keep pace with the demand for beer—Louisiana ranks 50th in number of craft breweries per capita. The scene is growing steadily, with breweries opening throughout the state, their number doubling from six in 2010 to 15 in 2015.

What craft brewers in Louisiana have learned is, that the way to attract locals from the macrobrews they previously only had access to, to the locally crafted beer offered in more and more places, is to connect them to Louisiana’s singular cuisine and overall obsession with good food.

Louisiana food culture highlights local ingredients like seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, rice and vegetable crops harvested year round. Bayou Teche Brewing founder Karlos Knott says of the area’s culinary scene, “The food is amazing here. It is one of the most important pieces of the Cajun and Creole culture. Cooking and eating are important ways we Cajuns communicate. Like our music, we feel that our cuisine is a higher form of expression.”

According to David Blossman, president of Abita Brewing Co., the state’s oldest and largest brewery, “Our beers were designed from the beginning to pair well with our culture. Culinary pairing is important, but it is just one aspect. Abita beers pair well with the way we love to live in Louisiana and all of our social occasions.”

Bayou Teche, Abita, NOLA Brewing, and other local breweries have created beer that complement Louisiana dishes, showing diners how well the beer and food can work together. Beer dinners and pairings, as well as local chefs working with beer as an ingredient in great food, have become critical in exposing craft beer newcomers in the region to the vast array of flavors beer brings to the table.

“Beer dinners allow us to speak to Cajuns and Creoles in their own language–food,” Knott says. “Once you can talk about your beers in food terms, and then show how to pair locally crafted beer with locally sourced and prepared courses, well, you have them hooked.”

Bayou Teche has been aggressive in promoting its beer as part of the Cajun culture and lifestyle, brewed to pair with the food, the music, the language, and the way of life. As part of that mission statement, they’ve held Cajun beer dinners from Bourbon Street to Brooklyn, spreading the word of bold flavors and bonhomie to diners who come for the food, but stay for the beer.

Knott recalls, “One of the nicest compliments we ever got at the brewery was just after we first opened five years ago.  An elderly Cajun lady, speaking with a thick French accent called us.  She had read on the local newspaper that we crafted beers to pair with Cajun cuisine.  So she cooked a Turtle Sauce Piquant for her guests and poured each a glass of our Biere Pale.  She was calling us to let us know that even though her Turtle Sauce Piquant was always a hit with her guests, that our Biere Pale made it a remarkable, life-changing meal.  If you know anything about older Cajun ladies, they hardly ever attribute an amazing meal to anything other than their cooking skills acquired over a lifetime of practice.  That call meant the world to me.”

Abita has been forging the way of craft beer culture in Louisiana for almost 30 years now, and has been an instrumental part of creating the concept of marrying food and craft beer flavors – famed Louisiana chef Emeril Lagasse is an avowed Abita Turbodog lover, having used the dark brown ale in recipes ranging from gumbo to fried chicken to bisque.

Blossman notes, “We are very lucky that local chefs from the beginning showcased our beers as ingredients and pairings. It was natural for us to join along with beer dinners. We learned a lot from the chefs and their ideas of pairing.“

Blossman says that beer dinners have become a huge part of the brewery’s identity and DNA over the past twenty years. Blossman says of working with different chefs across the state and country, “hell, we were so inspired by them that we created a cookbook with recipes from our beer dinners.”

The creativity and fun that craft brewers bring to their beers can be applied to some of its culinary collaboration. Bayou Teche has just announced a collaboration with Dat Dog, a local hot dog chain which features locally sourced ingredients in each of their three New Orleans locations. The beer, called “Dat Beer” is a farmhouse style biere de garde, created specifically to complement Dat Dog’s entire menu of brats, sausages, and franks.

NOLA Brewing has not only done beer dinners around town from fancy to casual, but has created events like beer brunches and has also partnered with the New Orleans chapter of Dinner Lab to bring their beers to people who aren’t craft beer drinkers but love to eat great food.

That intersection between food and beer at NOLA Brewing is personified by NOLA’s head brewer, Peter Caddoo. Before he and Kirk Coco opened NOLA Brewing in 2008, Caddoo worked in the kitchens of iconic New Orleans restaurants like Commander’s Palace and Ralph’s on the Park. Caddoo started working in restaurants in high school, became a Navy cook, and ended up at the Culinary Institute of America, where he became president at the prestigious cooking school’s Beer and Ale Society. “Basically, the CIA gave us money to go try different beers every month,” Caddoo says. When homebrewing became legal, in the late 70s, Caddoo and his roommate decided to start making beer.

After graduating the CIA in 1981, Cadoo came to New Orleans to work in fine dining establishments around the city, homebrewing the whole time. After working at Commander’s under Emeril, he says, “chefs could go cook anywhere in the city,” but his food path transitioned to a beer path, when he went to work at Dixie Brewing in 1987. “I left a successful restaurant to go work at a brewery that was basically going out of business,” Caddoo laughs.

But Caddoo worked at Dixie until 2005, when the brewery closed. He went back to fine dining because, he says, “there wasn’t another brewery in town back then.” Three years later, he and ex-Navy officer Kirk Coco founded NOLA Brewing, the city’s largest production brewery.

Caddoo reminisces about bringing test batches to work the brunch shift at Ralph’s on the Park, where he and executive chef Chip Flanagan would sample after shift while sitting in City Park. “That was the one reason to work a brunch,” Flanagan says with a laugh.

Flanagan has been using NOLA’s beer in his cooking on a regular basis. “I usually have a keg of Irish Channel Stout in the cooler to cook with – we’ve used it in a glaze here before, with lamb chops. And I have NOLA Blonde that I use for BBQ shrimp.” That culinary connection has resulted in several beer dinner collaborations between Ralph’s on the Park and NOLA Brewing.

Louisiana has so many stories and traditions wrapped around the food its people cook and eat, and it’s a huge benefit to local breweries to hitch their wagon to that. Because freshly brewed beer is flavorful and built to complement the region’s dishes, it’s the perfect way to appeal to consumers that don’t consider themselves to be beer drinkers.

Knott jokes, “I came to the conclusion that [people who lived in other parts of the country] gravitated to craft beer earlier than we did because they needed to make their meals taste better. Now that we Cajuns and Creoles have caught on to the transformative power of locally crafted beers, well, let’s just say our ranking as one of the fattest states is not in jeopardy”

The post Louisiana: Where Craft Beer and Food Collide appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“The craft beer movement here has been mesmerizing,” says Myrick in his store filled with Saturday shoppers. “It’s been great for the economy, and there’s so much untapped opportunity statewide for the business community to benefit from its growth.”

Myrick is an advocate of historic downtown Hattiesburg’s rebirth into a sophisticated shopping, dining and drinking destination. He points to the thriving Southern Prohibition Brewing down the street from his shop as a catalyst for change and growth in the area.

Earlier this year, the Brewers Association (BA) released data that analyzed the direct and indirect economic impact craft beer has on the national economy as well as on a state level. BA Economist Bart Watson revealed that in 2012, the craft brewing industry contributed $33.9 billion to the U.S. economy, and upwards of 360,000 jobs.

Southern beer culture, and especially in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, lags behind the rest of the country as far as number of breweries and breweries per capita. But even with that handicap, the economic benefits are being felt by brewers, retailers, consumers and the wider business communities.

Looking at economic growth in cities across the south–Hattiesburg; New Orleans; Houston; Birmingham, Ala.; and Tampa Bay, Fla.–through the eyes of their brewers and reporters tells a more nuanced story than just the numbers, and it’s a story worth telling.

The Sunshine State

Gerard Walen, author of Florida Breweries and founder of BeerInFlorida.com, says of the impact of craft brewing on the Tampa Bay area:

Though Florida lagged behind many other states in the craft beer industry for a long time, within the past five or six years it has exploded, with the Tampa Bay area leading the way. The region now has about 30 operating breweries and brewpubs and more on the way. That’s about a 100 percent increase in numbers just over the past two years. The breweries make ripples through the entire local economy by creating jobs, increasing the tax base and helping to revive neglected neighborhoods.

According the the Brewers Association’s research, Florida ranks 13th in the country for number of production breweries (66) and craft beer contributed $875.8 million to Florida’s economy 2012.

Beer tourism is a growing industry around the country, and both Walen and Cigar City Brewing founder Joey Redner point out the economic impact visitors from other states have on the Tampa Bay area.

“We have a lot of visitors that will make side trips to Tampa to visit the brewery even if their ultimate destination is elsewhere in the state,” Redner says. “Often they stay the night or a couple of days and visit other breweries, stay in local hotels and eat out at our restaurants and that magnifies the economic impact.”

Walen concurs. “The Tampa Bay area has become a true beer tourism destination, and the local visitors bureaus have picked up on it,” he says. “Visit St. Pete/Clearwater launched a Craft Beer Trail last year, and Visit Tampa Bay is slowly coming around. Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn is a big fan, and he told me a couple of years ago that he realizes the importance of the industry to the local tourism economy.”

The Yellowhammer State

Heading west to Alabama, where the state’s 13 breweries directly and indirectly added $238.1 million to the economy in 2012, Birmingham’s Avondale Brewing has been open since 2011 with the express mission of rejuvenating a long-neglected neighborhood.

Avondale brewer Craig Shaw says the craft beer industry has had a visible effect on the city. “You can actually see it,” he says, “especially in the neighborhood we’re located in. The landscape here has changed with new construction, new businesses, new bars and restaurants. It’s at almost 100% occupancy in the neighborhood now, and our brewery has been the anchor for all that change to happen.”

Eric Meyer, co-founder of Cahaba Brewing, says that the entire downtown is being revitalized. “We’ve got Avondale Brewing about thirteen blocks in one direction, Good People Brewing about thirteen blocks in the other direction, and we’ve all helped stimulate the local Birmingham economy and brought more life to these areas,” he says. “People here want to support local business, and are willing to spend a little more to do so.”

The Magnolia State

In Hattiesburg, Southern Prohibition is working hard to promote both beer culture and Hattiesburg itself wherever they go. Sales director Emily Curry says they embrace the fact that craft beer in Mississippi has a ways to go to catch up: The state is 51st (D.C. is included on the list) in both number of breweries (4) and number of breweries per capita. Having a small but passionate brewing community means that education is paramount, and Curry and others in the state, like local distributor rep Jon Smith, and Mahogany Bar manager Dusty Frierson, are all up for the challenge.

“Honestly, being a part of small communities can go far,” Curry says. “We take care of each other.”

Smith adds, “Our challenges are our opportunities. We are writing the book on how craft beer culture is happening here.”

Business owners like Adam Myrick and local caterer Daniel Mann note the growth of craft beer and see it impacting their livelihoods directly. “There’s this whole diverse subculture around beer,” Mann notes. “It’s so great for downtown businesses and events, and it’s great to just have that culture that we can bring people into, over that shared love of beer.”

The Creole State

In New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina pushed out the last of the old-school southern breweries, Dixie Brewing, leaving the owners to contract brew the iconic Louisiana beer in Wisconsin.

New Orleans native Kirk Coco found that unacceptable. He founded NOLA Brewing in 2008, and it remains the only production brewery in the city. However, in the last five years, the number of breweries in the state has grown from five to 11, ranking Louisiana 43rd in the country. Per capita, Louisiana is ranked 50th, only beating out Mississippi in that category, though craft beer did contribute $462.2 million to the state economy in 2012.

Coco points out a very important aspect of brewing’s economic impact for local industry: providing solid jobs with competitive salary and benefits. NOLA Brewing employs 22 people of all backgrounds and skill sets, from brewers to marketing to tap room management to keg scrubbers. Everyone has the opportunity to advance and have a part in making the company better.

He also sees a tremendous potential for continued growth of the craft beer industry in the city and state over the next five to 10 years. “We have a huge advantage,” he says. “Beer pairs so well with food, and our food culture is second to none.”

Coco points to several growth factors he sees as having the greatest effect on craft beer culture in New Orleans, including the evolving local consumer palate. “That change is happening much faster than I thought it ever would,” Coco says, pointing to the huge popularity of sour beers and double IPAs in the market alongside the more traditional styles.

Another key factor that came about in 2012 was the reinterpretation of state law to allow breweries to sell their own beer in on-premise tap rooms. Louisiana’s Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control also recently ruled that tap rooms can serve food, overturning a confusing and vexing prohibition that had stymied brewery owners.

“If we can have years like this for the next five years,” Coco says, “New Orleans will be the beer capital of the South once again.”

The Lone Star State

On the western edge of the Gulf, Texas has a diverse beer culture throughout its large and populous state. Texas has 96 breweries, putting it eighth on the list, but only 0.5 breweries per capita, which ranks 42nd. Craft brewing had a more than $2 billion impact on the state in 2012, a total second only to California.

Houston’s Saint Arnold Brewing Co. has seen its city’s beer culture grow exponentially in the last 20 years. Founder Brock Wagner says that annual visits to his brewery have climbed from approximately 2,000 people in the first year to more than 100,000 in 2014.

“We have become a destination that people want to bring their out-of-town guests to, to show off what our city has to offer. People are proud of their local breweries and that’s a great source of civic pride,” Wagner says. He also confirms that the brewery employs about 70 people full time. Five years ago, the brewery only had around 20 full-time staff members.

Beer writer Bryan Carey of the Houston Examiner and GreatBeerNow.com notes that in the past seven years, the number of breweries in Houston has increased from one to 14, with several more in the planning stages.

“More breweries are opening and more regional and national brands are making their way into the Houston craft beer market via distribution deals,” Carey says. “The Houston area is already one of the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas and the growing population demands quality beer. The market is strong, expanding quickly, and shows no signs of slowing down.”

Although these five states surrounding the Gulf of Mexico are at different levels of craft beer production and economic impact according to the numbers, it’s clear that the national success of craft beer has made its mark throughout the region. Looking at the impact in terms of jobs, tourism, neighborhood revitalization, and increased tax bases is crucial to understanding the need to support these small business owners and entrepreneurs on a state and city level. Southern beer culture is on the rise.

As Cigar City’s Joey Redner notes: “It’s very exciting when you have new horizons opened to you. Most people appreciate a glimpse into a world or a taste of something that is both new to them and satisfying. Plus, having a variety of quality breweries in the area adds to the options of things to do, not just for visitors, but for locals too. There is always activity at a brewery. Things are happening and that bustle is infectious.”

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