Summer Beer Thread

[BlueDawg]

My family brings down Commotion, an APA from Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport. Excellent beer that finishes with tangerine and grapefruit.

Here in Houston we have St. Arnold's, so I don't pass up a Weedwacker.

Great Raft has some excellent stuff..next time try their Southern Draw & Reasonably Corrupt. They're making a big push in New Orleans & in SoLa right now...I'm pretty sure you can buy at least SoDraw in SAMs & Walmart. They also have a new collaboration w/ John Besh called Traditions & Provisions. I think they're on Volume 2 which can be picked up at the brewery & world market in SHV.

Two other breweries have also opened up in the area, Red River which makes the excellent Hay Ryed wit & Bossier's first one "Flying Heart" which recently opened in an old firehouse by the casinos. My next door neighbor is one of the owners so I've been sampling their product for a couple years. Good stuff & worth a visit when in town.

[Cajunrunner]

I have two good friends who work at Parish, and both of them have said that Andrew (owner) is crafting Ghost to resemble Heady Topper. Heady Topper is arguably the best Double IPA, and some say the best beer, in the world. I believe this latest version of Ghost is version 5, so each version is a little different from the last. They will continue to tweak it until they get the beer that they are envisioning.

I liked Batch 4 better, but Batch 5 was still outstanding. I was finally able to do a side-by-side with Ghost and Firestone Walker Double Jack last month, and I gave the edge barely to Ghost. The Double Jack was about 6 weeks older.

[CajunFan3406]

I liked Batch 4 better, but Batch 5 was still outstanding. I was finally able to do a side-by-side with Ghost and Firestone Walker Double Jack last month, and I gave the edge barely to Ghost. The Double Jack was about 6 weeks older.

I've never had that one. Seems hard to get a hold of. Where can a find it and when is it available?

[CajunFan3406]

Great Raft has some excellent stuff..next time try their Southern Draw & Reasonably Corrupt. They're making a big push in New Orleans & in SoLa right now...I'm pretty sure you can buy at least SoDraw in SAMs & Walmart. They also have a new collaboration w/ John Besh called Traditions & Provisions. I think they're on Volume 2 which can be picked up at the brewery & world market in SHV.

Two other breweries have also opened up in the area, Red River which makes the excellent Hay Ryed wit & Bossier's first one "Flying Heart" which recently opened in an old firehouse by the casinos. My next door neighbor is one of the owners so I've been sampling their product for a couple years. Good stuff & worth a visit when in town.

I've heard Great Raft makes good stuff. Have yet to try anything by them yet. They're growing quickly. My buddy that works at Parish thinks that Great Raft will overtake them this year as the 3rd largest brewery in the state after Abita and NOLA.

[angeleast]

I've never had that one. Seems hard to get a hold of. Where can a find it and when is it available?

Its only available at the tap room here in Broussard. When it comes out, I ll holler at ya and I can send ya some. I live 10 minutes from it

[CajunFan3406]

Its only available at the tap room here in Broussard. When it comes out, I ll holler at ya and I can send ya some. I live 10 minutes from it

I'm talking about the Firestone Walker Double Jack. That brewery is in California.

I can readily get my hands on Ghost, but thanks for the offer my man!

[BlueDawg]

I've heard Great Raft makes good stuff. Have yet to try anything by them yet. They're growing quickly. My buddy that works at Parish thinks that Great Raft will overtake them this year as the 3rd largest brewery in the state after Abita and NOLA.

Hope they're not growing too fast. I know GR is hiring a sales rep specifically for NOLA area, which makes what Parish does pretty remarkable since they don't distribute state wide yet.

[CajunFan3406]

Hope they're not growing too fast. I know GR is hiring a sales rep specifically for NOLA area, which makes what Parish does pretty remarkable since they don't distribute state wide yet.

Parish has a good foothold in the most populous part of the state (NO, BR, Acadiana, Northshore). Plus their flagship beer, Canebrake, is acceptable to many pallets, thereby making it popular to almost all varieties of beer drinkers. My girlfriend who rarely drinks anything, much less beer, likes Canebrake. So that's saying a lot. A huge part of their production is just trying to fulfill the demand for Canebrake.

[Cajunrunner]

First beer today was a Green Flash Soul Style IPA on draft at a joint near my office. I neglected to take a picture. A damn fine beer though. First time having it on draft, but always enjoy it in bottles.

[BlueDawg]

Good problem to have. Canebrake IS quite delicious. I'll have to stop back in Parish next time I'm down for business. We hung out there for awhile before the Dawgs/Cajuns game last year & had a blast. Their menu was a little too IPA heavy that day (guess that's the trend) but most of their brews were excellent.

[Cajunrunner]

2nd beer today is a Tank 7 Farmhouse ale from Boulevard Brewing. Always a good choice. Similar to the Bayou Teche "crawfish beer" I posted yesterday, but more carbonated and good bit more alcohol content. One of my favorite farmhouse styles.

[Cajunrunner]

I've never had that one. Seems hard to get a hold of. Where can a find it and when is it available?

Firestone Walker isn't distributed in LA, but they are in TX. Last month, I obtained a 4-pack of Ghost batch 5 by trading a buddy 2 Double Jacks and 2 Hop Delusions from Karbach.