Beer Travels - Louisiana/Mississippi

My latest travels had me flying into New Orleans and staying in Gulfport, Mississippi.  I had a few hours available when I flew in so I made a quick drive to Abita Brewing Company.  On my last day of the trip I stopped at Chandeleur Brewing Company and NOLA Brewing Company.  Here are my reviews and recommendations!

Abita Brewing Company: 

Most beer drinkers have heard of Abita Brewing Company. They have a rather expansive line of beers and most recently created a Bourbon Street series highlighting their barrel aged beers.  I personally don’t drink a ton of their beers but the ones I have had are pretty good and I won’t shy away from ordering them when I see them.  After the tour I went to the tap room and had their Bourbon Street Mint Julep which has a nice hint of mint to it and their Vanilla Dog. If you know me, you know I love vanilla beers. This one had a nice vanilla presence without being too strong. Typically, most vanilla beers I have don’t have enough but not the case here.

So let’s talk about that tour.  I was only able to make it to the self-guided tour.  If you have taken a self-guided tour you know that for them most part, they are pretty dumb.  This was really no exception.  When you got to the mezzanine level you were able to see some of tanks and watch a video. That was it.  The brewery does seem rather small so not much to see anyway. The gift shop has some nice items in it including a ton of shirts.  I grabbed my standard swag (stickers, patches, keychain and bottle opener) and that was the end of the visit.

Would I go again? Maybe. Their tap room does have a nice mix of their beers including experimental and limited release items.  The staff was pleasant and helpful when trying to determine what type of beer to get.  If it’s not blazing hot they do have some outdoor seating.  It’s about 45 minutes from the airport and I didn’t explore the area. I wouldn’t go there again just for the brewery as it is far enough from the city to perhaps make it not worth it but if there are other things in the area to check out then a Abita is a must stop. Click here for pictures!

Chandeleur Brewing Company:

This is the only brewery in Gulfport so you know I had to make a stop.  They have interesting hours (Tuesdays, Thursday – Sunday) and they are located in downtown Gulfport. Plenty of parking so don’t let that stop you from checking it out. Mississippi laws actually prevent them from selling beer out of the brewery so if they start giving you a “verbal tour” right away it’s because in order to get the beer you need to take a tour, pay the $10 tour fee and then you get 6 nice size samples. Since they had 7 beers on tap you had to decide which one you didn’t want.  It’s a small facility so there isn’t much to see but they do have a few video games and a nice seating area.  They have windows looking into the brewery so you can watch the guys work if you want.

Nice piece of coincidence is that Dave Reese is the head brewer here. You may remember him from his time at Horny Goat Brewery when their beer was actually good. I got a chance to catch up for a minute before he had to leave but he did leave me with a parting gift, a bourbon barrel aged sour stout. I am intrigued to see how this comes out.

Would I go again? Yes.  There aren’t many options in Gulfport so if you want good beer you come here.  The staff was extremely friendly and the community seems to do a nice job of supporting them.  It’s large enough space to bring quite a few friends and food is within walking distance.  If you ever find yourself in Gulfport, do yourself a favor and stop in there. Click here for pictures!

NOLA Brewing Company:

I spent my last night in New Orleans so that I was close to the airport. Since I was getting in a little later I wanted to find a place that also had food.  While NOLA themselves don’t sell food they share a space with a BBQ place that makes some decent food.  It’s hard to describe the location but it’s part business, part residential and right against the freeway.  Parking can be tight but I found some space in the lot behind the brewery (not sure if that was ok but I didn’t get a ticket and there seemed to be quite a few cars back there).  I didn’t take a tour or even really explored the brewery much.  When you walk in you are greeted by the bar right away with a nice large TV right and center (which was nice because I got them to turn on the Thursday night NFL game).  I was told they had an upstairs area and a back party room area.  I can see the upstairs being popular on nice nights as I believe it is open air.

The tap list here is pretty expansive. I believe they have something like 32 beers on tap, all their own.  A good mix of styles so finding something you would appreciate shouldn’t be too difficult. I did end up trying 8 of their beers, mainly sours.  A few beers to note.  They have a beer called Cuke and Rally that tastes like straight up pickle juice.  At first I couldn’t believe that was what I was tasting so I kept sipping trying to distinguish exactly what it was…. But sure shit it was pickles.  I brought home a crowler for my wife because she thought that it sounded very interesting. Me, I probably wouldn’t do it again.  Also, they had a Girl Scout cookie beer that was supposed to resemble Thin Mints (at least that is what I think). This had a hint of spearmint that seemed to dissipate pretty quickly. Their other beers were definitely solid in their respective styles.

Would I go again? I sure would.  The beers are solid and the food is pretty decent too (even though we never talked about it and if you want to know my opinion you can find that Yelp! :P). If you are an out of towner I would suggest bringing a friend but if you can’t, don’t bother thinking you will be chatting anyone up.  The bartenders were definitely nice and accommodating but by no means interested in small talk with people they don’t know.  It wasn’t for lack of trying either as I tried on several occasions as we all sat there doing pretty much nothing. They were more talkative to regulars or people they knew.  Not a bad thing, just doesn't give off too friendly of a vibe in my opinion. Thank goodness for Thursday night football and food! Click here for pictures!

That about does it for me.  I will be spending a lot of time in Texas this winter so I will be visiting as many breweries as possible.  Otherwise, not sure where else my beer travels will take me.  Hope you like this series and if you have any suggestions of places to go in the future just shoot me a line!!

Until next time!!  Keep all those pumpkin and oktoberfest beers away from me please.... not my favorite time of the year for beer.