With October comes a new season;
the temperature is dropping, pumpkin patches are opening, it is the beginning
of the best time of the year. Fall season means homemade soup, bonfires, sweaters
at night, and more movie nights with the fam. The perfect pairing for any fall
occasion this October is a fall brew from your local brewery. Where Y'at
has provided a list of seasonal brews from five local breweries in the New
Orleans area for you to try. Right at home, there is Dixie Brewing Company and
Urban South Brewery; over the bridge on the Northshore, there is Old Rail
Brewery and Abita Brewing Company; and a little further west in Hammond is
Gnarly Barley Brewing Company. These wonderful breweries have crafted the
perfect beers for your spooky October season.
Abita
Brewing Company: Pecan
Ale
The Abita Brewing Company on the
Northshore has crafted their seasonal beer, the Pecan Ale, with real Louisiana
roasted pecans. This is a lighter-colored ale, brewed with malt and Willamette
hops. During brewing, Abita Brewery adds the roasted pecans to give the beer a
subtle nutty flavor and aroma. On the 1-to-100 scale usually used to determine
the bitterness of beers, the Pecan Ale rates a 20.
First opened in 1986, Abita is
recognized around the country. The brewery brews its beers in small batches
with only the finest ingredients, including British and North American malted
barley, German and American yeast strains, Pacific Northwest hops, and the pure
artesian water of Abita Springs. The brewery is open six days a week for to-go
orders, so crack open their new Pecan Ale and geaux nuts! 21084 Hwy. 36,
Covington, (985) 893-3143, abita.com
Old Rail
Brewing Co.: Oktoberfest
(Märzen)
The Old Rail Brewing Company in
Mandeville features a Märzen brew as their Old Rail Oktoberfest. With a complex
flavor and a combination of German malts laying a foundation of rich malt
character, both smooth and soft, this brew hints bread and toast all wrapped in
a malty sweetness. Old Rail's Oktoberfest is a blend of three different beers
and has a slight hoppy bitterness that takes a back seat to the malty profile.
This brew is smooth, balanced, and malty all at once.
At Old Rail, they focus on every
aspect of the process, including careful selection and detailed attention,
which results in amazing beers. Old Rail also has an extensive menu of food and
is open for dine-in and to-go orders at 11 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday,
closing at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday,
and Sunday. 639 Girod St., Mandeville, (985) 612-1828, oldrailbrewing.com
Dixie
Brewing Company: Oktoberdays
Dixie Brewing Company
has created a whole series of new brews for the October season. Oktoberdays is
made up of four new brews from Dixie Beer: Helles Lager, Hefeweizen, Märzen,
and Berliner Weisse.
The Helles Lager is brewed with
exclusively German malts and hops. This golden light-bodied brew was fermented
for six weeks with a historic strain of yeast. The bitterness of this brew is a
22 on the scale.
The Hefeweizen is made with
American malt and Czech hops, and it has a nice buttery aroma and flavors of
banana and clove. This brew features 50 percent wheat to give it its
traditional cloudy but light body, and it has just a touch of bitterness.
Dixie Brewery's Märzen brew is
brewed using traditional methods to give it a clean, crisp flavor. The beer
matures for three weeks to allow it to have that light crispness. This iconic
seasonal beer is brewed with all German malts and hops, and it has a light
copper color with a medium body. With a sweet caramel aroma and minimal bitterness,
this seasonal favorite is sure to pair great with a fall day outdoors.
The final beer in this highly
anticipated series is a traditional Berliner Weisse, a kettle-sourced wheat beer.
With a sweet-treat candy aroma and a bitterness rating of just five out of 100,
this beer is made so the drinker can enjoy a few, at just 3.5 percent alcohol.
This season, Dixie Brewing
Company gives their customers many options to try. 3501 Jourdan Rd., (504)
867-4000, dixiebeer.com
Gnarly
Barley Brewing Co.:
Fest Bier
The owners of Gnarly Barley in Hammond, Zac and
Capri Caramonta, began their brewing experience in their garage, accompanied by
their two fat cats and a halfpipe skating ramp. Gnarly Barley made its debut in
2011 at the New Orleans on Tap Beer Festival,
and in 2014, the couple opened their own brewery. The brewery features an
open-air taproom, the Gnar Bar, where guests can view the brewery's inner
workings.
For the 2020 October season,
Gnarly Barley crafted a medium-bodied lager, known as Fest Bier, with a rich
golden malt profile. The seasonal brew has a light toasty flavor with a dash of
caramel at first taste, then finishes with a delicate palate of bubbly sparkle
and no lingering bitterness. With flavors that taste like October in a glass, this
is the perfect brew to sip on while taking part in your favorite fall
activities.
Open Monday through Saturday,
noon to 7 p.m., the brewery is providing to-go orders. 1709 Corbin Rd.,
Hammond, gnarlybeer.com
Urban
South Brewery:Oktoberfest, Side Line, Pumpkin Chocolate Vanilla
Dream, Who Dat, Coastal Harmony
The Urban South Brewery
features a variety of seasonal brews, each aiming to satisfy a different
customer. The brewery's version of Oktoberfest for 2020 is a Märzen lager that
is available in a six-pack of 12-ounce cans.
The New Orleans Saints are a part
of the New Orleans culture, and Urban South Brewery takes every possible
opportunity to recognize that. This 2020 NFL season, the brewery has released
Who Dat and Side Line, two seasonal brews to celebrate the Saints. Who Dat
Golden Ale is a crisp and refreshing beer with flavors of lemongrass and
grapefruit and low bitterness. As the brewery would say,"Who Dat: a phrase that carries the city's
spirit and a beer that embodies the New Orleans lifestyle."
Another NFL seasonal beer from
Urban South Brewery is, Side Line, a sour dry-hopped gose beer that has a taste
of coconut and papaya and a certain tartness.
Urban South's version of Coastal
Harmony is a double IPA made with tropical fruits. The seasonal brew represents
the unpredictable hurricane season that Louisiana has had to endure this year.
Proceeds will go to help the victims of the 2020 gulf coast hurricanes.
Lastly, a special guest on Urban
South Brewery's menu is a Pumpkin Chocolate Vanilla Dream Stout Beer Slush, a
perfect way to celebrate the season and classic fall flavors. Pick up your beer
slushy pouch or any other seasonal favorites to-go, Monday through Friday, from
noon - 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
To-go sales are posted online,
and you have four days to pick up your online order. 1645 Tchoupitoulas St.,
(504) 267-4852, urbansouthbrewery.com
