Thursday, January 23, 2014

Bayou Teche Brewery's Loup Garou Awarded Silver Medal

Congrats to Bayou Teche Brewing!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


BAYOU TECHE BREWERY’S LOUP GAROU AWARDED SILVER MEDAL


Arnaudville, January 23, 2014 – Acadiana’s Bayou Teche Brewing’s recently released Loup Garou stout was recently awarded a silver medal in the Wood Aged Ale category of the annual World Beer Championships.  The competition, held by the Beverage Testing Institute is open to commercial beer brewers worldwide.  Beers are judged on a 100 point scale, and are evaluated by professional judges in a tasting room designed to minimize distractions.  Additionally the judges taste the beers blind – aware only of the category of beer, not the brand.  Said Bayou Teche’s brewmaster, Karlos Knott, “We have just released our Loup Garou beer and we just got the news and are still celebrating with a few of the bottles we had left at the brewery - we are just thrilled.”


The ale scored 87 points, and the tasting notes rated Loup Garou as highly recommended.  The judges’ notes also state that the beer has a black brown color and a dense aroma of wood charcoal, over roasted coffee, and burnt popcorn.  The beer finishes with a supple, dryish medium-to-full body and a finely carbonated cigar ash, grilled mustard greens, molasses and cocoa powder.


Said Knott, “For generations, Cajuns have told their children to hurry to bed or Loup Garou was going to get them – my brothers and I were scared by threats of his arrival by our parents and grandparents.”   Brewmaster Gar Hatcher says that the stout is brewed with werewolf-sized helpings of chocolate and roasted Belgian malts, brown sugar, and hops, then the ale is finished on oak.   The brewers suggest that this skillfully crafted, Belgian-style stout is ideal for sipping on well past bedtime, waiting on the fabled Loup Garou. 


The beer, like all of Bayou Teche’s ales are designed to go with the Cajun and Creole foods the brewers grew up with.  Knott suggests raw oysters as the perfect foil for the stout.  Says Knott, “We often slide a freshly shucked oyster in a shot glass and top it off with Loup Garou – that’s why there are so many oyster shells behind the brewery.”  The brewery also suggests pairing their new offering with Brie and French Triple-Crème style cheeses, smoked salmon or trout, dried country ham, a classic Rueben sandwich and rich vanilla ice cream.


Knott says that this is Bayou Teche Brewing’s fifth silver medal win at the competition in the brewery’s four year history.  The brewery’s distribution has grown and their beers are now available in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and New York.  Loup Garou is limited release for the brewery and only one batch is brewed a year.  Loup Garou stout is available currently available in bottles and on tap locally. 

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