WYES Private Beer Sampling Re-Cap

Last night I had the opportunity to attended the WYES Private Beer Tasting.  Unlike last year this year the event was held at Mardi Gras World right next to the Convention Center.  In my opinion this was a game changer for sure.

Not sure what it will do for the Saturday event but for the private Friday night event it made a huge difference.  The place was bigger which helped with crowd issues.  If you have ever met me or know me personally you know that I hate large crowds.  It's generally why you don't see me out at bars and why when I do go I only go to Avenue Pub and drink upstairs.

I brought my camera but the battery wasn't charged so I was only able to get a few pics.  My bad yo.

Anyway, here is a breakdown of the event:

Beer

The beer selection was good.  My goal was to only drink local beer.  I pretty much stuck 100% to that goal except for Ocean Spring's Crooked Letter Brewery.  Other than them I only drank local and homebrew.  And there were a lot of great options.  I felt pretty damn good when the wife and I left around 9:30pm.

Food

I have to admit I was very happy with the food selection this year.  Last year the food was provided by Zea's which was great but they ran out quickly.  This year Sun Ray Grill provided the food and it was great.  They had ribs and little cuban sandwiches.  And more importantly they didn't run out!  Dem ribs was DAYUM good!

What They Did Right

The venue change for sure was a great decision.  The size of the location and the ambiance was fantastic.  The beer choices were also great!  The fact that I was buzzing off of only drinking local is awesome!  Things are looking up for sure locally.  And of course the food options were important.  They didn't run out and the food was tasty!

What They Can Fix

This is a big one for me because my wife doesn't drink.   The wife and I saw no water or soda to drink.  They had huge jugs of water for rinsing out beer glasses but other than that I didn't see drink options for those not drinking.  We asked one of the attendants and she was able to go to the back and bring out a little bottle of water for my wife.  I wonder of any of the local soda distributors are willing to donate?  This may be an issue not sure.

Shittiest Beer of the Night

I apologize ahead of time to Ron Guzman but I think he will agree with me.  His crawfish beer using crawfish boil seasoning was just not good.  He said so himself.  I applaud the try though!

Top 5 Best Beers of the Night(in no order)

1)  Parish Brewing Calypso Single Hop IPA
2)  Crooked Letter Mystery Romp
3)  Mudbug King Cake Ale
4)  Gnarly Barley Porter Rican
5)  Great Raft Ermahgerd Hops

If you're beer isn't on this list it isn't because I didn't like it.  Don't worry.

Overall the event was awesome.   I really love the event location and the food options as well!  I would really like to see more rare stuff from the breweries though.  Most of the breweries just brought their regular line-up.  The whole point is for this event to be something special that you can't get on Saturday.  I'm finding that Saturday seems to have more "special" beer options than Friday.  That and seeing some drink options for those who don't drink!!  If you missed it this year think about going because it was a great time!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

WYES International Beer Tasting: Private Tasting Beer List

This is the list I have received of beers that will be present at the Friday night Private Beer Tasting.  Surprised to see that Southern Tier and Ommegang is NOT on this list but IS on the Saturday list which I will post later.  Those beers you see highlighted in yellow are the ones I am really looking forward to.


Abita Brewing Company

• Satsuma Wit 
• Abbey Ale 
• Strawator 
• Amber 
• Specialty Firkin 

 Blue Moon Brewing Company

•  Crimson Crossing 
•  Golden Knot 

 Boston Beer Company

•  Stonybrook 
•  Porch Rocker 

 Brooklyn Brewing Company

•  25TH Anniversary Ale 

 Global Beer Network

• Gulden Draak 
• 9000 Quad 
• Monk’s Café 

 Greenflash Brewing Company

•  Saison Diego 

 Harpoon Brewing Company

•  Rich Dan’s IPA 

 Leinenkugel Brewing Company

•  Big Eddy Ryewine Ale 

 Miller/Coors Brewing Company

•  Crispin Bird on a Wire 
•  St. Stefanus 
•  Worthington’s Red Shield 
•  Worthington’s White Shield 

 New Belgium Brewing Company 

•  Trippel 
•  1554 
•  Lips Of Faith Pluot 

 Newcastle Brewing Company

•  Newcastle Bombshell 

 Shmaltz Brewing Company

•  Funky Jewbelation 

 Sierra Nevada Brewing

•  Hoptimum 

 Stone Brewing Company 

•  Imperial Russian Stout 
•  Cali Belgique 

 NOLA Brewing Company

•  NOLA Brown Ale 
•  Hopitoulas 
•  Hurricane Saison 
•  Mechahopzilla 
•  7th Street Wheat 
•  Special Cask - TBD 

 40 Arpent Brewing Company 

•  Berliner Weiss/Sour 

 Cajun Fire Brewing Company

•  Lemon Berry Ale 
•  Hoppy Hour IPA 
•  Acadiana Honey Ale 
•  Root Beer Ale 

 Chafunkta Brewing Company 

•  FontaineBlue Berry Wheat IPA 
•  Old 504 Porter 
•  Voo Ka Ray IPA 

 Gnarly Barley 

•  Porter Rican 

Great Raft Brewing

• Ermahgerd Hops 
• Reasonably Corrupt 

Mudbug Brewery

• King Cake Ale
• Cajun Stout  
• Chocolate Cask Conditioned Cajun Stout 

 Old Rail Brewing Company

•  Old Rail Cow Catcher Milk Chocolate Stout 
•  Old Rail Seven Sisters IPA 

  Bayou Teche Brewing Company 

•  Biere Joi- barrel aged version 

 Covington Brewhouse

•  Firkin- Cask conditioned Bayou Bock 

 Crooked Letter Brewing Co.

•  Mystery Romp Crooked Heffy Stabello Gipsy IPA 
•  Mariposa Pale Ale 

 Lazy Magnolia

•  Firkin (cask) 

 Parish Brewing Co.

•  Farmhouse IPA 
•  Calypso Single Hop IPA 
•  Pacifica Single Hop IPA 

 Tin Roof Brewing Co.

• Perfect Tin Amber Ale
• Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale
• Tin Roof Blonde Ale
• Rougarou Black Ale
• Not Too Sweet Watermelon Wheat

Tu Lu Lu Brewery

•  Tu Lu Lu Kolsch 

 HOMEBREWERS

 Bicycle Brew Club

 Brasseurs a la Maison

• Belgian IPA Cask with Cacao Nibs 
• Peanut Butter Porter 

 Brewstock Homebrew Supply

•  Rye Pale Lager 
•  Chamomile Belgian Ale 
•  Belgian Abbey Tripel 

George’s Beer & Homebrewery

• George’s Berry Good Boy 

 Main Grain Home Brew Supplies

•  Russian Imperial Rum Barrel Cream Stout
•  Crawfish Blonde 

 Mystic Krewe of Brew

•  Sal Mortillaro - Vanilla Imperial Milk Stout 
•  Marshall Williams - Belgian Brown Triple 
•  Nancy Hartzog - Fig Saisson 

WYES International Beer Tasting: 30th Anniversary

It's almost that time again!  WYES Beer Tasting Weekend is a couple months away!  Just got word that the event will be held at Mardi Gras World this year AND they will be celebrating 30 years!  This is an interesting change of venue and I think will be beneficial for the event!  I know that the change will allow breweries and vendors to sell merchandise this year which is awesome!  

As always I've partnered with WYES to give away tickets.  I will be working on a clever way to give those tickets away.  

I really look forward to trying all the homebrew beers every year!  I imagine we will also get to see a good number of the breweries entering the state.  New Belgium and Southern Tier should be there for sure!

I haven't heard anything about the food situation but I attended the Private tasting last year and the food choice was awesome(Zea's)but was tough to get as they kept running out.  Hopefully the change in venue will help with that!

Here are the details:

5th Annual WYES PRIVATE BEER SAMPLING
Friday, June 21, 7-10pm
Mardi Gras World 1380 Port of Orleans Place
$50

30th Annual WYES INTERNATIONAL BEER TASTING
Saturday, June 22, 6-9pm
Mardi Gras World 1380 Port of Orleans Place
$30 in advance
$40 at the door

Buy tickets here.

They will also be selling Designated Driver tickets for $15.  I'm not sure what exactly this gets you other than entrance into the event.  If I find out I will let ya'll know!

Hope to see ya'll there!  I'm hoping to make both events this year!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

REMINDER: WYES International Beer Tasting this Weekend!

Get ready beer drinkers!!! WYES International beer tasting is this weekend!! Friday night is the Private Sampling and Saturday night is the big one at Lakefront Arena. Those lucky enough should be hitting both events! I'm not sure if there are any tickets left for Friday nights event but you need to check!

They are also doing a raffle like last year(see pics below of the lucky winner). The raffle winner gets practically one of every beer at BOTH WYES events! Man dats a lot of beer!!! Raffle tickets are 1 ticket for $5 or 5 tickets for $20.

I will see you Friday for sure!!!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

WYES Beer Tasting 2011

That's right it's back!  Once again, WYES gives us a great reason to drink a lot of beer.  Drinking beer for a good cause?  I'm in! 

For the last 28 years WYES has been helping fund Cookie Monsters cookie habit by throwing you a beer festival. The past 3 years they've added the Friday night Private Beer Sampling which has become a huge success.  The regular event will be held at the Lakefront Arena as usual but there has been a change of venue this year for the Private Event which has been moved to the Fairgrounds versus being at NOLA Brewing like in previous years.  I haven't seen the beer list yet but if it's anything like last year we're in for a real treat!  I'll send out an update as soon as I see it.

Here is the information I do have:

WYES PRIVATE BEER SAMPLING

Friday, June 3, 2011
Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots
1751 Gentilly Blvd., New Orleans
Black Gold Room, 2nd Floor
Derby Building
(adjacent to the Grandstands)
$50
Free Parking!

In honor of the craft of American and European brewers, this event will feature the rare craft brewed beers, specially made cask and home brewed beers, as well as special one-off beers from local breweries.

Guests will be able to talk one-on-one with brewers, home brewers, and other beer industry members, as well as talk amongst fellow beer connoisseurs.


WYES INTERNATIONAL BEER TASTING

Saturday, June 4, 2011
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Lakefront Arena
$30-$45
Free Parking!

Attendees will enjoy a quarter-mile of beer sampling while learning about the fundamentals of beer.

Ticket prices:
- $30 for seniors 55 and older, plus
groups of 6 or more in advance
- $35 per person in advance
- $45 door



Like last year I'm hoping to be able to give some tickets away for the Saturday event. Stay tuned!

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

WYES Private Beer Sampling and International Beer Tasting

Once again the fine folks over at WYES will be throwing 2 days worth of beer bacchanalia. On Friday June 4th you get the 2nd annual and extremely popular Private Beer Sampling which will again be held at NOLA Brewing. If you missed this last year my recommendation would be to buy tickets right now. No, seriously, take a break from reading this and go buy tickets. Last I heard they've already sold 50 tickets and only have 250 tickets total. It was an incredible event that should not be missed.

On June 5th you get another day to experience more beer. Yes, I did say two days worth of events. Last year was wild and based on the meeting I attended I think this year will be even better! Once again the event will be held at the Lakefront Arena. See below for the ticket giveaway.



BONUS NEWS: Both events will be 3 hours long!!! This mean you have 3 hours to sample so take your time and actually sample not get hammered.

Here is the actual press release:

WYES PRESENTS TWO DAYS OF BEER, BEER AND MORE BEER!

New Orleans, LA - May 13, 2010 - Join WYES along with local and national beer distributors for a weekend of beer tasting. On Friday, June 4, 2010 from 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. at NOLA Brewing, 3001 Tchoupitoulas Street, enjoy a relaxed evening of beer tasting with a limited number of guests during the WYES PRIVATE BEER SAMPLING. In honor of the craft of American and European brewers, this event will feature the hardest to find craft brewed beers, specially made cask and home brewed beers, as well as special one-off beers from local breweries. Guests will be able to talk one-on-one with brewers, home brewers, and other beer industry members, as well as talk amongst fellow beer connoisseurs. Tasting tickets are $50 which also includes lip-smacking food by Crescent Pie and Sausage. Also, the President and staff of NOLA Brewing will be available to meet and greet, as well as answer any questions guests may have. Tickets to Friday’s event can only be purchased by calling (504) 486-5511.

If you’re thirsty for cold beer and plenty of it, then don’t miss the 27th annual WYES INTERNATIONAL BEER TASTING Saturday, June 5 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. - YES, we’ve extended the event a whole hour - at the Lakefront Arena. Enjoy over 200 beers, ales, lagers, home brews and more from Brewstock, Crescent Crown, Crescent City Brew House, Deutsches Haus, Glazer's, Heiner Brau, Hoppy Homebrewers of South MS, LA Lagers Homebrewing Club, Mystic Krewe of Brew, Perdido Vineyards Farm Cider and Ale, Redstick Brewmasters, Lazy Magnolia and Tin Roof Brewing Company. For a list of all brews you’ll be tasting, visit wyes.org. While sampling beer, attendees can nibble on some tasty food - Saints burgers by Thompson Packers, Inc., Saundus Sauce and Zapp’s Potato Chips. Also, enjoy performances by Rocky’s Hot Fox Trot Orchestra, the New Orleans Ragtime & Dixieland Band and the Kilts of Many Colours Bagpipe Band.

All attendees must be at least 21-years-old. WYES encourages everyone to please drink responsibly. Let United Cab get you to and from our beer events. Reserve a cab today by calling (504) 522-9771 or (504) 524-9606.

All proceeds from the WYES PRIVATE BEER SAMPLING and the WYES INT’L BEER TASTING benefit WYES. We appreciate your support!

WYES SALUTES THE 2010 BEER SPONSORS: NOLA.COM, COX Media, Mudbug Media, Zapp's Potato Chips and ARTS New Orleans

CONTEST!!!

And on that note it's time for something never done on The Beer Buddha. I will be giving away two tickets to the Saturday June 5th event. That's right two tickets(valued at $70) courtesy of WYES. Here are the rules:

1) Obviously you must be 21. Don't be a dumb ass.

2) You must be a Beer Buddha subscriber via email or follower of The Beer Beer via Google Friend connect. Both of these you can sign up for on The Beer Buddha page. Comment on this blog post when you have signed up for one or the other.

3) You must attend one event during American Craft Beer Week 2010 and provide proof such as a receipt or something. Hell, a cell phone pic of you at the event is fine. Here is a list of events. I recommend the Saturday the 22nd event at Avenue Pub but that's just me. Any of the listed events will do. Proof will need to be provided at Avenue Pub on the night of the ticket giveaway.

4) You must write a minimum of one paragraph giving me a good reason why I should give you the two tickets. The more creative the story the better chance of winning. I tend to like funny and off the wall stuff. Just a hint. Email your entry to thebeerbuddha@gmail.com.

5) The tickets will be given away at The Avenue Pub on Friday May 28th at 8:00 pm(CST). In order to get the free tickets you must be at Avenue Pub on that day and at that time. If you are not there to accept the tickets they will go to someone else.

6) IMPORTANT EDIT!!! All entries must be in by no later than Thursday May 27th 11:59pm CST.

THE DISCLAIMER: This contest is for two tickets to the Saturday June 5th, 2010 WYES International Beer Tasting which will be held from 6pm-9pm. The winner is responsible for finding their own transportation to and from the event. The winner understands that The Beer Buddha(aka Jeremy Labadie) is not responsible for their dumb ass if they get drunk and choke on their own vomit, drink or drive, get arrested etc. The winner is solely responsible once they accept the tickets. The Beer Buddha always recommends that you be responsible when drinking any alcoholic beverage and always get a designated driver when drinking. And if you aren't 21 you aren't getting the tickets! The Beer Buddha reserves the right to add anything to the contest if he feels like it. It's his website so of course he can.

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

WYES Beer Tasting and VIP Event

Every year for 26 years WYES holds their annual beer tasting. This year is no different!


What is different is that a bunch of the local beer nerds got together with the good folks over at WYES and created a special VIP event which will be held the night before!!




Don't miss these events! At the Friday event NOLA Brewing will be sampling some beers not even on the market yet! Hopitoulas IPA, Lemon Basil Wheat, and a cask conditioned beer!!!!

Cheers!

Beer Buddha