Beer Guide to Visiting New Orleans

I've only lived here for four months, but I can tell you that EgadBananas knows his stuff. He's been my go to for local beer knowledge, and his list is as comprehensive as it gets!

 

Avenue Pub is all you need for Nola

 

Nicely done, Egad. You put a lot of work, research and beer sweat into this compilation. Wish I lived closer so I could do more research myself.

 

Great list!! Thanks for posting this, will definitely be browsing this for my next trip to LA.

 

Good job Evan!

Hopefully, there will more breweries and brewpubs to be added to that list in the near future. Seems like there is a lot stuff "in the works." It's still crazy to me that New Orleans proper only has one brewery.

 

I've only lived here for five months and I can say the same! Thank you EgadBananas. This is a greatly needed resource for out-of-towners.

 

I went to Avenue Pub twice and also stopped by the Bulldog to watch the Chiefs/Broncos first half. The Bulldog has about as good selection as Ave Pub.

 

This is not true, and if you went to both often you would get the difference. The Bulldog is stale in terms of the selection, and rarely if ever has any sours on tap. Also, The Bulldog is not equal parts restaurant and beer garden. It's a beer garden that has OK bar food, especially by New Orleans' standards.

For drinking good beer at a bar, I 100% agree.

 

Since 1) I was only in NOLA for a few days and 2) am not really interested in sours (I'll drink a sold deep-bodied red over a Cantillion any day), how would I know otherwise and why would I care? Are you saying the selection I saw at Bulldog would be pretty much the same if I went back two weeks later? Seems doubtful to me. Considering that my post is corroborated by the OP of the thread, I have no regrets.

 

I'm not trying to say you did anything wrong man. But yes if you went back 2 weeks later they would probably have the same beers minus a random local that they replaced with another local. I'm from here, and I went to LSU. So I've spent my fair share of time at all 3 Bulldogs, but I probably haven't been there in a year for said reason.

You don't have to like sours either, but it's something most really good craft bars offer these days. And it doesn't stop at sours, the pub always has unique and rare kegs that The Bulldog will never see. The owner is friends with many top brewers (Stone, Cantillon, De Struise, etc.) and really pulls some amazing stuff. Hell they got a keg of Enjoy By 3 days after it released in California, and I can pretty much guarantee that was the only keg to hit Louisiana. I can't even think of a saison I've ever had at the dawg, but the pub always has choice ones on tap. From stouts to pilsners and everything in between, they will consistently bring the good craft beer. So yes if you're coming to New Orleans, it's honestly the only bar you need to hit in my opinion. Hit me up if any out-of-towners want to drink a pint there, I go often

 

That information was intended to inform other BAs and not to discredit your experience in town.

 

I never drink on the northshore, very surprising news to me! I will rephrase, I bet no Bulldog will get it and it's awesome that other bars in the region are making the effort.

 

I had two beers at The Bulldog (Magazine St location) - and I think the first might have been Abita's French Connection, which I had seen two days before at Ave Pub. Biere de Garde, but it is a subclass of Saisons. If it wasn't French Connection, I think it was some other Saison. While I believe you in Ave Pub turning over taps quicker, the lineup at the Bulldog is nothing to sneeze at. I actually didn't remember the bar from Egad's post - someone at Pat O'Brien's recommended it to me while I was watching the Saints game and drinking my obligatory Hurricane.

 

So let's say I take a trip to NO, or perhaps.. a family member.

Would you say it's possible a Cantillon bottle would be spotted?

 

Thanks! That's helpful, hopefully one can be scored.

 

I LOVE that people are debating their favorite beer bar. It shows we have come along way in our beer culture and offerings that a debate with both sides making really valid point can even be held.

The only point I'll make is that the term " best" is a relative term. If you live in La and can visit one place a lot then a rotating selection of rarish or unknown beers is hugely appealing. the pubs selection frequently disappoints folks who come from out of town expecting to find a wide array of local beers to sample. We certainly tap many locals but not as many as are out there now because we save taps for things we love like de la Senne and Struise. Rotating taps isn't big selling point to an out of town one time visitor because on any given day we might have a large selection of something that doesn't appeal to them and only a few options of the style they prefer. Ill never forget the " ding" we got on a Zwanze weekend review a couple of years back because we didn't have a large selection of IPAs on tap and the customer wasn't into sours. I learned a lot form that review ... And with subsequent Zwanze weekends I tried to make sure I had at least a few Wow factor beers in other styles.

My point is only that I think a few places do excellent jobs of beer selection in town. Every individual has a different set of things they are looking for in a beer drinking bar experience so it makes sense that we see and can appreciate different approaches.

Thanks so much for the support guys! Especially Egad Bananas!

 

Beautiful post, Evan