December 26th, 2014
31 Beers of December – Day 26: Bayou Teche Brewing’s Biere Noel
@BayouTecheBiere @noradeirdre
To celebrate the Holiday Season, we have teamed up with beer bloggers and craft beer enthusiasts around the country to host the fourth annual beer bloggers advent calendar. This is the season of sharing and we intend to share our love of beer with you.
During the 31 days of December, we will be sharing our favorite regional/winter seasonals/holiday beers with the help from our fellow beer bloggers. We hope that you tune in every day, to hear our stories and share our holiday cheer.
Bayou Teche Brewing’s Biere Noel
Blogger: Nora McGunnigle
Website: http://www.nolabeerblog.com
Twitter / Facebook / Instagram: @noradeirdre / http://facebook.com/norabeerblog / http://instagram.com/nolabeerblog
Beer: Biere Noel
Brewery: Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, LA
Website: http://bayoutechebrewing.com
Twitter: @BayouTecheBiere
Beer Details:
– Style: Porter
– ABV:9%
Commercial Description:
This is a limited-release, single-batch beer, with a tart cherry aroma, vanilla oakiness and whiskey flavor. To create this seasonal beer, Bayou Teche used heavily roasted malts from France and Germany, fermented the beer with sour cherries and aged in whiskey barrels.
Why I selected Bayou Teche Brewing’s Biere Noel:
I don’t like spiced beer – the end of the year brings so many beers that are smothered in clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and the like, served in pumpkin ales and winter warmers. But Biere Noel is festive without the spice cupboard involved.
The Cajun, French-influenced brewery Bayou Teche releases a single batch of barrel aged beer each year for the holidays, based on the southern homemade cordial called cherry bounce (cherries fermented in whiskey or bourbon). The beer is fermented with tart cherries and barrel aged in whiskey barrels. It combines the special Christmas beer tradition of France with the cherry bounce tradition of Cajun country. The cherry flavor provides a sharp sour note that’s balanced by the full and malty body.
It’s a drinkable but celebratory and warming beer for the season. I love that the brewery takes the two different traditions and makes it their own. It’s what Bayou Teche does with all their beers- every beer has a story, a purpose.
About NOLA Beer Blog:
Nora McGunnigle’s craft beer blog focuses on the New Orleans, Louisiana, and Gulf Coast beer scene. She also writes for Beer Advocate, All About Beer, CraftBeer.com, Alcohol Professor, Louisiana Kitchen & Culture, and local New Orleans papers the Gambit and Where Y’At.
About Bayou Teche Brewing:
Bayou Teche Brewing was founded in 2010 in Arnaudville, LA by the Knott brothers – Karlos, Dorsey, and Byron.
Returning to America after a six year deployment in West Germany, our brewmaster dreamed of creating a beer that would pair with the Cajun cuisine he grew up eating. Living in Europe, he had learned to appreciate the regional foods and beers of many countries, and how they had evolved to complement each other. Taking up brewing beer at home, he taught himself to make several styles of these beers, fine-tuning recipes until he was satisfied that they complimented Cajun and Creole food. After returning to Arnaudville, he taught his brothers and collaborating they brewed commemorative batches of beer for their family’s holiday meals.
Bayou Teche Brewing was founded on this simple dream – to craft beers that compliment the cuisine and lifestyle of Cajuns and Creoles. With that mission, the Knott brothers decided on St. Patrick’s Day in 2009 to convert a discarded rail road car into a farmhouse brewery.
Today, next door to that converted old rail car near the banks of the Bayou Teche, innovative ales are being crafted true to the brewers’ original intent – beers that compliment the unique foods and lifestyles of South Louisiana.
Visit the brewery online at http://bayoutechebrewing.com