A Quick Drink: Beer and Pizza

I can hear the beer nerds now. "Beer and pizza? That's the best you could do for an article on the greatness of beer and food pairings?" They will scream that beer is much more than just a foil for pizza and much more than just something to chug while watching the ball game. Beer is sophistication. Beer is how humankind survived when there was not an adequate water supply.  They would suggest trying an ultra hopped, smoked barley, green tea and raspberry infused lambic with a sauteed duck breast with kim chi Brussels sprouts.

In a way they would be correct.

But no pairing in the arena of food and beverage can beat beer and pizza, not even milk and chocolate chip cookies. A crisp yet chewy dough's faint yeastiness, the acidic vibrancy of marinara, the salty, creaminess of cheese, herbs, and myriad toppings are just tailored man for a quality beer. With pizza, I like a beer with more than a touch of hoppiness and a decent heft, but with enough bubbles to help scrub your mouth to prepare it for the next bite. Pale Ales and their sub genre, India Pale Ales offer this in spades. The immense hops of pale ales and IPAs bring both a welcome acidity and bitterness. Whereas sometimes sauvignon blanc is described as a squirt of lemon, an IPA to me is like biting into the rind of a lemon that has been cross bred with a pinecone, in a pleasant way. They are just heavy enough to remind you to take it easy without weighing you down. This is key in a pizza eating marathon. Some I have particularly enjoyed as of late are the Green Flash Brewing Co. West Coast IPA, the Southern Star Pine Belt Ale, and NOLA Brewing Co. Hopitoulas.


Grab some beers from the store, invite over the neighbors and friends and throw a pizza party. Its better than making your own kim chi Brussels sprouts.

NOLA Brewing Co. Flambeau Red Ale Release Party

NOLA Brewing will unveil its 2012 edition of its spring fling seasonal beer, Flambeau Red Ale this Saturday. To do so, NOLA has organized a bar crawl through the French Quarter. And hey, if you are going to pick a weekend during Carnival to go into the French Quarter and drink, this is it. The festivities kick off at 1 p.m. at the R Bar. Then at 2:30 the Krewe du Brew heads over to Balcony Music Club; at 3:45 they head next to Turtle Bay before finishing up at Molly's at the Market.

Of course, that should leave you good and lit up for the Krewe du Vieux parade, which rolls through the Quarter Saturday night. This being New Orleans and Carnival, this is a costume party. The theme is Mardi Gras on Fire. To help you with your costume selection, here are some fiery suggestions:

• Fire on the Mountain
• Fire on the Bayou
• Its Like Sex on Fire
• Fire and Rain
• Set Fire to the Rain
• Slutty Nurse on Fire
• Naughty Santa on Fire
• Slutty Catwoman on Fire
• Slutty Devil on Fire
• Fire Ant
• He's on Fire, for you NBA Jam fans
• Presidential Candidate on Fire, for you political junkies
• Future Plastic Surgeon on Fire, for the Pre-Med in your group (Tip: have a sign offering free breast exams)
• Robert Peyton on Fire, for the Pre-Law or Pre-Blog in your group
• Fire Fighter, for the MMA fan
• You're Fire'd , for the annoying guy who thinks he does a great Trump imitation

Feel free to leave your favorite fire related costume in the comments.

You Can't Stop NOLA Brewing, You Can Only Hope to Contain Them

Photo stolen off of Twitter @NOLABrewing

Trust us, that was the least offensive pun we came up with for a title to this post. As we are sure you know, NOLA Brewing - that rising behemoth of brew, that stalwart of suds - is set to release their New Orleans focused beers in new portable personal mini kegs. These personal mini kegs can travel almost anywhere. From the parade grounds to the parking lot of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, from the whitish sands of Pass Christian to your Aunt Beatrice's wake, there is literally nowhere you can't take these personal mini-kegs. And unlike big, bulky group kegs, these personal mini kegs are recyclable and come in convenient six and twenty-four packs.

To celebrate the release of the NOLA Blonde personal mini kegs, next Thursday they are taking over Tipitina's starting at 8 p.m. Featuring the music of Colin Lake, Flow Tribe, and Big Sam's Funky Nation, this will be in the words of soon to be married Donnie Boy Riguez, "a stone cold groove". Tickets are $15 which come not only with a personal mini keg but also a personal mini keg insulation device, which is a technological breakthrough on a global scale. These so-called "koozies" keeps a cold beverage colder longer. It does so by protecting the cold aluminum of the can from the warmth of your grubby little paw. So do the math people, $15 clams, 3 bands, 1 beer, and a lifetime of guaranteed cold beer, that is such a good deal Groupon would have passed on it.

On a personal note, the folks at NOLA Brewing have become a symbol of everything is right with New Orleans. We wish them nothing but the best. Now go drink their beer.

Saints Bye Week Makes for a Big Weekend

There is no such thing as an "off weekend" in the fall in New Orleans. The Saints bye week has left the door open for a number events to fill in the calendar, so strap on your boots for a busy weekend of eating and drinking.

On Saturday, the Broad Street Brewhaha will take place on the roof of the old Schwegmann's at 300 N Broad Street. The event will feature pick me ups from Coffee Roasters of New Orleans and beers by Abita, NOLA Brewing, Lazy Magnolia, Heiner Brau, and Bayou Teche. (Look out next year for Tin Roof to be added to the list.) Admission is free, and a $10 sample card guarantees you 10 3-ounce pours of the beers of your choice.

Sidenote: We wish we were going to the Carnivale de Vin Gala on Saturday night, but Santa did not deliver us the $1000 tickets as early Christmas presents. But if anyone wants to buy us Auction Item #16 entitled "A Few Bites of the Big Apple", we would quickly get over missing the gala. Moving on.

The premiere event of the weekend is the 4th Annual Po-Boy Festival, which will takse place along a seven block stretch of Oak Street beginning at Carrollton. The festival starts at 11:00am, and I advise you to arrive early as the crowds can get quite thick later in the afternoon. The map of po-boy purveyors can be found here, and from experience I can tell you that the booths farther from Carrollton are more likely to have shorter lines. (By the way, we are terribly disappointed that Dong Phuong is not on the list this year.) Finally, as you may recall, we served as "celebrity judges" for last year's Po-Boy Contest, but apparently our star has faded because we will not be on the panel this year. It was a good run.

Also on Sunday, La Boca will be hosting Asado Night at Rio Mar. The all you can eat meat feast features beef, lamb, pork, chicken, morcilla, and chorizo plus other La Boca favorites like provoleta and empandas. The cost is $50 per person and seating is limited, so call 525-8205 ASAP to make a reservation.

Last but not least, MVB will once again be open for business on Sunday night at Slim Goodies beginning at 5:00pm. With this week's recent shout out in the press, the MVB team is gearing up for what will hopefully be another successful burger weekend. One final note, the above linked article mistakenly listed this week's special as last week's. Just to clarify, this week's special is the "South of the Burger" - burger, blackbean and chipotle puree, guacamole, tomatillo crema, queso fresco, and grilled red onion. On The Pope's scale of deliciousness, we think it qualifies as "Lovin' in Your Mouth."

The Post-Katrina Top 20: #15 - #11

We start off this week with the continuation of our countdown of the Top 20 new and improved food and beverage accomplishments in post-Katrina New Orleans. If you missed #20-#16, click here.

#15: Stein's Deli - Sometimes things just make sense. Dan Stein realized New Orleans did not need another po boy shop. What it did need was a New York/Philadelphia/Jewish Delicatessen with an amazing beer selection and an attitude to match. In February 2007, Stein and partner Andre Moreau found a sliver of space on Magazine and crammed it to the rafters with fine meats, stinky cheeses, beer, hard cider, and other hard to find food items. But the true genius is in their sandwiches. Philly cheesesteaks, Reuben's, Chicago beefs, Fernandos, and Kellys have made this place a regular in our rotation. Plus, it is a great place to tell Mike Vick jokes.

#14: MiLa - While Mississippi and Louisiana were fighting over recovery dollars, Chefs Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing were marrying the cuisines of their respective home states in what's still the best and most over-looked hotel restaurant in the city. If we could only eat one dish before we die, then we choose MiLa's pan-roasted sweetbreads over truffled grits with bacon jus. The $20 lunch special is the value of the decade, well besides that Tiger Woods stock we bought last August.

#13: Mahony's Po-Boy Shop - After he simply could not rid himself of the memory of a few bogey po-boy experiences, Chef Ben Wicks decided to open up his own place in homage to the po-boy shops which he grew up with. At Mahony's, the kitchen cooks everything from scratch and does well by both the classics (like pot-roast style roast beef and fried oysters) to the avant garde (like fried chicken livers with cole slaw). Throw in the sensational shaved onion rings and an cold draft Abita root beer, and you have shining beacon of hope for the continuation of the po-boy tradition.

#12: Bistro Daisy - When Chef Anton Schulte left La Petite Grocery, his fans wondered (a) where he would end up next and (b) if he could replicate that soft and magical touch elsewhere. The Chef and his wife Diane went two-for-two when they opened their own bistro inside this old shotgun on Magazine Street. Now the name "Daisy" will always be synonymous with both their daughter and the artful salad of fresh mozzarella and roasted yellow peppers. The crawfish and mascarpone ravioli garners most of the well-deserved praise, but the lamb strip and parmesan risotto should not be overlooked either.

#11: NOLA Brew - After dealing with the hassles of insurance adjusters, contractors, and bureaucrats, Kirk Coco and Peter Caddo knew that what New Orleans really needed was a drink. So they set up a brewery in a warehouse on Tchoupitoulas and started brewing beer. Sound crazy? Well, maybe it is. But there is no denying the goodness of their NOLA Brown with a roast beef po-boy or the Seventh Street Wheat with a bowl of Vietnamese chargrilled pork. With the exile of Dixie, New Orleans once again has a beer to call their own.

Craft Beer Week

In the 1990's, beer finally broke free of the bonds of mass production and ushered in the era of the microbrew. There are many reasons why Americans began sipping better beer. Some believe it was due to Jimmy Carter's signing of a bill allowing homebrewing. Others claim the desire for great beer swelled with the Baby Boomer Generation and halcyon days of traveling through Europe.

Whatever and whyever is no bother. The American Brewing scene has never before been so strong and diverse. One can now walk into a bar and enjoy a piney, teeth-searing, hoppy ales of the Northwest or the sweet flavors of Lazy Magnolia. Abita, part of the vanguard of the microbrew movement, is now a big boy in the world of beer and newcomers like NOLA and Bayou Teche are staking a claim to be the new black.

American Craft Beer Week celebrates beer this week. The events are scattered around town and showcase the offerings of top craft brewers from San Diego to Brooklyn. So if you like beer check out the list of events and partake in the pleasures of the pint.

Fish Fridays - What to Drink

"Do you ever drink beer or real liquor?" Mary Magdalene asked, "'cause writing about wine is for pansies."

"Yes. I love beer and hooch."

"Ok. If you were going to have a cocktail what would it be?"

"Well, if it is cold maybe a sazerac, but if it is..."

"Ha. I knew it, you are a pansy. A sazerac, you believe that Cathy? That's not a real drink," Mary informed me.

Mary may have a point. Writing about beer or snorting vodka (an experience you only need to do once) makes the act and writer seem pretentious because (1) everyone knows how beer tastes and (2) if you need a recipe for a screwdriver that is pathetic.

In South Louisiana, boiled seafood is tailor made for beer. The spicy, fatty deposits of meat in crawfish, shrimp, and crab just make beer happy and vice versa. One of my favorite beers for this is just plain old Bud Light or Miller Lite. Low alcohol and cheap means that you can drink about a gallon of it before and after the cops show up.

Now if you want to go a little bit higher end, you should try the Southern Star Bombshell Blonde. First off, I love blondes. Secondly, this beer comes from Texas where they know a thing or two about craft beers and blondes. Also, the beer comes in a can and is unfiltered. So you get this yeasty, refreshing beer with a creamy body that is never skunky. Cork & Bottle has it for sale in a convenient six pack form.

Of course picking up a draft pack of NOLA Blonde, Brown, or (my favorite) Hopitoulas would make you the guest of honor at any crawfish boil.

Finally if you want to drink "a real drink" as per Mary Magdalene, pour yourself some gin into a tall glass with ice, top it with an orange twist, and enjoy.

What do you like to drink with seafood?

Hogs for the Cause

Hogs for the Cause, the number one porcine related charity event held at the Fly, returns this Saturday, March 6th from sun up to sun down. With over 25 teams competing for your dollars in the Louisiana High on the Hog Pork Cook Off, the competition will be fiercer than you can shake three sticks at. Judging will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. but feel free to come out whenever you want as we will have beer, oysters, pork, music, and silent auction items ready for your perusal.

As you may already know, last year's recipient and the inspiration behind this Cause, Ben Sarrat, Jr., lost his battle with cancer last Thursday. There are no words to express how close Becker and I had grown to Ben and his family. His outlook on life - always positive, smiling, and most of all full of jokes - motivates us to make this year's Hogs for the Cause bigger and better.

To this aim, Hogs has established a cancer research fund, whereby all monies raised will be directed to childhood cancer research. Specifically, we want to help fund the cure for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gilioma (DIPG). And what is DIPG? The worst disease imaginable. Most cases are present in small children, and the survival rate is nearly zero. What we do know is that funding for DIPG research is at an all time low, and that is where you come in.

We have been blown away by the support and generosity from our patrons in New Orleans. Donations, raffle items, free equipment and supplies have poured in from across the metropolitan area. Many of us in New Orleans have spent the last half-decade helping each other out. Be it a spare generator or a few extra MREs, we take good care of those in need. We have learned compassion, and that is a wonderful thing.

Now we need you to come out and show your support on what will be a beautiful spring day. We want you to accidentally get sunburned, drink some NOLA Brown, bet on some raffle items, take a plunge on a weekend getaway to Point Clear, and just enjoy the day. There is no charge for admission because we want you to give whatever you feel comfortable with giving. The cook off teams, however, will be vying for your support as monies you donate to each team will help go to towards their point total.

We look forward to seeing you out there.

Together we can do something great.

Farewell to Meat - NOLA Brewing Co.

Welcome to Part II of our series on saying "sayonara" to meat. In this week's entry, we take a trip inside our local microbrewery with the easiest name to remember. And yes, meat will be involved.


The coolest job you've ever had has nothing on working at NOLA Brewing Co. The vibe inside the warehouse-turned-brewery is relaxed and humorous, and more often than not employees find themselves sitting around a large wooden table and telling stories after working long hours brewing some damn fine beers. But the best part of working at NOLA? All, the free samples you can drink, otherwise known as "taste testing."

And if that is not enough, you can bring your dog to work.

There are actually two canines that regularly roam the NOLA warehouse on Tchoupitoulas, but one is much more photogenic than the other. Say hello to Hops, a three-legged bulldog... whose owner is a brewer. Are you thinking what we are? Double entendre!

While our musings may create the impression that NOLA is all fun and games, the Blonde or Brown in your glass doesn't just magically appear. The brewing and fermentation process behind the NOLA beers is a complicated formula of time, temperature, water, hops, and malts. And cleaning... lots and lots of cleaning. Thankfully for you and me, the team behind NOLA is comprised of passionate beer makers with wide ranging levels of experience, each contributing in his or her own way to the end product we all enjoy.

As a token of our gratitude (and as an excuse to tour the brewery), your faithful bloggers offered to throw the NOLA team an afternoon cookout this past Sunday. Upon advice of owner Kirk Coco, we brought along a standard Weber kettle grill, only to be trumped by this custom built keg grill owned by brewmaster Peter Caddoo. We're pretty sure that Kirk intentionally set us up for embarrassment, but we're OK with it.

The grill was fashioned from a keg of Dixie and proudly bears its hometown origin.

On the menu were both skirt and hanger steaks, courtesy of Cochon Butcher. All these cuts needed were an aggressive seasoning of kosher salt, but Rene whipped up a parsley chimichurri for an added touch of flavor. Skirt steak, one of the most overlooked cuts of beef, benefits from a quick walk across super hot coals, creating a nice crust while the inside stays moist and juicy. Hanger steaks are difficult to find outside restaurant menus but taste almost as good coming off your backyard grill as they do at La Boca.

While waiting for the coals to catch fire, an intrepid Bostonian transplant jogged by. Curiosity caught the best of her, and she wandered inside the gate for a closer look. After she informed the NOLA Brew crew that she was training for this thing called a marathon, they cajoled her into having a few beers as part of her rehydration regimen. Chalk up one more loyal customer.

(Pictured from left to right: Beer Wench, Mike "Indy " Grap, Brewmaster Peter Caddo, Vice President Dylan Lintern, Brewer Melanie Knepp, and President Kirk Coco)

Pay no attention to the man with the large chef's knife, but he thinks you should drink his NOLA Brown with your next steak. The Hopitoulas IPA ain't a bad choice either. While NOLA's beers are usually enjoyed straight from the tap at your favorite restaurant, you can now pick up NOLA draft packs at your local grocer. These cardboard boxes hold a case of beer and will stay fresh long after you pour your first pint.

People sometimes say that the best tasting steaks are the ones they cook at home. I have never really subscribed to that theory. But I will say that a steak cooked on a keg grill in a brewery on a Sunday afternoon after a Saints playoff win is a damn good steak. Especially when you have all the beer in the world to wash it down with.

Classic Combinations

Pizza and Beer

90% of the meals I ate in college involved one of those two food groups. With that in mind, here is a recipe for how to make homemade za. College credit is available.

Pizza Recipe

Before you do anything go to Home Depot and get an unglazed Ceramic tile. This will cost you about $1.99. Place it on the bottom of your oven and let er rip. Mine goes to 11 (550 degrees), but 500 works well. Just leave it in there at all times.

In a Kitchen-Aid Mixer (or just a large bowl) combine one packet of yeast, a lil bit of honey or sugar, and a 1/4 cup of warm water. Let this sit while you listen to Freebird in its entirety. The whole thing.

Now with the paddle attachment on low speed slowly add 3.5 cups of flour in half cup increments. Depending on the humidity, you may need more flour, more water, or more cowbell. Throw in a healthy handful of salt and a few good glugs of olive oil. Allow mixer to chug along, slowly blending the elements into a compound. When the dough begins to come together, remove from bowl, knead on a floured surface, and form into a ball. I like to knead for about 10 minutes, so I can tell my doc that I exercise.

Place ball into a oiled bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel, place in a warm area, and fuhgedaboutit for 3 hours.
While this is going on, you can make a pizza sauce. Saute onions, garlic, chili flake, some oregano. Add 1 can whole tomatoes that you pop by squeezing in between your grubby hands, a bay leaf, some red wine, and a good amount of tomato paste. Slowly simmer this. Salt, pepper to taste. At the end tear in some fresh basil.

The dough by this point will have risen. When it has, punch it down and re-knead for about 2 minutes. Cut dough into 4 pieces. On your counter, set up a well-floured area and a floured pizza peel or the bottom of a sheet pan.
Shape out pizza dough, either with a rolling pin, your fingers, a wine bottle, or by tossing it in the air(easier than you think). Place on peel or baking sheet. Top with a small amount of pizza sauce.
Add cheese of your choice and whatever toppings you want. Basil will do you just fine.
Slide za onto a smoking hot stone. Monitor and remove when dough and cheesy are bubbly and brown. It won't take long.
Here is one with mushrooms and olives.
And, of course, the beer. Recently emerging from brewery located in the Blackened Out Cellar is this Miami Weiss (say it out loud, hint: the W is more like a V). This perfect summer beer matches an almost creamy hefeweissen with orange peel. Delicious. Plus it looks damn sexy in a glass from NOLA Brewing.

Have a good weekend, readers.

St. James Beer Dinner

A few weeks ago, St. James proprietors Danielle and Richard Sutton, Stein's Deli's Dan Stein, and Chef Daniel Esses teamed up to put on a wonderful pairing of beer and food. The good folks from NOLA Brewing Co. also joined in and served some of their delicious brown ale all night long a la Lionel Richie.

NOLA Brewing Co. Brown Ale. I almost drank one thousand of these.

An amuse bouche of smoked redfish pate on a mushroom pinwheel with an essence of beet puree. Very gorgeous flavor in your mouth with the beet juice cleaning up the palate.

Braised pork belly with beer laden sauerkraut. The fattiness of the pork belly mingled quite comfortably with the acidic twang of the tender sauerkraut. I would have liked a touch more crunch on the pork belly but this is really just splitting hairs.

Loved the above. Beef cheek ravioli with sauteed kale. Just a wonderful example of pasta and simplicity.
Cheeses and quince paste.
Chocolate cake with an Ayinger ice cream and raspberry puree (the kind you buy from a secondhand store).

Each course was paired with a beer. Some standouts include a Fuller's ESB and a blonde Bruxelles. There was also an espresso stout paired with the final dish, which was very interesting. There were some beers we were not fond of, but that is a good thing. Disappointment would have reigned supreme had we been served Miller High Life and Blue Moon. So it was very enjoyable to get out of our comfort zone and try different beers. And for that, and the food, it gets a Birdie.

This Wednesday from 5-7 pm St. James will host Jeff Roberts, author of The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese for a meet and greet. Bart Bell from Huevos and soon to open Crescent Pie and Sausage Co. will be on hand passing out small plate creations. Huevos, if you haven't yet been, is worth the trip. Cost is free!

NOLA Brewing

On Saturday, I stopped by Cork & Bottle to pick up a case of wine. While waiting in line, and over hearing some old lady's recipe for Vodka soaked anchovies, I noticed two NOLA Brewing offerings begging me to taste. In an impulse I got a pint of the Blonde Ale. A great beer. Perfect for this environment, crisp, refreshing, with a light body and hints of citrus.

Currently the beer is only offered on tap, but if you see drink it. Support local industry, drink better beer. Find it here:

45 TCHOUP at 4529 TCHOUPITOULAS ST
AVENUE PUB at 1732 ST CHARLES AVE
BULL DOG MID CITY at 5135 CANAL BLVD
CALYPSO PATIO BAR & GRILL at 326 LEE LANE
CORK & BOTTLE FINE WINES at 3700 ORLEANS AVENUE
FOX & HOUND ENGLISH PUB/GRILL at 1200 S CLEARVIEW PKWY
LAGERS INTERNATIONAL ALE HOUSE at 3501 VETERANS BLVD
SLICE PIZZERIA at 1513 ST CHARLES AVENUE
SPORTS BEAT PUB at 3330 RIDGELAKE DR
TACK ROOM BAR & GRIL at 2401 VETERANS BLVD
Mrs. MAE'S at 4336 MAGAZINE ST