NOLA Blonde on Cask Dry-Hopped with Mt. Hood Hops

July 13th, 2012 by Scott in Other Beer Reviews

Last week I took a week off from work and spent it in New Orleans. Among many other things, my wife and I got together with some friends and went out to The Avenue, a beer bar in the Garden District of New Orleans. This was my first visit (something Katie probably didn’t know when I told her to go there when she was in New Orleans a couple of months ago), so over the next several days I’ll be reviewing the beers I had at The Avenue.

The Avenue Pub

When we got there, we walked through the main bar area and went upstairs. The upstairs section is open from 5pm until about 1am (The Avenue is open 24/7/365, so if you’re looking for a beer on Christmas, they’re open). Every Friday at 6:30pm they tap a cask upstairs; this week’s cask was a Blonde Ale by NOLA (New Orleans Lager and Ale) Brewing. However, this wasn’t just their normal blonde; this was a very limited release that was dry-hopped with Mt. Hood hops.

This blonde is golden in color with a smaller white head. The dry hopping is noticeable in both the scent and the taste, as this is a hoppier beer than most blonde ales I’ve had. Some fruity flavors in there as well, but the hops are the feature of this particular brewing. The carbonation was lighter than many beers since it was pumped from the cask. I can’t make a direct comparison to the regular NOLA Blonde as I haven’t tried it, but I like this and would definitely get it again if it were available.

Judging from their website, it looks like NOLA Brewing only distributes to Louisiana and Alabama. I guess I’ll just have to make another trip in to enjoy more of their beer, which I’m sure I’ll be doing soon enough.