NOLA & THE ATL

I took a quick trip to New Orleans and Atlanta this past weekend and was able to try several new beers during my journey.

While in New Orleans, my wife, Ashlee, and I stopped in the International Beer House on Bourbon Street late on Friday night.  They had a good selection of craft beers on tap.  I settled for the locally-made Hopitoulas from Nola Brewing.  This 6% ABV West-Coast style IPA was delicious.  Ashlee had the Strawberry Ale from Covington's Brewing which is also Louisiana-based.   I had a sip of it and thought it was OK.

A classic sign on Bourbon Street.  Not good ones particularly, but definitely big ones.



Bright lights, Crescent City.



On Saturday I flew up to Atlanta to meet my friends Wayne, Jim and Ryan for our second annual G.A.M.E. (Grown-Ass Man Extravaganza) Weekend where we travel to see our beloved Tennessee Titans play a road game.  The night before the game we had dinner at Max Lager's Grill & Brewery.  The food was excellent and their house IPA, the Hopsplosion, was pretty darn good.

We spent A LOT of time at the Phillips Arena location of Atlanta's own regional chain, Taco Mac, where they have 130 beers on tap.  I did my best to try as many new ones that I could including the following:  Breckinridge 471 IPA (Colorado), Eye Patch IPA (Monday Night Brewing - Atlanta, GA), Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale (Monday Night Brewing), Sweetwater Crank Tank Rye'd Ale (Atlanta), Breckinridge Christmas Ale (Colorado) and Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy Brown Ale (Georgia).  My friend, Rex, who lives in Atlanta and was kind enough to show us around a little on Saturday night actually introduced me to the Wild Heaven brown ale at a very cool bar called Ormsby's, but I had a full pint the next day before the game back at Taco Mac.  I enjoyed them all with a nod to Monday Night and Wild Heaven for producing some great products out of fledgling local microbreweries.  Hats off to Taco Mac for continuing to make these unique beers available to the public in a great setting with delicious food as well.

The Titans unfortunately lost to the surging Falcons on Sunday afternoon, but we had a great time at the game and enjoyed some sweet seats near the field in the fabulous Georgia Dome.  The photo above was taken from our seats just before the game started.  Taco Mac has a set-up inside the dome as well,  but I didn't find it until late in the game.