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MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2015
the
Savings
issue
F
ootball and beer — a classic
combination.There’s nothing like beer
for celebrating your team’s touchdown
or key interception. It also helps drown your
sorrows when it’s the other teams.
When choosing gameday beers, remember:
it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Sixty minutes
of play translates to three hours of game
watching, which is doubled or even tripled
if watching the game before and/or after. So
drinkability is key. But you still want flavor
— otherwise, what’s the point?
Local beers are always a good choice to cheer
on the local team, and there are plenty to
choose from at Rouses. On the lighter end
of the spectrum, Great Raft Brewing out
of Shreveport, Louisiana, makes Southern
Drawl, a pale lager with grassy and bready
notes and a mild hop finish. It’s extremely
drinkable and delicious.
Football season starts when it’s still warm,
so a refreshing wheat beer is a great option
to quench your thirst during
the game. Parish Brewing’s
Canebrake, a crisp, flavorful ale
made in Broussard, Louisiana,
uses Steen’s cane syrup as part
of its recipe.
Chafunkta Brewing’s Kingfish
Ale is a cream ale, which is an
older style that’s recently found
a renaissance among craft beer
brewers. Cream ale has the
ingredients of a light lager but
is brewed as an ale, fermented at
higher temperatures with an ale
yeast instead of a lager yeast.Kingfish drinks
light and crisp but has a more complex ale
flavor. It’s the best of both worlds for a great
football drinking beer.
Of course, game day beers aren’t limited to
light lagers and ales. For those who crave as
much excitement from their beers as they
do from their team, a cornucopia of styles
are available.
There’s a perception that dark beers are heavy,
but that’s not always the case.Beers like Bayou
The
DRAFT
Teche’s LA-31 Biere Noire and Great Raft’s
Reasonably Corrupt are local examples of the
German-style schwartzbier, which has a light
and drinkable body, with a roasty flavor from
the addition of darker malts.
However, there’s a place for heavier dark
beers as well. Deeper into football season,
when the weather cools, try Crooked
Letter’s Mystery Romp Mocha Porter or
Lazy Magnolia’s Jefferson Stout.
Hopheads love football, too. IPAs tend to
have a bit more alcohol content, and high
levels of hops can be a little overwhelming
on the palate if drank throughout the day.
So pale ales like NOLA Brewing’s Rebirth,
Parish Envie or Tin Roof ’s Voodoo Bengal
Pale Ale can quench that thirst for hops in
a balanced fashion. For serious hops, pick
up a sixer of Abita’s Wrought Iron IPA or
Covington Brewhouse’s Anonymous IPA.
Southern Prohibition’s Jack the Sipper is a
version of the English style ESB, which is
a less hoppy cousin to pale ale and another
great option for a game day beer.
One of the reasons that football and beer
go so well together is the camaraderie that
surrounds both. The raucous celebration of
the tailgate exemplifies this; kegs can help
get the party going and keep it running.
Blonde ales are perfect for this occasion
— NOLA Blonde as well as Tin Roof ’s
Perfect Tin are available at Rouses in kegs
of various sizes.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Americans consumed 325.5 million
gallons of beer on Super Bowl Sunday.
There are 15.5 gallons in a standard keg.
That’s 21 millions kegs.
by
Nora McGunnigle