What's Happening at C'est Bon Biere (April 2015)

Hello to all of our fans and craft beer lovers. We have a lot to go over, so bear with me. There are plenty of opportunities to try some homebrewed beer from your favorite Gonzales homebrewers. There is always beer on tap at the C'est Bon Biere headquarters, and we are always welcome to entertaining guests.

If you have any questions, comments, or just want to talk beer with us, we now have a email address just for that. You can reach us at itsgoodbeer@gmail.com. Pretty simple, I know. I'm trying to keep it simple for you guys. Especially after being at a beer festival for 5 hours, you might not have the best short term memory.

MAY 9- MELLOW BREWFEST
Come and visit us at our next homebrew festival in Covington, LA at Mellow Mushroom. The event is on May 9th from 4-9pm. The theme of this year's competition is Louisiana food and ingredients. We will be serving our soon-to-be-famous Blueberry Bread Pudding Barleywine. We will also be serving our Cream Ale brewed with fresh lemon zest, basil, and lemon thyme grown in our backyard garden. Yes, I know your mouth is watering!



His and Her brews will be in a head-to-head battle again at this competition. At Bayou Beer Fest in Houma, the Guilty Pleasure Chocolate Stout was the fan favorite over the I Can't Believe It's Not Butterbeer Cream Ale. Whose brews will you choose at Mellow Brewfest this year? Come and taste for yourself.

 

BARREL AGED BEERS

As many of you are aware, we now have a 5-gallon whiskey barrel for aging beer in. The first experiment begins tomorrow, when we brew a Baltic Porter, then age it for one month in the whiskey barrel. You will be the first to hear about the flavor and aroma that we get from the barrel.

 

Thank the distillers from our neighbor to the west, King's County Distillery

 

BEER FESTIVALS IN MISSISSIPPI

More details to come soon on this front. C'est Bon Biere might be traveling to Hattiesburg in early June for a local beer festival. Beers served there will be our barrel-aged porter and a long-awaited French Saison! Stay tuned on this front.

 

All in all, it's been a great start to the year. Brewing is still a great hobby, and a ton of fun. Everyone wants friends that homebrew. If you are ever interested in learning about home brewing or want to get started, just send us an email at itsgoodbeer@gmail.com. We will be happy to talk about it. Until then, drink local... drink good beer!

Mellow Brewfest Results

It's a good time of the year. The weather is getting warmer, vacations are on the horizon, and craft beer is gaining momentum across the state of Louisiana. Sam and I would like to say happy graduation to all of our friends at CSM, LSU, ULL, and all schools in between. Best of luck to all of you in searching for jobs, grad school, or whatever you choose to do next.

A couple of weeks ago, C'est Bon Biere showed up at Mellow Brewfest in Covington, LA with nothing more than an ice chest of beer and the shirts on our back. We must have looked ragged because they gave us some good looking festival t-shirts.

Now we look like professionals!

Plenty of homebrew clubs were there in full force, each with 6-10 beers of their own on tap. Not being a part of these groups was intimidating when we first got there, but everyone there was very friendly and willing to go out of their way and talk to us. Since then, we have made it to our first homebrew club meeting with the club Brasseurs a la Maison.

We made many friends at the festival, including a group from Metairie who served a delicious Lemongrass wheat beer. Surprisingly, our Chai dark ale actually mixed well with the lemongrass (All of the beers in the competition had some sort of spice or herb incorporated into the brewing process).

I know what many of you are thinking right now...

Don't worry, there were no "Bratwurst beers" or "Secret ingredient beers" there. The vast majority of the beers were very creative and delicious too. Who would have thought that out of 50 entries, C'est Bon Biere would come in 2nd place in the "Best of Show"!

Look who made it on the big stage!

We had a great time at the festival, made some new friends, and tried some unique beers that will only be brewed by homebrewers. As for what we have on tap the rest of the summer: the Belgian Missile Crisis will be ready in time for the summer months. The Guilty Pleasure Milk Stout will be brewed soon (it takes a while to condition and get its full flavor), and a new recipe for a Cream Ale is in the works.

Thanks to everyone who has been following our blog. It's a lot of fun to write about our hobby, and add some creativity to the mix. All you engineers out there, know that creativity is not our forte! I hope everyone enjoys their summer. Buy local beers, and try out some homebrewed beer too if you get the chance. Cheers!