Bayou Teche Brewing
Arnaudville, LA
Available: LA
LA-31 Bière Pâle is crafted with imported Belgian malts and American hops and yeast. The beer is crafted to compliment traditional LA cuisine such as red beans and rice, jambalaya, sauce piquant, shrimp Creole, chicken and sausage gumbo, hot boudin, boiled crawfish, fried seafood platters, crawfish bisque and éttoufée.
ABV: 5.2
ABW: n/a
Color: 7
Bitterness: 27
Original gravity: 1051
A pale gold beer with a big fluffy collar of foam, it has a nutty and fruity nose with hints of caramel, butterscotch and spicy hops. Intensely bitter hops burst on the tongue, along with tart orange/citrus fruit and sweet malt. The well-balanced finish has creamy malt, tangy fruit, a continuing hint of butterscotch and bitter hops resins. This is a quenching and complex beer—I wish it were available in curry-mad Britain as it would be the perfect companion for spicy Indian and Bangladeshi dishes.
This beer has an attractive orange-amber color underneath a tight, off-white foam. The aroma is earth, nutty and musty, with mild notes of fruit and mint. The bitterness stands up front on the palate, broad and brash, before the full-bodied malts pull the beer back into balance. Hop bitterness lingers after a long finish. It’s a little rough around the edges, but that’s nothing a good cheeseburger won’t fix. Don’t be stingy with the bacon.
Roger Protz is the author of Complete Guide to World Beer and 300 Beers to Try Before You Die. He is a respected beer authority and editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.
Internationally recognized brewer and expert on traditional beer, Garrett Oliver is the brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery and the author of The Brewmaster's Table.
