Pour Me Another: Bayou Teche Brewing

This past weekend, we poured up three beers from the folks at Bayou Teche Brewing, a family-run brewery in the quaint, Cajun town of Arnaudville, Louisiana. The brews coming out of this place are as unique as the brewery itself and you'll always find a huge selection of interesting (and sometimes adventurous) choices at the taproom! Bayou Teche is owned and operated by the Knott brothers, but you're almost guaranteed to find multiple generations of the family making the rounds at the brewery. What started as a small operation on the family's farm has exploded into a true Cajun empire, bringing some well deserved attention to this family affair of Craft Brewers and the city of Arnaudville. 

The drive to the brewery is an experience in itself. No matter which direction you find yourself traveling from, you'll get lost staring out the window at the vast open fields, sprawling farm land and ancient, twisted oak trees that have been in the ground longer than a lot of us have been alive! Make the trip on a day when the weather hits that sweet spot in South Louisiana and enjoy the scenery in their outdoor beer garden. You'll love sipping on a cold beer (odds are, it's a strong one, so pace yourself!), snacking on some amazing food and watching folks, young and old, dance the afternoon away to some live cajun music. 

Bayou Teche has been consistently growing as a company and seem to always be making improvements along the way. Among these improvements, the most noticeable has to be the new branding. These guys are killing it with this super cool, cohesive style, reminiscent of 1950's Sci-Fi movie posters. Each beer's branding seems to tell a tale of old cajun folklore. It's a great change in style and the look perfectly matches the brewery's personality!

You'll find the biggest selection of beers at their taproom, but you can always find a handful of the brewery's flagship and seasonal beers in most stores throughout South Louisiana. We decided to pick up a mixed pack of their Bière Noire, a dark roasted ale, Swamp Thing IPA and Cocodrie, their new Double Dry Hopped IPA. 

Bière Noire - Dark Roasted Ale

This dark roasted ale is one of the breweries flagship beers. It pours a deep, dark brown, like a stout or porter. The tan, bubbly head had a frothy, airy feel to it. The Biere Noire has a malty, roasty, chocolate aroma with a hint of vanilla. The taste was slightly sweet, with almost a hint sassafras, the way a root beer would smell after all the bubbles settle! This was a pretty tasty dark ale and at 5.4% ABV, you could easily put a few of these bad boys away!

Swamp Thing IPA

Swamp Thing is the very drinkable, flagship IPA from the brewery. It's a solid 6.3% ABV with a subtle, hoppy flavor. This has been our go-to style from these guys since it was released. The beer pours a lightly hazy shade of orange with a creamy head and a grassy/herby smell to it, kind of like a funky farmhouse ale. You won't find the hops in this beer to be too overwhelming. Swamp Thing is a bright and fresh IPA that would be a great choice for someone who isn't really into the bitter hoppiness that you'll find with a lot of other IPA's. Definitely give this smooth IPA a try!

Cocodrie Double Dry Hopped IPA

Our favorite beer out of the three was the colorful Cocodrie! This double dry hopped IPA recently got a facelift and we are definitely digging this new style. While the older version of Cocodrie was a Belgian Tripel Style, this updated, double dry hopped IPA is more reminiscent of the juicy, hazy, New England style IPA's that we've been dying to see from Bayou Teche! This IPA packs a nice little punch at 8% ABV. The beer poured a deep, hazy yellow, with a light and frothy head. It had a sort of funky, dank smell to it...in the best way possible! I could have used even more of that New England style juiciness, but this was a great change for Cocodrie. Give this new brew a try, or better yet, get it straight from the source and make the trip to Bayou Teche Brewing!

If you haven't made your way to this one-of-a-kind brewery, we suggest you get busy planning and keep an eye out for these beers in your neck of the woods!

Thanks for Chewsing!