Southern style beers? - crawfish feast coming

I throw a Crawfish Bash every year called the Annual Tax Relief Crawfish Bash since it happens usually the first weekend after April 15th.

This coming year will be the 15th annual one. Some of you Philly people might remember my inaugural party. I had 125 lbs of live craw shipped into Philly airport. The bomb sniffing dogs alerted on the box and they closed the airport and the major highways surrounding the area for two hours. They had a robot open the box out in a big empty parking lot and I was watching it on TV and saw that it was my crawfish.

I want to brew a special beer for this, or two even since my system is two tapped.

Is there a GOOD local craft beer served in New Orleans that I should try to clone? It should be a good session beer that you can drink for hours with nice sweetness to counteract the spice. I am drinking a Wit right now that to be honest would probably be perfect but it just seems somehow wrong serving Belgian beer for this event.

I am looking for suggestions here. Some particulars for edification. Crawfish are spicy messy finger food. The beauty of these little buggers is that they never fill you up. You can literally sit down to eat at noon and just keep eating all day. I've seen people eat these things for 12 hours straight. Beer is the perfect accompaniment but I want it to be as drinkable as the craw is munchable.

I suggest a Rye Stout. You should make your own brew rather then cloning something.

You have enough time to brew Cream of 3 Crops..
That should be a light session beer perfect for a feast of crawfish.

I think a Koelsch, Cream Ale, Classic American Pilsner or something along those lines would be perfect! Now, about that invite.

my vote is for a cream ale. nice and smooth and light, easy-drinking, with just that hint of hops and a light sweetness from the corn.

Yeah, I immediately thought Cream Ale!

I vote cream ale or blonde ale.

The vote so far is cream ale or blonde ale. I was actually leaning in the same direction. I loved BM Centennial Blonde.

Follow up question: Does cream ale always get corn? I have never brewed with corn (sort of out of principle, if you know what I mean - if BMC does it, then I don't, that sort of mentality.) But maybe this is a good time to try something new.

Looks like "Cream of Three Crops" and "Centennial Blonde" will be on the menu. My own Wit recipe will round out the kegs. Then varying bottles for the afficionados in the crowd.

I would go with a very crisp blonde and maybe a belgian style pale ale with flowery hops and a belgian yeast to bring some spicy phenols to the table. That sounds really good to me.

Maybe a light pale ale, saaz for flavor and aroma, and fermented with Wyeast 3463 Forbidden fruit warm at around 72º... mmmmm spicy with the craw dads...

Cream ales are nasty! I vote for a nice pale ale.

Abita

Abita Golden

Only been to 2 crawfish/crab boils in LA both served above, never had a homebrew there.

Here in Texas we serve cervesa with lime with our shrimp/crab boil.

dontman said:

Is there a GOOD local craft beer served in New Orleans that I should try to clone? It should be a good session beer that you can drink for hours with nice sweetness to counteract the spice. I am drinking a Wit right now that to be honest would probably be perfect but it just seems somehow wrong serving Belgian beer for this event.

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Maybe Abita Amber. It's an amber lager. I've drank them all day before

I second the Abita Amber. I have put down cases of Amber at crawfish boils and it's about all I drink when eating them. I'm not sure if you'd have enough time to make it, however. A nice Wit is good, too. I see nothing wrong with a Beglian beer.

Off topic, but how much does it cost to ship live crawfish up there, if you don't mind me asking? Down here that time of year I can get them for like $1.50/lb live, $2-$2.50 boiled if I get out of the city. I'm just curious as to the mark up. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't walk around the corner and pick-up crawfish for dinner.

I say you gotta brew something. It's in our contract somewhere.

Austin_LSU said:

I second the Abita Amber. I have put down cases of Amber at crawfish boils and it's about all I drink when eating them. I'm not sure if you'd have enough time to make it, however. A nice Wit is good, too. I see nothing wrong with a Beglian beer.

Off topic, but how much does it cost to ship live crawfish up there, if you don't mind me asking? Down here that time of year I can get them for like $1.50/lb live, $2-$2.50 boiled if I get out of the city. I'm just curious as to the mark up. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't walk around the corner and pick-up crawfish for dinner.

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The Abita sounds good but I wouldn't make it as a lager. I would do an ale version if possible and then give it the last couple weeks in keg under refridge temps.

As far as crawfish pricing I generally pay $2-3 / pound live plus about $60 to have 80 lbs shipped up here.

Back in the 80s 90s I traveled to NO, LA 2-3 times per year from Atlanta and we always set aside an afternoon to feast on the bugs. When I moved up North it was my jonesing for them that led to this event.

dontman said:

As far as crawfish pricing I generally pay $2-3 / pound live plus about $60 to have 80 lbs shipped up here.

Back in the 80s 90s I traveled to NO, LA 2-3 times per year from Atlanta and we always set aside an afternoon to feast on the bugs. When I moved up North it was my jonesing for them that led to this event.

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Hell, that's not as bad as I thought it would be. I guess I might be in luck if I ever move away from here.

I'm gonna buck the crowd and say Dixie Blackened Voodoo. I guess because a chef in Gonzales introduced me to it I always associate that beer with 'Nawlins. Totally the other end of the spectrum but I think if you do spicy crawfish they will hold up...

craigd said:

I'm gonna buck the crowd and say Dixie Blackened Voodoo. I guess because a chef in Gonzales introduced me to it I always associate that beer with 'Nawlins. Totally the other end of the spectrum but I think if you do spicy crawfish they will hold up...

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First off, Dixie Blackened Voodoo is a great name for a beer. I know I would enjoy that beer but I don't see it as being a true crowd pleaser. Too many BMC drinkers in the world. Blue Moon is adventurous to a lot of people.

How about a recipe for a boil.

gartj said:

How about a recipe for a boil.

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That's the simple part. Generally the places have their own boil. I forget the name of the one I have purchased almost every year. It takes like a pound of it per gallon of water.

We throw corn and potatos in the pot and craw once the spice level gets right. Five pound of mudbugs per batch.

In addition I do jalopeno honey cornbread, and the best red beans and rice in the country. Seriously. Chef Chris Kerakagiorgio bestowed that honor on me 22 years ago.

I know I talk up a big party and now I am in danger I just bought my wife a piano, and myself all new appliances for the kitchen and about another $1000 on beer brewing equipment and ingredients. The wife is starting to be the voice of reason. Oh NO!

dontman said:

That's the simple part. Generally the places have their own boil. I forget the name of the one I have purchased almost every year. It takes like a pound of it per gallon of water.

We throw corn and potatos in the pot and craw once the spice level gets right. Five pound of mudbugs per batch.

In addition I do jalopeno honey cornbread, and the best red beans and rice in the country. Seriously. Chef Chris Kerakagiorgio bestowed that honor on me 22 years ago.

I know I talk up a big party and now I am in danger I just bought my wife a piano, and myself all new appliances for the kitchen and about another $1000 on beer brewing equipment and ingredients. The wife is starting to be the voice of reason. Oh NO!

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The wife is starting to be the voice of reason....Yeah that one I know mines from Emmaus, same way.

Uh this might be a dumb question but whats a mudbug. If it's the craw 5lbs. isn't alot is it?

Buy a couple cans of long asparagus and poke a few holes in each end. Toss it in during the boil. Freaking good! Also toss is a couple links of your favorite link sausage or brauts. Whole fresh mushrooms also boil up damn good in there. Man, can't wait till April for my own boil! I plan on having a couple cases of Centennial blond and maybe a wit or Blue Moon clone at mine. Lot's of BMC drinkers there.

gartj said:

The wife is starting to be the voice of reason....Yeah that one I know mines from Emmaus, same way.

Uh this might be a dumb question but whats a mudbug. If it's the craw 5lbs. isn't alot is it?

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5 lbs PER BATCH! Batches start hitting the water at 2:00 2:30 and don't stop until everyone has thrown up a white flag. Generally 6 hours or so.

Spiced right, your lips go numb after about an hour. When the skin of your fingers starts dissolving it is time to step back a bit. The beauty is that because you never get all that full you can keep drinking beer the whole time. Crabs are the same way. Most other "feast" foods will fill you up and beer becomes overfilling.

The biggest party yet, we held at the Columbus zoo. We went through 200 lbs of crawfish that day.

Speaking of which. HAPPY MARDI GRAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To those of you who care. I don't celebrate the religous side of this event but I do love Mardi Gras in NO.

Here is a good recipe and it is full proof.

1 sack crawfish (40lbs)
1 large jar of Zatarians Pre mix granulated seafood boil (Crab Boil - Pre Seasoned 73 oz.)
5 lbs potatos
5 lbs onions

Bring water to a boil, add seasonings, bring to boil again, add potato and onion and boil till done (I do the vegs first because the water is still clean and you get a better flavor). Remove veggies and add crafish. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the flame and let sit for 20 minutes in the water. Serve and eat. The Zatarians has the right amount of salt and is not to hot for most people. You can normally do 2 sacks to one jar and maintain the same seasoning levels.

Beer- Local beers to N.O. are Abita and Hiener Brau. Hiener makes a nince Kolsch and Abita has the Amber and Golden that goes well with crawfish.

For my crawifish boil in May, I will be making the Cream of Three Crops, Octoberfast Ale and Ed Worts Haus Pale Ale.

I have never had crawfish boil that does not have hot links in it. If you get hot enough sausage you don't even need the boil spice. We throw the hot links in the water with the taters & corn and leave the craw fish till the taters are just about cooked. You need several pots going at once so things can stay hot without getting mushy.

My recipe was a basic one. I normally add smoked sausage, hot dogs, garlic, fresh mushrooms, sweet corn in the can with holes punched in it, corn on the cob. You name it and it can go in.

Down here alot of folks boil fresh turkey necks in the Zatarians for about 3hrs or until tender.

I use Tone Cachere's boil. No need for multiple pots. I do it like they do at the restaurants. Just throw in batches and keep repeating as I pull the old batches out of the water. Nothing but freshly boiled stuff on the tables.

I went to BrewStock (8725 Oak Street right behind Rue de la Course on Carrolton) last last week on a Monday and they were closed but a neighbor was passing buy and told me to call him since he lives in the back. He did and let me in to see me some stuff. He seems like a very laid back guy. The place is a little bit of a wreck but its a new shop. Selections is decent. He is usually open Wed-Sunddays. Price is reasonable.