La 31 Biere Pale

Dedicated to creating beers that honor strong Acadian roots, the brewers at Bayou Teche have created a “Louisiana Pale Ale” to pair with Cajun and Creole cuisine. A faint floral hop hint wafts over notes of freshly toasted English muffins and Tupelo honey, all commingling to form a nuanced nose. Tom dug some “frail minty and peppery” hops out from under the warm, buttered toast malt notes, finding the overall aroma “too malt-centric and lacking in definition and hop character.” LA Biere 31 Pale lives up to its name. It pours crystal clear and light golden, donning a persistent, velvety, snow-white head. A firm bitterness and floral/spicy hop notes carry the flavor, with the slightly nutty Belgian malts laying down a solid foundation underneath. “Notably bitter and slightly thin-bodied” were Pete’s first impressions, yet he worked past that and found “pleasant hints of strawberries and even tangerine peel.” Overall, Pete found the beer “kind of neutral and lacking a distinct character.” Tim found the beer “balanced toward hops,” yet he enjoyed the complexity lent by “light, toasty, crusty white bread” malt notes, deeming this a “cleanly brewed session beer for hop lovers.” Straddling the line between unassuming and assertive, Bayou Teche is pushing the boundaries and expanding beer’s horizons. Although not yet widely distributed, LA 31 Biere Pale is capable of gracing the tables of crawfish boils throughout Acadiana and beyond.