Brieux Carré, a microbrewery at 2015 Decatur St., brought home the silver medal in the Other Hoppy Lager category at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver this weekend. The Brewers Association hosts the annual festival.
Covid caused the Great American Beer Festival to cancel their 2020 and 2021 celebrations but came back strong with 500 breweries and 9,904 entrants participating in this year’s competition.
Robert Bostick founded Brieux Carré in 2017. The brewery has focused on lagers in the last year and a half, collaborating with such Texas breweries as Family Business Beer Company and Freetail Brewing Company.
Bostick said. “This is one of the biggest beer competitions in the world and we decided to go all in with five different lagers.”
A panel of 235 judges evaluated beer entries based on their accuracy to the individual beer style, balance of taste and aroma, and appearance.
Brieux Carré received their medal for Crispy Boiz II Men, a dry-hopped New Zealand Pilsner brewed with Motueka, and Wai-iti hops with lime and clean tropical fruit notes, beating out 97 other beers in the Other Hoppy Lager category.
The other beers that Brieux Carré entered into the competition were Grodz Dammit Bobby, Malcolm in the Mittelfruh, Marza, Marza, Marza!, and You Spund Me Right Round.
Bostick explained that the competition was especially steep this year because so many different beers competed.
He said, “Each year the beer becomes exponentially larger. In 2019 there were 8,800 entries and this year there were 9,904 entries. Every year the competition becomes steeper and it becomes increasingly more difficult to get a medal. There’s a degree of luck that comes with it- depending on what the judge’s palate is like when they’re tasting the beer.”
Bostick was happy to represent the Louisiana beer scene at the Great American Beer Festival and bring home a win. The victory is exciting, not only because Brieux Carré is a small brewery but because the Louisiana beer scene is a small community.
He said, “We’re pumped because Louisiana isn’t really a brewery-friendly state; brewery owners here really have to jump through hoops. Louisiana is one of the lowest, per-capita, brewery states in the country, so it’s cool that we have a dense population of good brewers. Whenever a brewery can bring home a national medal, it’s a huge deal for the state. It will make more people want to come to Louisiana and New Orleans and visit not only for the food but for the beer too.”
Crispy Boiz II Men is currently available to try at Brieux Carré.
Brieux Carré is open Sunday through Thursday, 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
