So I have to say that, though I am a bit ashamed to admit it, I don’t get out in search of beer so much anymore. I don’t get to as many brewpubs as I did in my younger days, and I don’t go off on “Beer Hunts” looking for new bottled beer. I had to stop and think about that for a minute, and really, it’s a sign of just how good the beer scene is today, I think.

Back in the eighties and nineties, I often drove to Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in search of new bottled beers. This was because I had fairly well exhausted all of the beers brought into Rhode Island; I had tried them all.

Such is not possible today. There are just so many beers on the market here in Atlanta that I can’t keep up with them all. Store shelves are lined with ones I have never tried, despite the fact I’ve tried over 4300 different brews. As to draft beer, though I don’t get to as many brewpubs, I do drink lots of draft beer. That’s because I have a Taco Mac with over 100 drafts right around the corner from my home.

Every now and then, though, I do still get the desire to take a ride in search of beer. That was true this past weekend when I visited the Taco Mac in the Prado shopping center. This Taco Mac is located in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and one of the beers I went in search of was Bayou Teche La 31 Boucanee from Louisiana. Bayou Teche was a new brewery for me; I’d never tasted any of their beers on draft before.

Here’s what the brewery says about their Boucanee:

LA-31 Boucanèe is our acknowledgment of the importance of the wild cherry tree to south Louisiana.  Using cherry-wood smoked wheat we craft a surprisingly delicious and unique ale.  A cold glass of Boucanèe enhances the taste of many local dishes, whether smoked or not.  At our brewery, we enjoy pairing it with chicken and sausage gumbo, barbeque, sausage po-boys, and grilled hamburgers.   We can no longer even look at a link of boudin without instinctively opening a cold bottle.

The brewery itself has only been around since 2009. It’s named for the Bayou Teche waterway in Louisiana. Most of their beers carry the LA-31 moniker after state highway 31 in Louisiana. Apparently, they don’t yet have a bottling line and their bottled beers are made by Lazy Magnolia in Mississippi. I was lucky enough to try draft product straight from the brewhouse in Louisiana. I paid $6 for a full mug pour of LA-31 Boucanèe, a beer of strength 5.1% alcohol by volume.

My mug of Bayou Teche La 31 Boucanee arrived a rich glowing amber in color with a very light head formation and a soft smoky nose. Taking a sip there is a light tart wheat palate with a hint of caramel that quickly gives way to a pervasive cherry smokiness. The beer is easy drinking, very crisp, the smoke really permeates this one, all leading into a tart wheat finish.

I found this to be an amazing beer, a light bodied clear amber wheat with perfect smokiness.

Now back to this Taco Mac location. The Prado Taco Mac has 140 taps upstairs, which is a lot to choose from for sure. Beer saavy drinkers should also know about The Fred bar, which in true speakeasy fashion is located on the far right side of the building, down an access ramp. Next to a service entrance, you’ll see an uninviting steel door that is the entrance to The Fred. The only hint that there’s beer here is the seemingly incongruous Brewniversity logo emblazoned on the front. Press the red button next door and someone will come to let you in.

You do need to be a Brewniversity member to gain entrance, but once you do they’ll bring you an ipad with the draft list of 20 rare beers. None of these are available upstairs, so be sure to hit The Fred if you go here. As I said, beer has come a long way, and when I can sip a wonderful smoked beer the likes of Bayou Teche La 31 and then head down to The Fred for a few, well, it doesn’t get much better than that my friends.



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