I need tips from Louisiana Brewers

[Donasay]

Hey guys, I'm heading back for my doctorate this fall and it is pretty much down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Baltimore, Maryland; or Ithica, NY. I was wondering if you Louisiana guys have any recommendations for Home brewy stores or places to get good beer in or around Baton Rouge. This will weigh heavily in my decision as to where to go to school.

Additionally if you know of any good areas in Baton Rouge to live in or neighborhoods to avoid, please let me know.

 

[Austin_]

You could probably find better homebrew stores elsewhere, but we get along fine down here. There are two shops in the BR area and one in Nola (that I know of). The one in BR is decent enough. I thought it had closed down (old building burned down), but someone the other day said it was up and running in a new location. There is a small store outside of town in Denham Springs, but it's some guy's house and it has weird hours. A member here on the boards just opened up a shop in New Orleans. I have yet to stop in there, but his website has tons of stuff on it.

When buying beer there are a couple decent places. Calandro's is your best bet. There's one on Mid-city and one out east of Seigen Lane. A couple liquor stores around town will have random micros and imports. You just have to know where to go. People around here are extreme hardcore Abita fans.

As far as where to live, I'd recommend the garden district or southdowns if you will be going to LSU. It's pretty evident where it's good to live and where it's not good to live. I live on the border of the Garden District and Mid-City. I love it where I am. I'm 5 minutes from downtown, close to LSU, and I don't have to fight traffic ever. Rent in the Garden District/Southdowns areas are competitive with what you'll find elsewhere in the city. My advice is to live close and avoid traffic as it can suck. Other places to look into would be Beauregard Town and Spanish Town.

I've never been to Ithica or Baltimore, but it will be a big shock coming from the Northeast. It's a different world down here. I'm not originally from here, so I can tell you this from experience.

 

[Donasay]

I've never been to Ithica or Baltimore, but it will be a big shock coming from the Northeast. It's a different world down here. I'm not originally from here, so I can tell you this from experience.

What shocked you most, I really want to get a feel for the area I'll be dong a PhD so 5 years somewhere is quite a lot of time.

 

[Desert_Sky]

This will weigh heavily in my decision as to where to go to school.

If there was a better reason to base your decision on where to go to school, I couldn't think of one

 

[heinz57]

That's exactly the reason I chose southern California for grad school. Great school, great beer area.

What's your field of study?

 

[LAYNFRM]

avoid mall city, the north-western part of BR, gardere area, and there are a few other little areas. if you don't want to live in the city, Central is a good area. that's where i live, and crime is pretty dang low. people are nicer and more laid back than a lot of the in town folks too. the area austin mentioned is a pretty good area.


austinlsu, mid-city is my distric. we make our way into part of the garden district too. i work at the independence park fire station, so chances are, i've passed your house mutliple times on the fire truck and/or my bike. if you see a red supermotard hauling ass past your house making a lot of racket, just wave, cause that jackass is me.

 

[Zul'jin]

I grew up in Jefferson and Orleans parishes. Lived in some Acadiana parishes too. Did quite a bit of travel and work in Baton Rouge.

Traffic can be hell in Baton Rouge. I-10, I-12 and especially I-110. Crossing the Mississippi River in morning and evening rush hour is a royal pita. Save yourself from some ulcers and Mapquest Baton Rouge and get a feel for those side streets parallel to the interstates.

There are parts of Baton Rouge that are straight up hood, in all the bad ways. Like someone said, it's pretty obvious on sight. The gamut runs from that, to college town, to middle class, to you can't afford it no matter what degree you get. Overall, Baton Rouge is nice. It's not like inner city slum at all. I never had anything stolen or any crime related problems there.

I didn't home brew then, so I can't answer you on that. There are lots of bars and restaurants though. You won't go thirsty or hungry in the capital. Really, the food in Louisiana, especially Baton Rouge and southward is AWESOME! Eat at local places over national chains. Even chain food is better there than at the same restaurants in other places.

People do like their Abita. It's good beer and has quite a variety in the brand. Dixie took a hard hit from Katrina but, I bought some in Metairie last year. Don't know how much variety the brand still has. As a kid it was just Dixie. Later they made Voodoo and supposedly some others. I only ever had regular and Voodoo.

You will go to the French Quarter. No doubt. A lot of beer there. And more food, of course. Lemme save you 20 bucks. The answer is, "On my feet."

 

[Austin_]

What shocked you most, I really want to get a feel for the area I'll be dong a PhD so 5 years somewhere is quite a lot of time.

I guess "Shock" is the wrong word. It's different from anywhere else, but in a good way. I grew up in Nashville and moved here to go to school. You've got the Atchafalaya Basin to the west, the coastal marsh to the south, New Orleans to the east, and the Tunica Hills to the north. I liked it here (plus the economy is pretty strong here right now), so I stuck around when I graduated. That and SWMBO is still in school.

Any maybe this is an incentive to go to LSU, but you get off for three days during Mardi Gras. Monday and Tuesday to party and Wednesday to recover.

LAYNFRM, sorry about not PMing you back. I live at Acadian @ Government in those red brick places behind the CVS. Hopefully I never have to call you, but if I do you can help me get my keezer out before my apartment burns down.

 

[Zul'jin]

Oh, and you can buy beer at grocery stores and gas stations.

Sav-A-Center used to have a nice selection. Looks like they've shut down in Baton Rouge and are selling off their New Orleans stores, though.

 

[dbuco1]

There's two stores in Baton Rouge itself. One is in the back of Pelican State Supply on Scenic Highway and there is also one out on Jones Creek called Red Stick Brewing Supply ( I think the website is redstickbrewingsupplies.com) but he only opened a couple months ago so the website isnt fully functional but you can get the address and phone number.

Hope this helps.

 

[Smurfe]

I work for Baton Rouge EMS and rotate stations all over the Parish so I know very well which area is nice and which isn't. I work mostly the south side of the parish now, basically everywhere south of Florida Blvd but still go into North Baton Rouge a lot. The suggestion of Southdowns is great. In fact I rotate to the Southdowns station Monday. The Garden District is nice to but be advised if you live to close to Park Blvd which is the west section of the Garden District you have "hood" a couple blocks west. Avoid anything in the Gardere area, avoid anything directly north of the LSU campus which is the west side of the hood I mentioned earlier. I guess the easiest way is if you want you can PM me with an address or area you find a place and I can give you the skinny on it.

Traffic can be a real pain depending on when you travel. Overall it isn't bad but the rush hour IS a pain. I live in Gonzales and have no issue with travel during the times I drive into work. I will never live in East Baton Rouge Parish. Not that it is all bad, there are nice areas. I just like a more laid back country atmosphere. If I had to live in BR it would be Southdowns or the east side of Mid City in Old Goodwood.

In regards to brew shops, there are a few but if you are used to a comprehensive shop you will be disappointed. I had actually been working to open one and a couple popped up right before I was going to open. The one on Jones Creek is the new one. I haven't been in it since right after it opened. It had limited stock but probably has more by now. The one on Scenic is just a small room in the back of an industrial supply store with very very limited stock and I would question the freshness of anything there. The store in Denham in the guys house I can't comment on as I can never catch him open. The store in New Orleans that the member here opened is very small but will grow to a really decent shop IMHO. The owner is very personable and knowledgeable. I live closer to BR but will drive to NO to buy supplies. So in short, year you can buy supplies locally but don't expect a fully comprehensive brew shop at the moment. You have to drive to Houston at the present to get that.

To buy beer, Caladro's mentioned is great. As said they have 2 locations. One in Mid City at Government and Glenmore and one on the south end at Siegen and Perkins. Marcello's Wine Mart on Perkins in Southdowns has a great selection. You can buy decent beers at some of the gas stations/convenience stores as well. For beer bars we have a few decent ones. The Chimes in LSU is very good as well as their Coursey location on the east side of town. The Bulldog, a New Orleans institution just opened a location in Southdowns on Perkins. So beer in BR is getting better as it has been very anemic. This is Bud Light country.

 

[Smurfe]

I forgot to add about the culture shock. It can be different. I am a transplant here as well. I came from the St Louis area 10 years ago. It is a lot more laid back than the North East. The food is great. You will have to learn to eat your crabs boiled and spicy rather than steamed. I see you are in Boston? If so you are going to find BR a small town. It has crime and grime as any larger city but overall it ain't bad and LSU is really a fantastic school with evidently a great Doctoral program as we have people here from all over the world in their programs. I believe not too long ago Baton Rouge and LSU was rated as having the hottest collage chicks in the nation if that is important and has been ranked the party school of the nation numerous times. Life's pretty good around here. :rockin:

And as a side note I wanna give a shout out to LAYNFRM the fireman who posted above. I'll see you in a month when I rotate to your station. Look me up and we can talk homebrewing. I go to the Southdowns station Monday night. I guess I'll be on day shift when I rotate to EM-9.