Chafunkta Brewing Old 504 Porter

After a few years of preparing and teasing us with samples at beer festivals, Chafunkta Brewing has finally made their way into bars and restaurants in the area. Now, I've had their Old 504 Porter and their Voo Ka Ray IPA at New Orleans on Tap and some other festivals, but a 3oz sample -- while delicious -- just didn't do their beers justice.

Meet the Old 504 Porter from Chafunkta. This is no run-of-the-mill porter. It's brewed with actual vanilla beans and Orleans Coffee Exchange coffee. It's a thin-bodied porter, not syrupy like some tend to be, and it wasn't over-carbonated either. As a 6% porter, it drank like I could have a few, even in a New Orleans June. As a huge porter fan (including my aging Tracy Porter Saints jersey I still wear), I appreciated this.

You can smell the coffee right away. I've never had Orleans Coffee Exchange coffee before, but the smell in this beer made me want to give it a try. The flavor of the beer hits you with a strong and noticeable coffee flavor that didn't punch you in the face and say "HEY I'M COFFEE AND ALSO THERE IS SOME BEER IN HERE PROBABLY?". I noticed the hint of vanilla on the way down, too.

All in all, this is a great beer, and a great porter. I love that we now have two porters being brewed in Louisiana (both with local coffee -- the next porter someone brews should branch out). I think what I like about Chafunkta that I was talking to Rhea and Nora about is that they came out swinging with their beers. Not just in quality, but style -- a vanilla-coffee porter and an IPA that doesn't take it easy with hops. I respect that.

Plus, we got to keep those kick-ass pint glasses when we went to the release at Avenue Pub. I'm a sucker for swag.