R. Reese Fuller

Gulf Brew's second round a success

by R. Reese Fuller

Organizers of the second annual Gulf Brew are calling this past Saturday's event another success. The fundraiser for the Acadiana Arts Council got underway at Parc International at 4 p.m. on Saturday, and despite a line of people waiting to get into the park's gates, AAC organizers stopped selling tickets at 5:30 p.m.

Gene Nelson of the local homebrewing club the Dead Yeast Society says his popular booth served up 95 gallons of beer, including the extremely popular brews - theĀ  Bourbon Vanilla Porter and Tabasco-flavored light beer.

Rose Courville, the AAC's curator of exhibits and event coordinator, says 2,000 tickets were sold, and 2,500 people attended. "We're going to make it bigger," she says. "Last year we ran out of beer, and I was not going to let that happen again. But I'm definitely going to get more ice [next year]. We went through about 6,500 pounds of ice." Courville says she and the AAC staff were satisfied with the number of breweries and attendees but hope to secure more space for the growing annual event.