And the Valley Drinks: Mudbug Brewery’s King Cake Ale

Its that time of the year again, and we’re going to kick off our offseason beer reviews in style, with another in-state craft brewery, Thibodaux’s Mudbug.

Mudbug has started pretty small, but their Cafe Au Lait (very good) and other standard offerings have just hit shelves in cans. Earlier this week, I was able to get my hands upon a seasonal — a King Cake-flavored blonde ale. I love trying these types of beers because it’s always interesting to see how the brewmaster balances the flavors. This one doesn’t quite hit the spot but I give them points for effort.

Crafted in our expanded brewhouse with Madagascar vanilla beans, cinnamon, and milk sugar, this new recipe is smoother with subtle flavor profiles making it the perfect parade brew! Oh, it's Carnival time!

Review

The bouquet is right on the money, with a malty backbones and some nice notes of vanilla and cinnamon. But after a small bite of hops on the front end, that cinnamon really hits you on the back side — not really surprising, because its such a strong flavor, and can overcome things easily, in my opinion. What’s more, the beer kind of has that cinnamon-y, fibrous texture a bit, which takes away from the beer as well. You never really pick up the milk sugars, and I think a bit more of that would have balanced it better. I would note that making a boilermaker with this beer does fix that issue.

Sadly, not a beer that I’m likely to seek out again, but I’m a kind grader so I’m going to give it three stars out of five. I appreciate that they tried something ambitious here, and I hope Mudbug keeps working on this recipe.