The Louisiana craft beer market is making a comeback! It’s still hard for me to believe that just before prohibition there were around 30 breweries just in New Orleans alone, not to mention the small breweries and brewpubs all around the state. Well, only 3 made it to re-open after prohibition was lifted: Dixie (gone since Katrina), Jackson (now Jax brewery shopping center) and National Brewing Company (bought by Falstaff and closed in the 1970s). A few have come and gone since then (besides Abita of course) but it seems that recently the tides are starting to turn.
It took about 80 or so years, but Louisiana breweries are on the way back. And why not? Its only natural that the greatest state in the nation, gastronomically speaking, would latch on to the craft brewery wave. I mean, we all know nothing soothes the cayenne tingle from some good hot crawfish better than a cold beer. But beyond that, this “craft beer” thing is right up a Cajun’s alley.
Take something that is otherwise very simple and some would say boring (ahem…insert BIG NAME light beer) and give it depth, appeal and flavor. I mean, that is what we do right? Craft beer is meant to be savored. It’s meant to have flavor. It’s not meant to be served at just above freezing so it numbs your taste buds so you don’t have to taste it. It’s heavy, it’s flavorful, it’s delicious.
I’d just like to use this platform to thank the guys who are pushing to bring craft beer to a place where it is just meant to be, Louisiana. So I say thank you first to Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, the father of the American craft beer movement. Thank you Kirk Coco and Peter Caddoo with NOLA Brewing (New Orleans). Thank you Andrew Godley with Parish Beer (Lafayette). Thank you guys with Tin Roof Brewing Co. (Baton Rouge). Thank you Henryk Orlik with Heiner Brau Brewery (Covington) (also brews for Covington Brewhouse, Zea and Big Easy brewing). Thank you Karlos, Byron and Dorsey Knott with Bayou Teche Biere (Arnaudville). Thank you guys at Crescent City Brewhouse (New Orleans). Of course, thank you everyone at Abita Brewery (Abita Springs). Your time, money, and patience are greatly appreciated.
Last but not least, I want to thank you, Louisiana Craft Beer Drinker, for without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you for standing up. Thank you for not being scared to try new things. Thank you for venturing away from BMC and towards Blue Moon and Guinness and Killian’s Red, because that is where it starts. That’s where it started for me.
So, please, even if you are a die-hard Bud Light drinker, if you are a true Louisianan, I dare you: try a NOLA blonde, a Parish Canebrake, Tin Roof Voodoo Bengal, Heiner Brau Kolsch, Bayou Teche LA 31, Crescent City Brewhouse Bock, or an Abita Amber. You might just find there is more to beer than ice and funnels.
JB…OUT!!
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