Category: Beer

This is the down and dirty, if you just need a verified list of brewery names in Louisiana, list.

Please comment or drop me a note if you have any new info – my ear is not as close to the ground to all the openings and closings as it used to be, so I’m happy to have help.

Last Updated: 10/15/21, to add Kingfish Cider, Fighting Hand Brewing Company, and The Seventh Tao

1. 1. Abita Abita Springs, opened in 1986
   2. Crescent City Brewhouse (brewpub) New Orleans, opened in 1991
   3. Gordon Biersch (brewpub) (chain) New Orleans, opened in 2004
   4. NOLA Brewing New Orleans, opened in 2009
   5. Bayou Teche Arnaudville, opened in March 2010
   6. Parish Brewing Broussard, opened in July 2010
   7. Tin Roof Baton Rouge, opened in November 2010
   8. Chafunkta Mandeville, opened in March 2013
   9. Old Rail Brewing Company (brewpub) Mandeville, opened July 2013
   10. Red River Shreveport, opened September 2013
   11. Great Raft Shreveport, opened October 2013
   12. Gnarly Barley Hammond, opened May 2014
   13. Courtyard Brewery New Orleans, opened October 2014
   14. Mudbug Thibodaux, opened December 2014 (not exactly sure what’s going on here – they invested in a huge upgrade but looks like they aren’t producing any of their own beer now.)
   15. Broken Wheel, Marksville (Central LA), opened January 2015
   16. Flying Heart Bossier, opened April 2015
   17. Second Line New Orleans, opened August 2015
   18. Urban South Brewing, New Orleans, opened March 2016
   19. Crying Eagle Brewing Co., Lake Charles, opened May 2016
   20. Flying Tiger Brewery, Monroe, opened October 2016
   21. Spigots Brewpub, Houma, opened February 2017
   22. Brieux Carre, New Orleans, opened March 2017
   23. Low Road Brewing, Hammond, opened March 2017
   24. Parleaux Beer Lab, New Orleans, opened March 2017
   25. Royal Brewery, New Orleans, opened March 2017
   26. Port Orleans Brewing Co., New Orleans, opened March 2017
   27. Broad Street Cider & Ale, New Orleans, opened July 2017
   28. Utility Brewing, Ruston, opened November 2017
   29. Twenty 8 West Brewing, Alexandria, opened February 2018
   30. Huckleberry Brewing Company, Alexandria, opened June 2018
   31. Miel Brewery and Taproom, New Orleans, opened October 2018
   32. Cane River Brewing, Natchitoches, opened November 2018
   33. Zony Mash Beer Project, New Orleans, opened September 2019
   34. Gilla Brewing Company, Gonzales, opened October 2019
   35. Faubourg Brewing Co., New Orleans, (re-)opened November 2019 (formerly Dixie Brewing)
   36. Rally Cap Brewing Co., Baton Rouge, opened in December 2019
   37. Oak St. Brewery, New Orleans, opened in August 2020
   38. Cypress Coast Brewing, Baton Rouge, opened in September 2020
   39. Istrouma Brewing, Saint Gabriel, opened in October 2020
   40. Le Chien Brewing Company, Denham Springs, opened in October 2020
   41. Bywater Brew Pub, New Orleans, opened November 2020
   42. Kingfish Cider, Jefferson, opened May 2021
   43. Fighting Hand Brewing Company, Pineville, opened May 2021
   44. The Seventh Tap, Shreveport, opened June 2021

 

Closed breweries:

1. CottonPort Brewing, Sterlington (NE LA) opened February 2016 (closed May 2016)
2. 40 Arpent Arabi, opened March 2014 (closed September 2017)
3. Chappapeela Farms Brewery, Amite, opened December 2015 (sort of faded away in 2016 not too long after opening, really)
4. Cajun Brewing Lafayette, opened September 2015 (Closed August 2018)
5. Wayward Owl Brewing, New Orleans, opened October 2016 (Closed November 2018.)
6. Covington Brewhouse Covington, opened in 2005 (as Heiner Brau) (Closed December 2018)
7. Cajunboyz Brewery, Reserve, opened August 2018 (Closed March 2019)
8. Ouachita Brewing Company, West Monroe, opened December 2015 (Closed May (?) 2019)
9. Louisiana Purchase Brewing Company, Pontchatoula, opened April 2017 (Closed September 2019)
10. Pidgin Town Brewing at Ale on Oak, New Orleans, opened January 2019 (Closed December 2019)
11. All Relation Beer, New Orleans, opened November 2019 (closed in July 2020 due to Covid but may reopen??)
12. Southern Craft Brewing Co., Baton Rouge, opened April 2016 (closed January 2021)

Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to go to the Aspen Food & Wine Classic Festival as a guest of Blue Moon Brewing (who flew me out and paid for all travel expenses) to witness Blue Moon’s (and beer in general) participation in this wine-driven event.

Shout out to the Kimpton Hotel Born in Denver, BTW – it was gorgeous and comfortable with cool amenities – it also looks over the historic train station, which is very convenient as well as a great urban view. We only stayed there one night before heading up to Aspen, but I would love to stay there for a longer time period some day.

 

Blue Moon is a subsidiary of Miller-Coors, but has been around for a surprisingly long time – since 1995. The founding brewmaster, Keith Villa started The Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field in Denver, where the brand’s signature beer Blue Moon Belgian White was first developed.

Last year, in the summer of 2016, Blue Moon opened its own tap room with a pilot brewery, a coolship and other vessels for creating mixed-fermentation/wild yeast/sour beers, dozens of taproom-only beers, and a pretty impressive in-house kitchen and food program.

    

When I was there, the chef created a special tasting and pairing menu for us, so I didn’t try the stuff that’s on the regular menu, but I have to believe that if the level of quality is consistent despite the level of formality, that stuff’s gonna be pretty good too. Chef Darrel Jensen is the chef there and he’s like a culinary Macgyver – he served a dish topped with hop-infused aged cheese that was revelatory (see above on the asparagus).

Lots of interesting beers in the taproom – I dug on the Iced Coffee Blonde, but they also had several wine-beer hybrids that I haven’t seen anywhere else. (I don’t know if that means I need to get out more, but I tend to be informed on beer trends.)

Aspen was like next-level beer shenanigans. Blue Moon was a major sponsor of the event, for the first time, and they led a well attended food and beer tasting session with one of Miller-Coors/Tenth and Blake five certified Master Cicerones, Daniel Imdieke.

I’ve been to a lot of food and beer pairing events in my time, and I have to say that Daniel did a great job, especially with a wine-focused crowd. He was informative and clear, without talking down to the audience, and provided excellent analogies to illustrate the various pairing strategies. I was impressed.

I also went to a kind of intro to beer session that was run by the sommelier at the Blackberry Farm restaurant and the head brewer of the Blackberry Farm brewery that discussed beer’s various styles and flavor profiles. Kind of like Beer 101, which wasn’t too useful to me, but, again, since this was a wine-focused audience, and beer being part of the program was brand new, it was probably the best call.

One of the things I was surprised by during the Grand Tasting Session was how many liquor brands were represented along with wine – as well as a few breweries – Blue Moon, Roadhouse Brewing out of Jackson Hole WY, and Trumer Pils – and a cidery – Stem Ciders.

We went to a couple really great Aspen restaurants while we were there, as well – Bosq and Matsuhisa. Bosq was probably my favorite, but that’s because it’s more aligned with my personal preferences. I had some great dishes at Matsuhisa, though.

Aspen during the F&W Classic is crazy though – celebrities, crowds, “it” parties and restaurants. One woman said to me while we were both waiting to use the restroom at Bosq, “This all started because we wanted an excuse to drink wine all weekend.”