Breweries in Louisiana produce a wide range of beers in different styles that are marketed locally, regionally, and nationally. Brewing companies vary widely in the volume and variety of beer produced, from small nanobreweries to microbreweries to massive multinational conglomerate macrobreweries.
In 2014, Louisiana's 37 breweries and brewpubs, and 66 distributors, and hundreds of retailers employed more than 15,000 people directly, and more than 10,000 others in related industries.[1] Including people directly employed in brewing, as well as those who supply Louisiana's breweries with everything from ingredients to machinery, the total business and personal tax revenue generated by Louisiana's breweries and related industries was more than $380 million.[1] Consumer purchases of Louisiana's brewery products generated more than $150 million in additional tax revenue.[1] In 2014, according to the Brewers Association, Louisiana ranked 36th (out of 51 including Washington, D.C.) in the number of craft breweries per capita with 15.[2]
For context, at the end of 2013 there were 2,822 breweries in the United States, including 2,768 craft breweries subdivided into 1,237 brewpubs, 1,412 microbreweries and 119 regional craft breweries.[3] In that same year, according to the Beer Institute, the brewing industry employed around 43,000 Americans in brewing and distribution and had a combined economic impact of more than $246 billion.[4]
In the nineteenth and twentieth century, New Orleans was the hub of breweries in Louisiana. The first manufacturing establishment in the city of New Orleans was a brewery built by Pierre Dreux called La Brassiere in January 1723.[5] In 1852, Louis and Samuel Fasnacht purchased property on Poeyfarre Street and started Fasnacht Brewery, which they sold to Erath and Company Brewery in 1869. The New Orleans Brewing Assoc. (1890) was founded out of a six brewery merger at the site of Louisiana Brewing Co. (1885). The brewery was located at Jackson Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street and brands included 4-X Beer, Double Eagle Ale and Eagle Beer.[6]
Jackson Brewing Co. opened in 1890 on Decatur Street, Regal beer made at the American Brewing Co. (1891) on Bienville Street, Columbia Brewing Co. (1899) on Elysian Fields Avenue, Dixie Brewing Co. (1907) on Tulane Avenue, National Brewing Co. (1911) on Gravier Street, Union Brewing Corp. (1911) on N. Robertson Street and Falstaff Brewing Corp. (1936) on Gravier Street.[6]
The next chapter of brewing in Louisiana began in 1986 with the opening of the Abita Brewing Co. Following a nationwide trend of opening craft breweries like Abita, the beginning of the twenty-first century has seen craft breweries opening statewide.[6]
| Brewery | Type | Location | Founded | On-site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abita Brewing Company | Microbrewery | Covington | 1986 | Taproom |
| All Relation Beer[7] | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2019 | Taproom |
| Bayou Teche Brewing | Microbrewery | Arnaudville | 2010 | Taproom |
| Brieux Carré Brewing[8] | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2017 | Taproom |
| Broken Wheel Brewery[9] | Microbrewery/Brewpub | Marksville | 2015 | Taproom |
| Chafunkta Brewing Company[10] | Microbrewery | Mandeville | 2013 | Taproom |
| Courtyard Brewery[11] | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2014 | Taproom |
| Crescent City Brewhouse[12] | Brewpub | New Orleans | 1991 | Taproom |
| Crying Eagle Brewing Company[13] | Microbrewery/Brewpub | Lake Charles | 2016 | Taproom |
| Faubourg Brewing Company[14] [15] | Regional | New Orleans | 1907 | Taproom |
| Flying Heart Brewing & Pub[16] | Microbrewery | Bossier City | 2015 | Taproom |
| Flying Tiger Brewery[17] | Microbrewery | Monroe | 2016 | Taproom |
| Gnarly Barley Brewing Company[18] | Microbrewery | Hammond | 2014 | Taproom |
| Gordon Biersch Brewing Company[19] | Brewpub (National chain) | New Orleans | 2004 | Taproom |
| Miel Brewery and Taproom[20] | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2018 | Taproom |
| Mudbug Brewery[21] | Microbrewery | Thibodaux | 2014 | Taproom |
| New Orleans Lager and Ale Brewing Company (NOLA) | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2009 | Taproom |
| Oak St Brewery[22] | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2021 | Taproom |
| Old Rail Brewing Company[23] | Brewpub | Mandeville | 2013 | Taproom |
| Ouachita Brewing Company[24] | Microbrewery | West Monroe | 2015 | Taproom |
| Parish Brewing Company[25] | Microbrewery | Broussard | 2010 | Taproom |
| Parleaux Beer Lab | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2017 | Taproom |
| Port Orleans Brewing Company[26] [27] | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2017 | Taproom |
| Red River Brewing Company[28] | Microbrewery/Brewpub | Shreveport | 2013 | Taproom |
| Royal Brewery (New Orleans)[29] | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2017 | Taproom |
| Second Line Brewing | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2015 | Taproom |
| Tin Roof Brewing Company[30] | Microbrewery | Baton Rouge | 2010 | Taproom |
| Urban South Brewery | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2016 | Taproom |
| Zony Mash Beer Project | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2019 | Taproom |
| Low Road Brewing[31] | Microbrewery | Hammond | 2017 | Taproom |
| Brewery | Type | Location | Founded | Dissolved | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 Arpent Brewing Company[32] [33] | Microbrewery | Arabi | 2014 | 2017 | |
| American Brewing Company (New Orleans)[34] [35] | Regional | New Orleans | 1891 | 1962 | Founded as American Brewing Company in 1891, renamed American Beverage Company in 1933, renamed American Brewing Company in 1934. Brewed Regal Beer. |
| Cajun Brewing[36] | Microbrewery | Lafayette | 2015 | 2018 | |
| Cane River Brewing[37] | Microbrewery | Natchitoches | 2018 | 2022 | Brewery and taproom taken over by Bossier City-based Flying Heart.[38] |
| Chappapeela Farms Brewery[39] | Microbrewery/Brewpub | Amite City | 2015 | 2015 | |
| CottonPort Brewing[40] | Microbrewery | Sterlington | 2016 | 2016 | |
| Covington Brewhouse[41] | Microbrewery | Covington | 2005 | 2018 | Founded as Heiner Brau Brewery in 2005, renamed Covington Brewhouse in 2012. |
| Falstaff Brewing Corporation[42] | National | New Orleans | 1911 | 1979 | Founded as National Brewing Company in 1911, renamed National Beverage Company in 1920, renamed National Industrial Alcohol Co. Inc. Brewery in 1921, purchased by Falstaff in 1936. The brewery building was repurposed as an apartment building in 2008. |
| Jackson Brewing Company | Regional | New Orleans | 1890 | 1974 | Founded as Jackson Bohemian Brewery in 1890, renamed Jax Beer, renamed Jackson Brewing Company. The brewery building now contains residences, shops and restaurants. |
| La Brasserie Brewery | New Orleans | 1723 | Unknown | First brewery in Louisiana. | |
| Louisiana Purchase Brewing Company[43] | Microbrewery | Ponchatoula | 2017 | 2019 | |
| New Orleans Brewing Company Inc. | New Orleans | 1890 | 1949 | Founded as the New Orleans Brewing Association in 1890, renamed New Orleans Brewing Company in 1900, renamed New Orleans Brewing Company Inc. in 1933. | |
| Southern Craft Brewing Company[44] | Baton Rouge | 2016 | 2021 | ||
| Wayward Owl Brewing[45] | Microbrewery | New Orleans | 2016 | 2018 | |