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March 27, 2009 - NOLA Brewing Company is proud to be a part of a great article on the front page of the weekend arts section of the New York Times today about brewing in New Orleans - "New Orleans Gets Its Brews Back". It is great that New Orleans is getting some attention about our brewing history and the hopeful future that this city can bring more microbreweries and craft breweries to the area.
We are excited to be a part of the ongoing New Orleans story – and with this article – helping to spread the word that New Orleans is back and better than ever to millions of people.
Thanks to the NY Times for noticing us down here in New Orleans!
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 24, 2009 - Hello NOLA fans! We continue to add bars to our distribution list weekly, so be sure to visit our Where to Find NOLA page - and are receiving some great feedback on both the NOLA Blonde and NOLA Brown.
In between brewing more beer and the difficult job of visiting all of the bars to ensure (ahem) "Quality Contol" I have missed putting out some of the great coverage the media has given us. Brett Anderson wrote a great article about beer in New Orleans which can be read at his blog. And a great article and
collection of pictures were posted by Zac Brown from his visit to the NOLA brewery last month.
Finally, the Beer Buddha gave us a great review of the NOLA Blonde and NOLA Brown Brown ales. And in full disclosure, after reading his article and talking to him about his love of beers and the brewing process, we couldn't pass up offering him a job at our brewery. So I gladly welcome Jeremy Labadie (aka Beer Buddha) as the fourth member of the NOLA Brewing team.
As we grow, we continue our mission to bring great craft brewed beers to the Crescent City and its wonderful citizens. Thanks New Orleans for the great support you have given us!
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 16, 2009 - I hope that all of you enjoyed your weekend with great New Orleans parades and a NOLA beer or two. A few more bars have added us to their draft menu and you can find them below. Also hope you caught our great article in Lagniappe! Keep checking back for more updated listings.
NEW ORLEANS ADDITIONS:
ALPINE RESTURANT -- 620 CHARTRES ST
BOUCHERIE -- 8115 JEANNETTE ST
BRIDGE LOUNGE -- 1201 MAGAZINE ST
LE BON TEMPS ROULES -- 4801 MAGAZINE ST
ROCCOS TAVERN -- 7601 MAPLE ST
THE DELACHAISE -- 3442 SAINT CHARLES AVE
TURTLE BAY -- 1119 DECATUR ST
METAIRIE ADDITIONS:
PAT'S PUB -- 3207 EDENBORN AVE
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 12, 2009 - As of this week we have had our first TV debut with New Orleans' own Lorin Gaudin. NOLA Brewing had mention Tuesday on the 11:00 news and today on Good Morning New Orleans!
A list of more bars serving NOLA to come later today so stay tuned...
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 11, 2009 - First, let me sincerely thank everyone who has been drinking our beers throughout the city and literally selling out bars as soon as they get the beer. It makes all of us here at NOLA Brewing ecstatic that people enjoy the taste as much as we enjoyed creating the beers for New Orleans. We will keep updating the locations available on our website and also our Twitter and Fans of NOLA Brewing on Facebook pages.
For those of you in Baton Rouge and the North Shore who are asking for the beer, we should be at The Chimes and the Bulldog in the Red Stick, and The Tap Room and Barley Oak across the lake. It will take a little while to get on the taps, and we will update our page as soon as we know it is there. Of course, going in and asking for the beer might encourage them to get it up sooner.
We have had some very good feedback on our ales and I wanted to let everyone have a chance to see some of the articles. Brett Anderson gave us a quick mention, as well as our good friends at Lazy Magnolia Brewery who have just released their Southern Pecan in the city. And Gambit posted nice feedback on their blog.
A new blog - at least new to me - Blackened Out covered NOLA and Stein's Market and Deli over the last couple of days, and it now has a spot on my bookmarks so I can check them out daily. Other exciting news is that Beer Advocate has rated both of our beers, currently NOLA Blonde Ale has an A- and NOLA Brown Ale has an A+.
Thanks to everyone that has tried our beer, and those of you who have enjoyed them, please encourage your friends to seek them out and try them as well.
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 10, 2009 - New bars as of today...
MARIGNY BRASSERIE -- 640 FRENCHMEN ST
MID CITY YACHT CLUB -- 440 SOUTH ST.PATRICK
RENDEZVOUS BAR -- 3101 MAGAZINE
And more to come each day! Also follow us on Fans of NOLA Brewing on Facebook to get email alerts when news posts are added to the group. We will be listing new bars there, as well.
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 9, 2009 - For those of you looking to drink NOLA this past weekend, I hope you were able to find a place serving the Blonde or Brown Ale or even better, both.
We enjoyed a few pints out on the town and are glad to see the report from Glazer's today that the beer is getting delivered - slowly, but surely.
Here is the updated list of bars serving NOLA as of today:
45 TCHOUP at 4529 TCHOUPITOULAS ST
AVENUE PUB at 1732 ST CHARLES AVE
BULL DOG MID CITY at 5135 CANAL BLVD
CALYPSO PATIO BAR & GRILL at 326 LEE LANE
CORK & BOTTLE FINE WINES at 3700 ORLEANS AVENUE
FOX & HOUND ENGLISH PUB/GRILL at 1200 S CLEARVIEW PKWY
LAGERS INTERNATIONAL ALE HOUSE at 3501 VETERANS BLVD
SLICE PIZZERIA at 1513 ST CHARLES AVENUE
SPORTS BEAT PUB at 3330 RIDGELAKE DR
TACK ROOM BAR & GRIL at 2401 VETERANS BLVD
THE CLUB (Ms. Mae's) at 4336 MAGAZINE ST
And for those of you looking to buy kegs for St.Patricks or any other occasion you can check with Dan Stein at STEIN'S MARKET AND DELI - 2207 MAGAZINE STREET - 504.527.0771
Thanks again to you all for supporting the newest local beer. I will post back when I have more news on where you can find us!
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 6, 2009 - Slowly but surely the beer is making it to the taps. Many kegs have been delivered, but are still not available - they have to wait for a tap to open up and make room for the NOLA. The bars that do have the beer available are as follows:
Bulldog 2 in Mid-City
The Avenue Pub on St. Charles
Cork and Bottle in Mid-City
Lagers in Metairie
Sports Beat in Metairie
Beer should be available sometime this weekend at:
45 Tchoup on Tchoupitoulas
Many more bars to come next week and I will keep you posted. Try to enjoy a NOLA this weekend at one of these fine establishments and remember...
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 5, 2009 - To all that went out last night and drank NOLA - thank you! There were 8 pony kegs of NOLA consumed between the Bulldog 2 on Canal and The Avenue Pub. A great first night and everyone seemed to enjoy the beer. More bars to come, so keep checking back and keep spreading the word to order pints and pitchers of NOLA!
Posted today by Cork and Bottle in their e-newsletter...
Have No Fear, Nola Beer is HERE!
Today is a day for the beer community of New Orleans to rejoice! In a city steeped in beer brewing tradition its been a little nutty that we've never had our own craft brewery here. Well that changes today with the release of NOLA Brewing Co!
NOLA Brewing Co is now out and released and you can be the first kid on your block to come and enjoy the refreshing, balanced Blonde Ale or their rich, well textured Brown Ale.
The hook is that for the foreseeable future NOLA Brewing Co will not be bottled and only available in kegs, but that's where our On-Premise consumption license comes in handy! We've set up a keg distribution box and you can come and enjoy a frosty pint or three of a brew that we all can call our own.
The beer is being delivered this morning and by this afternoon we'll be pouring samples for free and pints for sale. Cheers!
Cork and Bottle is located at 3700 Orleans Avenue.
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 4, 2009 - The first confirmation of NOLA beer on draught is at the Bulldog in Mid City as of 2:15pm today. Full list of bars to come, but get to the Bulldog tonight for a cold one.
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
February 28, 2009 - I know it has been a while since my last post…my apologies – we have been extremely focused and busy with beer making and I finally have some great news to share. We officially are an operating brewery!
Looking back on older blogs and in my mind, the release date changed quite a bit. What was to be a 2008 release, turned January 2009 release, turned early 2009 release ended in a March 2009 release date. Thank you all for your continued interest and patience.
Starting a beer company in New Orleans has not been easy and I think I have enough material for a book or at least to dole out plenty of advice to anyone who decides to be the next New Orleans craft brewery. But the point is that we did it and we are FINALLY here!
As of Friday, February 27, 2009 we kegged our first batch of 40 barrels of Brown Ale and are kegging the first 40 barrels of Blonde Ale today, while also on brew two of the Brown Ale. Glazer will pick up their first order on Tuesday (tomorrow), and you should be able to get a NOLA at local bars by Friday, perhaps even earlier!
I have requested a full list of establishments that will have NOLA on draught and will post on the site as soon as I receive it. Bars that I do know will have our beer are: The Bulldog I Uptown and Bulldog II in Mid-City, Winston's in Old Metairie and Lagers in "new" Metairie.
As we have finally made it and have produced our first of many batches of beer, I would like to take time out and thank everyone who has supported us in getting this brewery up and running. A particularly large thanks goes to the initial investors who had faith in an idea that I created and little else to go on. And Hancock Bank (especially Jon Atkinson) without which we would have half of a brewery and no beer, and I would be washing car windows on the corner of Poydras and Rampart. If anyone needs a small business loan or wants to do business with a local bank that is loyal to local businesses, please switch your accounts to Hancock. Their dedication to a start-up company during a major recession was commendable and we will forever be grateful.
And to all of you who have come to tastings, expressed interest in our beer, lended a helping hand when we needed it, donated time, skills, advice and most of all moral support – thank you.
I will try to update the blog more often, and hopefully all of the team at NOLA Brewing will have a little more free time to go drink a pint of NOLA on draught! And check back for the full bar list – I hope to have it posted here this week.
Now, get your beer drinkin' cap on and go order a NOLA Blonde or NOLA Brown Ale. Or try both! Say it with me... "I’ll have a NOLA." Hmmmmm, sounds great to me.
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
January 9, 2009 - Has it really been two months since the last blog entry?
We have been furiously working since my last post getting our equipment in place, piped, inspected, and ready to produce NOLA Blonde and Brown Ale. With only a few steps left before we are in full scale production I wanted to give everyone an update of what has happened in the last two months, and when to expect our beers on the market.
First and foremost, I want to welcome the newest member of our NOLA Brewing family to the team, Dylan Lintern. Dylan comes to us from Firehouse Brewery in San Diego where he was in charge of their accounting and government reporting. Here at NOLA he will be taking on those responsibilities as well as helping with everything else from brewing, kegging, shipping and even sweeping. His new title will be all encompassing as the Vice President of Finance and Operations. We couldn't be happier having his experience to add to our team.
As we are nearing production, several articles have been released dealing with the Crescent City's newest beer. In the national brewing magazine "Beer" we had a great write up that talked about our city and it's wonderful tradition for brewing, as well as our place in that tradition. Click here to read the full article.
Gambit Magazine had an article in December with the unusual title of "Irish Channales", New Orleans Living gave us a quick "shout out" in their New Year's article on food in New Orleans, and finally New Orleans Magazine wrote about our new brew in this months’ article A new New Orleans Brew.
Since the last blog post we also had an extremely successful NOLA Brewing Company sponsored Theresa Andersson concert at The Historic New Orleans Collection. Theresa was spectacular, and the audience quickly went through 9 half kegs of our Blonde and Brown Ale. Everyone had a great time and THNOC said it was their most successful concert to date.
As many of you may have noticed, the brewery is sporting a brand new red paint job in keeping with our logo, and more changes will continue to appear as we brighten up the look of our old Quonset Hut warehouse. I would like to thank everyone who helped us paint over three Saturdays. Without your help our building would still be the old dirty white or LSU purple!
As for the expected date of our release, we are still working furiously to have our first two batches completed by the end of January, but it may be February. We are working extremely hard to get through all of the hurdles of a start up brewery with the various set backs that you can run into on electrical, plumbing, permitting – as well as deal with a city government that is still getting on its feet. Keep checking back to the website, as well as at your local bars, and prepare to enjoy this Mardi Gras season with a cup of NOLA Beer in your hand!!
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
November 3, 2008 - Great news at NOLA Brewery... our new equipment has arrived!
Last Wednesday we received the new fermenters and bright tank from the other side of the Earth (China), and today we received our long-awaited brewhouse from Left Hand Brewery in Colorado.
Peter returned from a week of dismantling the equipment, had Sunday off, and is already back at the brewery reviewing this morning’s shipment and preparing the reassembly.
With this delivery and pending easy electrical, welding and plumbing integration in the warehouse, we are making great progress. For all of you who have offered to come help set up with your various skills and talent, this is the time! So email me at kirk@nolabrewing.com.
On another note, a special thanks to all of the great people who came out to East Jefferson General Hospital for their 2nd Annual "Up on the Roof" beer fundraiser. I was glad that our table had such a large crowd and we loved meeting so many great beer lovers from our city. For more on the event and how our beer was accepted check out The Beer Buddha.
Also, a special thanks to Dan Stein of Stein's Deli for having NOLA Beer at the cocktail hour of his most recent beer dinner series. As always, I know that everyone is anxiously awaiting the next one! We will post details on our Events page once I have them.
For those of you aching to try our beer for the first time or to come enjoy it again prior to our official release, we will be providing beer for The Historic New Orleans Collection's presentation of Theresa Andersson on Friday November 21st. You can buy tickets here. We look forward to helping the Collection raise money for their great work, and of course can't wait to see Theresa in concert!
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
October 6, 2008 - After recovering from a spectacular weekend of Festing, including Oktoberfest at Deutsches Haus, Art for Arts Sake and Gretna Fest, I have some great news to share with the NOLA Brew followers.
For everyone who is tracking our progress, Left Hand Brewery has finally set a date for dismantling their old brew house, our new brew house! On October 26th, Peter will fly to Colorado to spend the end of October helping dismantle the brew house, and will begin the month of November by reassembling it at our Tchoupitoulas Street Brewery. Our plan still has NOLA Blonde and NOLA Brown Ales out in early 2009 in your favorite local New Orleans bars.
On the media front, we were recently written up on Examiner.com by Jimmy Sander discussing not only the taste and promise of the upcoming success of our brewery, but the unique development of a new product and brand in New Orleans.
Finally, we still have several tasting events coming up where you can taste our beers before January 1st. Click here for the updated listings and come try our beers at these local events.
Laissez la bonne bière verser and Geaux Saints!
September 22, 2008 - I am glad to say that we survived Hurricanes Gustav and Ike with nothing more than a little rain water in the brewery. I know I share a huge sense of relief with the rest of New Orleans that the levees held and that both storms avoided a direct hit on the city.
On the brewing front, we have had a slight delay on the delivery of our brewhouse from Left Hand Brewery in Colorado, as they work out issues with their new system. We hope to have it installed by November, which will still mean an early 2009 release of our beers. We will keep you posted on the equipment and dates for distribution.
In the meantime, I want to thank everyone who has given us such great feedback and all of the wonderful local businesses that have contacted Glazer's Distributors with support for our beer. We can’t wait to have it out to you and the City of New Orleans. 2009 will be the year of NOLA Beer!
Before the official release, there are a few events coming up where you will get to taste our beers. In November, East Jefferson General Hospital will have their "Up on the Roof" beer tasting fundraiser in which we will proudly be participating. See details on our News page for tickets, time and location. Also, in November we will be presenting our beers at the Historic New Orleans Collection's "Concerts in the Courtyard." This is particularly exciting for me as one of my favorite musicians, Theresa Andersson, will be performing. I hope that many of you will come out to try the beers and enjoy one of Louisiana's great musicians.
Finally, I hope everyone makes an effort to head over the Deutsches Haus for Oktoberfest. It starts at 5 p.m. on Friday September 26th and is truly THE beer event of the year. Put on your lederhosen and get out there. You won't be disappointed.
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
August 3, 2008 - Sorry about the long delay in blog entries, but we have been very busy getting everything at the Tchoupitoulas Brewery geared up, as well as participating in the Lafayette Gulf Brew 2008 beer event.
This years’ Gulf Brew was a huge success with many great beers, including both our Blonde and Brown Ale. We served over 35 gallons of 3 ounce tasting cups and were out before the end of the event. We had some great response and many people came back for seconds and thirds. We even had a few people purchase additional tasting cards (15 tastes) and fill them all with NOLA ale!
Thanks to everyone that came all the way to Lafayette just to try our beer, and for those of you who haven't tried it yet, we will be at the East Jefferson General Hospital "Up on the Roof" fundraiser on November 7th. Because we have so much to do with our beer debuting about the same time in bars and restaurants, this will be our next official scheduled event.
Other exciting news is that a wonderful article was written in the August issue of Offbeat Magazine that gives a brief overview of our brewery and the products we will bring to the Crescent City. You can read the article here or grab a copy around town. However one change is that we will EVENTUALLY produce more than 10,000 barrels a year, just not in the first three years. Thanks to Todd Price for a great article and Elsa Hahne for actually laying on the pavement of our parking lot for the picture!
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
June 9, 2008 - I want to thank everyone who made the WYES Beer Tasting such a wonderful success, especially Glazer Distributors, Derek Lintern, Randy Johnson and all of the NOLA Brewing fans who came to try our beer at the UNO Lakefront Arena. For those of you who didn't make it, you missed a great event with over 200 different beers, along with an opportunity to mix with over 3,000 beer lovers and even a Scottish marching band in full kilt regalia!
Before the event we had mention on NOLA.com, as people were really looking forward to trying our beer. As the top mention in the "What to Look Forward to...”, I hope we delivered. I do have to say that the feedback at the event for NOLA Blonde and NOLA Brown was very positive! Great comments were posted after the event on Southern Beer Society and Beer NOLA .
All attendees were really excited about having the opportunity to try a variety of craft and homebrewed beers, often not found at other tastings. And my original question when developing the concept for NOLA was asked time and time again – “Why doesn’t New Orleans have a thriving craft brew industry?” NOLA Brewing also was included in a posting at Letters in Bottles.
We hope to be the first of many breweries to get craft brewed beer into the city, and with the support of the area homebrew organizations, other local breweries and the people of New Orleans, I am confident that New Orleans will again be recognized as the capital of brewing in the South.
The second largest question was “When can we buy your beer?” Answer: Early 2009. Peter Caddoo, our great brewmaster, was actually in Colorado during the WYES Tasting finalizing the purchase of our brewing system from Left Hand Brewing.
Thanks again for everyone who participated and we hope to see many of you again at Gulf Brew 2008, at Parc International in downtown Lafayette on July 19th from 3-8pm.
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
May 6, 2008 - What a wonderful Cinco de Mayo! I was lucky enough to get tickets to the New Orleans Hornets playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs and I am still riding high from the excitement of the game and the wonderful New Orleans crowd that cheered the Hornets to victory. I don't think it is a coincidence that sports teams in New Orleans are doing so well lately. They, along with the rest of this city, are realizing that we can (and WILL!) be a first class city second to none.
This week we ordered our brand new 30 barrel brewhouse and supporting equipment and look forward to bringing all of you a first class craft beer to go along with our first class city. Renovations are in progress inside our warehouse at 3001 Tchoupitoulas Street and you will start seeing a change on the outside in the weeks to come.
Thanks to everyone who has offered support and encouragement. We are really making great progress and getting closer to filling your pint glass!
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
April 24, 2008 - The NOLA Brewing crew has returned from the Brewer's Association Conference and after a week of learning the advantages of dry yeast and determining the best temperature for fermenting an American Ale you would think that I would be ready for a good beer! In fact, I am still hydrating with as much H2O as possible after having the good fortune of sampling nearly every beer available from craftbrewer's in America, Canada and around the world. Peter and I were also fortunate enough to make several important equipment contacts that have helped us find key brewing equipment even during the recent shortage of stainless tanks and fermenters. Hmmmm…education, equipment deals and great beer. Not a bad week.
Now that we are home it is back to business. We are currently working on the electrical and plumbing in the warehouse and searching for additional equipment - used and new (if any of you reading have a lead on a good used 20-30 barrel system in the area, let us know!)
There is still much work ahead of us in the next few months as we push to get our beer out to New Orleans. But we came away from the conference, confident, educated and assured that our effort is worth it.
There is one great story I want to pass on to everyone interested in NOLA Beer who has asked about Peter Caddoo, our wonderful brewmaster. I do admit, I was impressed when everyone at the Brewer's Association Convention knew of Peter and many had even enjoyed some of his great beers. But what really stunned me was what happened the first day we arrived in San Diego.
You see, I had decided I would show Peter around - being a one-time resident of San Diego while I was in the Navy. But after about fifteen minutes of walking around in the Gaslamp Quarter, I still hadn't found the brewpub I was seeking out and was ready to take a cab – at least they would know. As we were waiting for a cab, Peter turned to me and, with the serious look of a CSI detective who had found the missing clue to the crime, said "I smell malt."
Three blocks and one turn later, we literally ran into a pallet of malted barley right under the sign for Rock Bottom Brewpub. Peter calmly looked over at me and said, "See, I told you I there was malt. Let's grab a beer."
There is no doubt now that I have teamed with the perfect brewmaster, and if we run out of malt, I can always send him out to track some down!
Cheers,
April 4, 2008 - Well we are really gearing up for full production, as we enter our warehouse at 3001 Tchoupitoulas Street (for those of you outside of New Orleans, say "Chop-a-two-less.") Peter and I have spent the last week working with electricians to ensure proper power is available, negotiating for the best prices on brewing equipment and cleaning our new location.
Also, in the past week I was fortunate enough to attend one great beer dinner and will be attending another next week on Tuesday April 8 at Patois Restaurant uptown. The pairings have been developed by the chef at Patois, members of the Crescent City Homebrewer's Association and Dan Stein (the owner of Stein's Market and Deli on Magazine and Jackson. There are still a few seats left, so if you like great beer you can call and try to get a reservation.
If you have never had the pleasure of attending a beer dinner, it is the perfect way to try a variety of different beers with foods that accentuate the flavor of the beer and vice-versa. I think you will find that well-crafted beer mixes even better with food than wine. But don't trust me, go to a dinner yourself and enjoy the tastes that will please your palate and have you looking for more beer dinners to attend.
Peter and I will be in San Diego from April 15-20 representing NOLA at the annual Brewer's Conference and we look forward to talking to all of you beer lovers who will be there!
Keep an eye on our site as we continue our progress in developing fine craft brew for the Crescent City.
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
March 5, 2008 - One of the great perks of starting a brewery (besides sampling the wares!) is the opportunity to conduct business research. I was fortunate enough to visit the Lazy Magnolia Brewery in Kiln, Mississippi last week. Leslie Henderson, the owner and Brewmaster has been very supportive during our start-up phase and took time out of her day to give us sage advice from a company that has been through start-up and the effects of Katrina. I also was fortunate enough to get to sample one of my favorite beers, Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan. It is worth the drive across the border to get a case and bring it back to your home.
Anyway, the visit to Lazy Magnolia had me feeling great about beer in general and even better about the microbrew industry as a whole. In what other industry would manufacturers take you through their production process, tell you areas of difficulty and provide you with the knowledge they have acquired over the years they spent building their business. The craft brew industry is truly a family dedicated to producing great beers and helping others do the same.
Now as I was thinking about how wonderful the microbrew industry is, I began to think about beer in general and the people who enjoy it. People who drink beer really know how to enjoy life and also share their time with friends. In fact, beer drinking is something usually done while meeting and talking with friends, and certainly creates a relaxed, fun attitude. Craft brew drinkers actually get excited about the beers they try and when they find beers that they enjoy can't wait to share the taste with friends.
I encourage you to explore new beers and take the time to share with a friend. Also, sharing a bottle with a friend is a great way to drink beer. Open a bottle and pour half each into a wine glass. This will allow you to enjoy the complex aroma that a craft brew can contain as well as drink the beer before it gets warm. Also, by sharing you create a bond with that friend that non-beer drinkers rarely understand.
Finally, I would like to say that beer has brought great people with drive, courage and accomplishment together for a long time. In fact, the next time you stand for the national anthem, think about beer. It was over beer that our founding fathers developed the great plan for our country and the idea that all people should have inalienable rights. If they aren't great spokesmen for an industry, I can't imagine who would be. Benjamin Franklin said it best:
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
February 20, 2008 - I am excited to post my first blog entry here at NOLABrewing.com. I first want to thank everyone who has sent letters or emails expressing their interest in having a microbrewery here in the city. It is good to know that so many people are excited about craft brewed beers and the unique tastes that we will bring to the table (or bar, or pint glass!). I will post new blogs from time to time discussing where we are in the development process, events, new beers and, of course, the great city of New Orleans. I also would like to answer your questions, if you have any. So just email me at
kirk@nolabrewing.com
and I will make sure an answer is posted on a blog entry so other beer lovers can hear our responses.
In this post, I would like to answer a few questions I have already received. We are completing our financing and ordering brewing equipment for full production while also negotiating a lease on a warehouse at Tchoupitoulas and 7th street. We are excited about the location, as it is centrally located and has the perfect space requirements for future expansion. However, if we cannot negotiate this lease, we guarantee that we will be in the city limits. My goal when I returned to New Orleans was to bring jobs back to Orleans Parish and I will not operate NOLA Brewing anywhere but New Orleans. We are hoping to have our product out around September or October of this year, but may have opportunities for taste tests and samplings prior to that time. If you are not already on our mailing list, send me an email asking to be put on the list and you will receive emails about every three weeks with updates on the development of our business as well as future NOLA Brewing events.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has helped us so far in our progress, particularly the NOLA Brewing investors, The Idea Village (especially Emily Mitchell and Keith Crawford), Michelle Boudreaux at EJGH, Glazer Distributors, Jan Glade, The Southern Beer Society, The Brewers Association and last, but certainly not least, Byron Towles - without him I would still be making big bucks working in banking!
Laissez la bonne bière verser!
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