Across the state, the future of craft brewing is hazy, NOLA.com reports. Louisiana craft beer is not going away, but there are signs of a slowdown.
Last year, for example, six breweries did open in Louisiana, but four others closed. So far in 2019, one brewery has closed and none have opened.
Several breweries are in the works locally, although the launch processes have been moving slowly. Cypress Coast Brewing is under construction in Mid City, Rally Cap Brewing Company is under construction off Siegen Lane, Le Chien Brewery changed its plans in May and is now planning to open in Denham Springs next year, and Gilla Brewing Company is set to open in Gonzales at the end of this summer.
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But Cary Koch, executive director of the Louisiana’s Craft Brewer’s Guild, says this isn’t the norm in the rest of the country.
“I’m fearful that we are not keeping up with the rest of the states in the economics of craft breweries,” Koch told NOLA.com. “They’re having a boom in craft beer.”
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Even Abita, the brewery with by far the widest reach, has seen the slump.
“The craft market isn’t growing at all,’’ Abita Brewing Co. President David Blossman told the publication. “But the overall beer market is in a similar or worse position than the craft market.”