E-Malt.com News article: USA, LA: Mudbug Brewery expected to open in Thibodaux in the next couple of months

Mudbug Brewery, the first brewery in the area, is expected to open in Thibodaux in the next couple of months, according to its owners.

“The brickwork in the tasting room is mostly done and looks AMAZING!!! Crew is prepping for electrical hook up soon! After all the rain last week, looks like the parking lot will FINALLY get poured soon too!!!” the company wrote on its Facebook page.

Brewery President Brance Lloyd said the facility, on the West Thibodaux Bypass near the Congo Lounge, will include a tasting room that will be able to hold between 90 and 100 people, with a full service bar and a window providing a unique look into the production room. When in production, customers will be able to catch a glimpse of the brewing process. The tasting room will be open Fridays and Saturdays.

Behind the tasting room will be a cold room, providing cold beer to the tasting room, and a 5,500-square-foot production room that will include a brewhouse, brewing plant, grain room, fermentation area, boiling room and other brewing essentials.

Though they can envision expansion in the future, co-owner Peter Leichty said it will be down the road.

While the brewery’s King Cake Ale, a malty brew with cinnamon, vanilla and lactose, is already known, consumers will also get to try Cafe au Lait Stout, which uses Louisiana coffee with lactose, and Pelican Pilsner, a malty German pilsner with a crisp lager flavor and decent hop profile, brewer Leith Adams said.

Adams said he is always tinkering with new flavors and plans to have several unique beers released only through the brewery’s tasting room.

Crescent Crown Distributors will distribute the beer from Lake Charles down the Interstate 10 corridor to Mississippi, Lloyd said.

Leichty said they expect to begin bottling in about a year.

The history of Mudbug Brewery really began 12 years ago when Adams’ sister gave him a Mr. Beer home-brewing kit for Christmas.

“She said, ‘Here you go; now make me some beer,’ ” Adams joked.

The former freshman biology teacher at Nicholls State University said he began tinkering with the different flavors until he found ones that he liked.

“I’ve never been much of a cook, but I like being able to experiment,” he said. “The King Cake Ale actually started out as a French toast ale ... but I tweaked the recipe to the point where people said it tastes like King Cake.”

He began sharing his creations with his friends, and after receiving positive feedback began to think bigger after receiving positive feedback.

“I grew up with the idea of the bigger the better. So about three or four years ago, we decided to do something,” he said.

A banker for more than 10 years and childhood friend of Adams, Lloyd said he enjoys working with small businesses. Originally, he and Adams talked about starting a brew pub but quickly realized they didn’t have any restaurant experience. However, they still wanted to start something based around their love for beer. Adams’ beer to be exact.

“One night I said Leith, ‘Maybe not the brew club, but let’s try to make this a business,’ ” Lloyd said. “From sampling his beers, they kept getting better and better, and it got really good.”

The third brain behind the brewery is Leichty, a neurological surgeon at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center.

Leichty said he met Adams and Lloyd through Donner-Peltier Distillery in Thibodaux, and he quickly became “very interested in the success” of the brewery.

“All we needed was to get him a sample, and he was hooked. He’s had faith in my brewing ever since,” Adams said of Leichty.

“Our love for beer brought us all together, and we decided to make a partnership together,” Lloyd added.

Lloyd said they will announce their grand opening on their Facebook page.


02 July, 2014