USA, LA: Husband and wife preparing to open Sawbriar Brewery in Lafayette

John and Jessica Paul certainly didn't need to take on any extra responsibilities.

He's an Army vet who is working toward his Master of Business Administration at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She's a special education English teacher at Edgar Martin Middle School. They're raising three school-aged children.

Yet here they are: preparing to open a microbrewery, The Daily Advertiser reported on June 17.

The Pauls plan to open Sawbriar Brewery in an abandoned warehouse at 124 S. Buchanan St. in downtown Lafayette.

They've secured a lease on the building with help from the Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority and expect to have the microbrewery up and operating by the end of the year.

They've begun the licensing and permitting process. They've ordered the initial equipment.

But they're asking the community for help funding the two most expensive parts of the project: the taproom bar and the bathrooms.

"We want to provide people in the community a way to be part of our brewery and part of our process," Jessica Paul says. "People can put their names on parts of the brewery. We want people in the community to be part of the brewery."

A $25,000 goal has been set on crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com.

Unlike similar websites, Kickstarter will only collect and distribute money to the project if $25,000 worth of pledges are made.

Smaller donation rewards range from custom beer koozies and bumper stickers to pint glasses and T-shirts.

Higher donation rewards include options such as brewing your own recipe and inviting your friends to taste your creation at a private release party.

There are also a series of fun donation rewards that grant you naming rights to a piece of the bar, a table, a brewing tank or even a toilet. That final one is called Name of Thrones — a nod to the book and TV series, "Game of Thrones."

The Pauls got the idea of naming rights and dedications from a vacation to Fairhope, Alabama, where benches along a pier were paid for by donors. Their favorite dedication was to "the world's greatest gravy maker."

"We just thought it was so cool that people were able to put their name or the name of somebody they cared about on something like that," Jessica Paul says. "And we want to do the same. It's a way to put a little piece of yourself in this space."

Sawbriar Brewery's namesake comes from the sawbriar plant that is native in the swampy woods of south Louisiana.

"It's a miserable plant to most folks," John Paul says with a laugh. "It's got these huge, really tough thorns. They'll cut through whatever you're wearing. We've tried to cut the things out, and there's nothing you can do. It just comes back when it rains."

The plant was historically used for medicinal purposes and still provides food to wildlife.

"As tough and durable as it is — in both a good and bad way — it's important to the local environment," John Paul says. "It grows where other stuff won't. It has beautiful flowers. It's also edible. The berries and shoots and roots themselves are edible. People used to make root beer out of it."

As he speaks passionately about the plant, Jessica Paul jokingly compares her husband to a sawbriar.

She agrees that the name is fitting for their brewery, though.

Sawbriar's warehouse location formerly served as a community shelter and outreach center but has been vacant for several years. Its bathrooms have no doors or ceiling and the cinderblock walls covered in scarlet, aqua and yellow paint.

"We wanted to plant a seed, plant something that would bloom in the area and really connect with the community," Jessica Paul said. "We found out that the plant really described a lot of the things we wanted to do here in Lafayette."

Acadiana craft breweries such as Cajun, Parish and Bayou Teche have taprooms but operate with a brewery permit, which is designed primarily for the manufacturing of beer to distribute off-site to retailers such as bars, restaurants and grocery stores.

Sawbriar Brewery is instead operating with a microbrewery permit, which is designed primarily for the brewing of beer to sell on the premises. Although beer can be packaged and sold directly to customers for home consumption, the microbrewery is prohibited from distributing beer to other retailers.

"We have a little more flexibility than a production brewery," John Paul says. "We can make more small batches using local herbs and fruits and things. I like experimenting. I'll take anything I can grow and use it to make beer."

Another difference in the microbrewery permit is that it enables the business to serve alcoholic beverages that aren't made on-site.

Production breweries can only serve their own beer in their taprooms.

"We'll be featuring other people's beer on tap and have them side-by-side with ours, which in my opinion will force me to have a better product," John Paul says. "And at the same time, it allows us to support our peers in the industry."

Sawbriar Brewery will offer seasonal herb- and fruit-forward beers and a cellar program devoted to wild fermented and aged sour ales.

Here's a preview of Sawbriar Brewery's flagship beers:

Love Bug Lager: This cold, clear and crisp lager is perfect for the hot and humid summer days of south Louisiana. Influenced by the pre-prohibition recipes of Old West settlers, this beer contains 5.4 percent alcohol by volume, ranks 29 on the International Bittering Units scale and measures 2.4 on the Standard Reference Method for beer color.

Cyprus Stout: This thick, creamy and smooth stout with notes of dark chocolate, roasted coffee and oak is a great way to end a meal or warm up on a cold day. Brewed with local coffee, this beer contains 6 percent ABV, ranks 15 on the IBU scale and measures 50 on the SRM for beer color.

Crawnado Amber Ale: This easy-drinking amber ale is great with crawfish, crab boils and hurricane parties. Made with Louisiana wheat and sugarcane, this beer contains 4.5 percent ABV, ranks 22 on the IBU scale and measures 8 on the SRM for beer color.

Mad Monkey IPA: This dark, hazy, juicy and spicy India Pale Ale is far from a bitter hop bomb. Made with seven types of hops from around the world and an aggressive hop schedule, this beer contains 10 percent ABV, ranks 90 on the IBU scale and measures 9 on the SRM for beer color.
Fightin’ville Brown Ale: This slightly sweet brown ale is an American take on an English brown pub ale that's namesake pays tribute to the rich history of the neighborhood surrounding the brewery. Brewed with English and specialty malts and U.S. hops, this beer contains 5.7 percent ABV, ranks 43 on the IBU scale and measures 27 on the SRM for beer color.

17 June, 2018