USA, LA: Abita Brewing Co. planning new brewery in New Orleans

Abita Brewing Co. plans to open a brewery in New Orleans in 2025, adding a second location for the state's largest craft beer brewer and joining several other companies along Tchoupitoulas Street's popular brewers row, nola.com reported on October 15.

"Adding a brewery location in New Orleans just makes sense,” Heidi Guerra, vice presdident of marketing for the northshore-based Abita, said in a news release Tuesday. "We want people to have the opportunity to taste our beers where it’s most convenient for them and for a lot of Louisianians and visitors, that’s in the heart of New Orleans."

The new location will be at Tchoupitoulas Street and 1st Street, the company's account said on the social media site X. In New Orleans, Abita will join several other breweries located along or near Tchoupitoulas, including Urban South, Port Orleans and Nola Brewing Co.

The New Orleans operation will be a "modern brewery," Abita President Troy Ashley said. But, he added, the New Orleans location will "be brewing on a smaller scale, so we’ll have the freedom to experiment and develop innovative beers and offerings, which is really exciting."

The company, which in September announced that it had entered partnership with the New Orleans Saints to become the official craft beer of the team, said the new, south shore brewery represents its "continued investment in the New Orleans community."

In addition to the brewhouse and tasting room, the New Orleans location will have space for events and community gatherings, the company said.

Abita Beer got its start in 1986 in Abita Springs as a tiny craft brewer and has since grown into one of Louisiana's most popular brands. The company markets a wide range of beverages, from its well-known Abita Amber and Purple Haze and Jockamo Juicy IPA, to root beer and cream soda.

Abita outgrew its original location near the center of Abita Springs in 1994 and moved to a larger facility nearby on Louisiana 36. Then, in 2013, the company underwent a $12 million expansion to accommodate increased production.

The company has always touted the water that flows from an artesian spring in the Southern Hills aquifer system north of Lake Pontchartrain as the key ingredient of its beers. In the news release on October 15, Abita said that same spring water would be used at the New Orleans brewery.

"Water is the foundation of all our brews, and we are committed to our craft brewing principles and staying true to who we are, which means all of the beverages crafted at our southshore location will be brewed with the same pure, artesian spring water as our northshore location," Guerra said.

Abita ranks 33 among the craft beer brewers in the U.S., according to the Brewer's Association's annual report for 2023. While craft beer production fell across the nation from 2022 to 2023, with craft brewers still feeling the impacts and higher costs from the COVID pandemic, the craft beer share of the beer market, by volume, rose from 13.1% to 13.3% in that time frame.

And the number of craft breweries in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 9,683, the trade publication Craft Brewing Business reported.

15 October, 2024