Louisiana Beer

Today in 1812, Louisiana became the 18th state.

Louisiana

Louisiana Breweries

• Abita Brewing
• Bayou Teche Brewery
• Big Easy Brewing
• BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery
• Covington Brewhouse
• Crescent City Brewhouse
• Gordon Biersch Brewing
• Heiner Brau
• New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Company
• Parish Brewing
• Tin Roof Brewing

Louisiana Brewery Guides

• Beer Advocate
• Beer Me
• Rate Beer

Guild: None Known

State Agency: Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control

Other Trade Groups: Beer Industry League of Louisiana

• Capital: Baton Rouge
• Largest Cities: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, LaFayette, Lake Charles
• Population: 4,468,976; 22nd
• Area: 51843 sq.mi., 31st
• Nickname: Pelican State
• Statehood: 18th, April 30, 1812

• Alcohol Legalized: April 13, 1933
• Number of Breweries: 6
• Rank: 43rd
• Beer Production: 3,849,482
• Production Rank: 18th
• Beer Per Capita: 27.1 Gallons

Package Mix:

• Bottles: 40.8%
• Cans: 55.6%
• Kegs: 3.4%

Beer Taxes:

• Per Gallon: $0.32
• Per Case: $0.73
• Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $10.00
• Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $10.00
• * Municipalities and counties may assess a tax of up to $1.50 per barrel

Economic Impact (2010):

• From Brewing: $36,209,782
• Direct Impact: $868,936,804
• Supplier Impact: $394,401,774
• Induced Economic Impact: $848,102,310
• Total Impact: $2,111,440,888

Legal Restrictions:

• Control State: No
• Sale Hours: On Premises: No state imposed restrictions on on-premise hours. “24 hour” bars are common in New Orleans and in Jefferson Parish. Some municipalities and parishes require on-premise service to stop at 2:00 am.
  Off Premises: No restrictions on hours of package sales statewide.
• Grocery Store Sales: Yes
• Notes: Packaged alcoholic beverages of any strength may be sold in supermarkets, drug stores, gas stations, and convenience stores 24 hours a day. Local municipalities may not restrict this. As a result, dedicated “liquor stores” are mostly specialty stores in larger cities, and some supermarkets have large selections of liquors and wines, and compete on the basis of liquor prices and selection.

  Alcohol can be consumed in plastic cups in the streets of New Orleans and taken from club-to-club if the establishment allows it. Otherwise it depends on the locality. Most parishes other than Orleans Parish do not permit alcoholic beverages served at on-premise establishments to be taken from the premises. However, many parishes and municipalities permit consumption of packaged beverages (for example, cans of beer) on the street, as long as the packaging is concealed. Glass bottles on the streets are prohibited. One can enter most bars at 18 years of age but must be 21 years old to purchase or consume alcohol.

Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.