Throwback Thursday: Dorothy Dandridge and Jax Beer Ad

Here is an ad from Jax Brewing from the 1940s featuring Dorothy Dandridge who was an actress and model. Sidenote: She was the first African-American to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Carmen Jones.

Did You Know?

The first brewery to operate in New Orleans was the Brasserie which opened in 1726. Owned by Pierre Dreux and his brother Mathurin, it was located in the Bywater section of New Orleans.

In 1728, Mathurin Dreux brought suit in Nouvelle Orleans Supreme Council against a M.Decour for non payment regarding 132 livres of beer which Dreux provided. M. Detour has the distinction being recorded as the first deadbeat to skip out on bar tab in New Orleans.

Cheers!

Beer News: Matt Horney Out at Ecology Brewing

Had a source confirm with me today that Matt Horney of Ecology is no longer part of the company. I haven't heard much more other than that. I assume ownership at Ecology is currently looking for a brewer to take his place.

Matt was an amazing brewer and will most likely land somewhere. Stay tuned!

Cheers!

Throwback Thursday: Falstaff Brewing Commercial

Urban South Venturing Into Non Alcoholic Category

*FULL DISCLOSURE: I WORK FOR THE WHOLESALER THAT SELLS THIS BRAND*

Urban South Brewing is developing Non Alcoholic beers for the market beginning in January of next year. They will make 3 N/A versions of some of their most popular beers- Holy Roller, Lime Cucumber Gose, and Paradise Park and will also have a variety pack called Weekday Pack.

With the sales of N/As booming globally and projected for some serious growth this was inevitable for a craft brewery. Urban South does a great job at innovation so for them to be the first Louisiana brewery to the table with N/A options makes sense.

Urban South has set a release date of December 2025 just in time for Dry January. They will be leading with Holy Roller first with other flavors following.

Support Your Local Brewery: NOLA Brewing

Most of you probably know the story. After Hurricane Katrina, Kirk Coco was sipping a Dixie Beer when he noticed the label indicated it was being contract-brewed out of state. The realization that New Orleans no longer had a brewery of its own didn’t sit right with him. That moment sparked an idea—to bring brewing back to the city. Partnering with former Dixie Brewing brewer Peter Cadoo, Kirk founded NOLA Brewing in 2008, becoming the first craft brewery in New Orleans.

Of course, it wasn’t an easy journey. The team faced plenty of challenges over the years, but their perseverance and passion paved the way for the city’s modern craft beer movement.

NOLA Brewing holds a special place in my heart. My first job in the beer industry was in sales with NOLA Brewing—a short four-month stint where, to be honest, I had no idea what I was doing. But that experience ignited my love for the sales side of beer and ultimately set me on the path to where I am today. Even after moving on, every visit back to New Orleans included a stop at NOLA Brewing, and that tradition continues whenever I make the trip from Baton Rouge.

Today, NOLA Brewing has evolved. They no longer distribute their beer, operating instead as more of a brewpub and gathering spot known for great pizza and live music. Kirk and Peter have both moved on, but one familiar face remains—Derek Lintern, who oversees their incredible sour beer program, The Funk Series, the only true sour program in Louisiana. The beers are still fantastic, the pizza’s solid, and the vibe remains quintessentially NOLA.

For any craft beer lover visiting or living in the New Orleans area, NOLA Brewing is still a must-visit. And make sure you check out the show on Oct 26th. Sunpie puts on a great show!

Address: 3033 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Hours:
Monday 11 AM–9 PM
Tuesday 11 AM–9 PM
Wednesday 11 AM–9 PM
Thursday 11 AM–9 PM
Friday 11 AM–10 PM
Saturday 11 AM–10 PM
Sunday 11 AM–9 PM

Throwback Thursday: Dixie Brewing Commercial

1990 Dixie Brewing "Gimme A Dixie". I notice Maple Leaf Bar and Snug Harbor

Support Local Beer: Vermilionville Brew House

Recently the family and I took a quick trip to Lafayette for the Vermilionville Living History Museum & Forklife Park. Their mission is to "increase appreciation for the history, culture, and natural resources of the Native Americans, Acadians, Creoles, and peoples of African descent in the Attakapas region through the end of the 1800s".

The property is about 23 acres on the Bayou Vermilion. They have 19 buildings on the property such as restored Creole and Cajun style houses as well as a schoolhouse, church and artisan workshops. Fortunately for me, there’s also a brewery on the property that produces beers inspired by historical recipes, which are served in the onsite restaurant called Restaurant La Cuisine de Maman.

I ordered a flight(which I usually never do) and they brought out the Les Tatailles (molasses brown ale) and the Bouki's Biere De Gingembre (Ginger Beer). They were out of the Le Cauchemar (Satsuma Ale). Both beers were honestly fantastic. The ginger beer which came in at a whopping 8.5% is inspired by a Caribbean recipe and the ginger flavor was defintely strong. The Les Tatailles clocking in at 5.8% was a brown ale but had a nice strong sweetness from the molasses. Apparently they use a bit of ginger in it as well but I didn't catch that.

Overall, Managing Director and Brewer Brady McKellar is doing an excellent job brewing quality beer and preserving Louisiana’s rich beer history at Vermilionville Brew House. If you find yourself in Lafayette, it’s well worth a visit. And don’t overlook the food — I had the fried shrimp po’ boy, my wife enjoyed the red beans and rice, and our kid had the gumbo. Everything was outstanding.

Address: 300 Fisher Rd, Lafayette, LA 70508

Hours:
Sunday- 10 AM–4 PM
Monday- Closed
Tuesday- 10 AM–4 PM
Wednesday- 10 AM–4 PM
Thursday- 10 AM–4 PM
Friday- 10 AM–4 PM
Saturday- 10 AM–4 PM

Cheers!

Parish Brewing Beer Club

If you are having issues getting amazing Parish Brewing beers you now have the Parish Beer Club! $70? Seems like a great deal to me.

Here are the details:

Welcome to the Parish Beer Club!

We’re bringing the freshest, most sought-after Parish brews straight to your door every month. As a club member, you’ll get an exclusive selection of our latest and greatest beers, from the legendary Ghost in the Machine to small-batch releases.

Each shipment includes Parish beers, featuring all of the following:

New special releases & collabs - e.g. DDH Ghost, Ghost Prime, Ripe In The Machine

Ghost In The Machine - every box will include some fresh GITM!

Seasonal offerings like Envie, Canebrake, and more

Welcome Gift included in 1st installment

How It Works

Joining the Parish Beer Club is easy:

Add to Cart

Redirect & Checkout – You’ll be redirected to our trusted fulfillment partner’s site to securely complete your purchase.

Beer Incoming! – Sit back and relax. Each month, you’ll receive a curated box of fresh Parish brews delivered right to your doorstep.

Your subscription will automatically renew each month, and you can pause, skip, or cancel anytime (Note: pausing/skipping/cancelling will only affect future installments, not installments for which you have already been billed).

How many beers in each box, exactly?

The exact mix and quantity of bottles and cans will vary month to month, but rest assured, you’re always getting the same total retail value. One month might be 8 x 16 oz cans and 4 x 12 oz cans. The next month could include 6 x 16 oz cans, a few 12 oz cans, and a couple 500 mL bottles.

Why the mix? Because some of the most exciting stuff Parish brews, from DDH TIPAs to Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stouts, come in different formats. We keep it flexible so you always get the goods.

Throwback Thursday: Jax Brewing Commercial

1962 Jax Brewing commercial featuring the voices of American improvisational comedy duo Mike Nichols and Elaine May.

Fall Is Here: 5 Fall Beers I've Enjoyed This Season

Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. The cooler weather, football weekends, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and, of course, all those fall seasonal beers—it’s just a great time of year. There’s something special about sitting by a firepit, beer in hand, enjoying a crisp festbier or a pumpkin ale. I know pumpkin beers can be pretty divisive among beer fans, but I’m all about that pumpkin spice life. So, I thought it’d be fun to share five fall beers I’ve really enjoyed this year. Before we get into that, though, let’s break down what makes a festbier, a märzen, and a pumpkin beer.

Oktoberfestbier, also known as Festbier, is a traditional German lager served at Munich's Oktoberfest, characterized by a rich, malty flavor with bready or toasty notes and a subtle hop bitterness to balance the malt. While historically associated with the Märzen style, Festbier is the modern, official beer of the festival, known for its golden color, crisp finish, and high drinkability, making it perfect for pairing with German foods.

Märzen is a traditional German amber lager beer style characterized by its rich, toasty, bready malt flavor and restrained bitterness, with a clean and well-attenuated finish. Historically, it was brewed in March (März) and lagered in cold caves to be ready for fall festivals like Oktoberfest, though it's now enjoyed year-round. The name Märzen can sometimes be used interchangeably with "Oktoberfest-style beer" in the United States, as it's the classic amber lager associated with the celebration.

Pumpkin beers are a popular fall-seasonal beer style that incorporates pumpkin, pumpkin puree, or pumpkin flavoring into a beer, often an ale, to create flavors and aromas of pumpkin pie and warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.

Alright, let's get into it! Here are 5 fall beers I've really enjoyed this fall!

Parish Brewing Octoberfest- Marzen-style Lager

Gnarly Barley Festbier

Ecology Brewing Acorn Thief Octoberfest

Miel Brewing Festbier

Rally Cap Brewing Pitchin' Pumpkin

Let me know what local fall beers you've been enjoying this year! Now it's time to go watch these New Orleans Saints! Let's hope they beat the Giants!

Support Local Beer: Le Chien Brewing

Wife and I went to Denham Springs a few weekends ago to look for stuff for the house. As usual I looked up "breweries near me" on the old Google and found Le Chien Brewing. Situated right near all the antique stores we originally went for, it just made sense to stop in for some beers.

Co-Owner Brett Dunham said they opened 4 years ago.The location is pretty awesome as it is in an old gas station and the tanks are underground. The space is pretty big with a covered, outdoor seating area, back garage for special events and a space for a food truck. I grabbed a Tail Wagger Belgian Wit which was delicious.

The food truck that is always on site is Pie Eyed Hand Pies. We didn't grab any food but they have a mix of sweet and savory pies, wraps and appetizers like beer battered boudin balls. With the name Le Chien(the dog) you can safely assume it is a dog friendly brewery. On the day we were there they had a petting zoo for kids so it is also kid friendly.

If you end up in Denham Springs for some reason make sure you stop in and grab some beer from these guys. Great beer and cool spot.

ADDRESS:

101 S Hummell St, Denham Springs, LA 70726

HOURS:

Friday 4–10 PM

Saturday 2–10 PM

Sunday 11 AM–2:30 PM

Monday Closed

Tuesday 5–9 PM

Wednesday 5–9 PM

Thursday 5–9 PM

Throwback Thursday

Great throwback to 2011 New Orleans On Tap with Zac from Gnarly Barley. Crazy to think that now this brewery is one of many amazing breweries in my portfolio!

Ain't Dere No More: Falstaff Brewing

Anyone from New Orleans will know Falstaff Brewing. Despite having a brewery in the city they weren't actually a locally owned brewery but was rather a large, national brewery that was at one time the 3rd largest brewery in the United States with locations in St Louis, Omaha, Fort Wayne, Galveston, San Jose, El Paso and of course, New Orleans. Despite not being a "local" brewery I still feel it deserves to be on the Ain't Dere No More list so let's dig in.

Falstaff Brewing Corporation was an American brewery founded in 1903 in St. Louis, Missouri, with roots tracing back to the 1840 Lemp Brewery. The company was named after Shakespeare's character Sir John Falstaff and quickly gained recognition for its "Blue Ribbon" brand. Lemp Brewing began shipping its beer to New Orleans in the 1850s.

The Beer Buddha's Beer Geeks Guide To Mardi Gras 2025 Edition

So years ago, I used to write a "Beer Geek's Guide to Mardi Gras" for mostly tourists coming in town for Mardi Gras. The last one I wrote was in January 2013. I figured it would be fun to write another one.

The craft beer landscape has changed so dramatically almost half of the places I used to recommend aren't around anymore. And honestly, my drinking habits(style of beers I prefer, places I enjoy drinking) have changed as well, so let's see what we can come up with.

Note: MANY of these places are NOT on the parade route but might be near it. Others, I am just recommending for tourists who might want to veer off the parade route a little. If you think I am missing something let me know! It's been awhile and I may not have been there!

THE FRENCH QUARTER

1) Rouses 701 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70116- Small grocery store with decent selection of craft and domestic beer. REMEMBER: You CAN walk around the streets with beer but it needs to be either in a can or a plastic cup.

2) Mollys At The Market 1107 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116- Awesome dive bar located on Decatur St. Pop in for some beer or their frozen Irish coffee.

3) Crescent City Brewhouse 527 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70130- Honestly, I would be remiss for not mentioning this place. Most beer geeks might disagree with this addition but CCB has been pumping out classic beer styles for decades.

CBD/Warehouse District

1) Rouses 701 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70113 - Great beer selection and you can even pick up a muffaletta to go wiht your beer. The store is located close to Harmony Circle(formerly Lee Circle) and is a great place to pick up a quick sixer or case of your favorite brew.

2) Cochon Butcher 930 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70130 - Amazing food and nice beer selection. This place is a must go! Everything on their menu is solid but I would recommend the Cubano.

FRENCHMAN STREET

1) dba New Orleans 618 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116- Good beer selection and amazing live music.

2) Brieux Carre Brewing 2115 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - Arguably one of the best breweries in the city. They are crushing the lager game over here and are located right off Frenchman Street on Decatur.

3) The Rambler 507 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - Nice casual bar in Frenchman with a great local, craft beer selection.

UPTOWN

To make this easy I will be calling everything from I-10 up to the Riverbend "uptown".

1) Avenue Pub 1732 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130- No longer owned by Polly Watts but it is still an amazing place to grab a craft beer and it sits right on the parade route.

2) Steins Deli 2207 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70130 - Amazing Jewish deli located at Magazine and Jackson. Not too far of a walk to the parade route. Grab a sandwich and some beer to go. Dan Stein is the Godfather of craft beer in New Orleans.

3) Fat Harry's 4330 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70115- For some reason I never mentioned this place in past posts and that was dumb on my part. Fat Harry's is a New Orleans instituion and serves a great variety of craft and domestic beers and like Avenue Pub it sits right on the parade route.

4) Care Forgot Brewing 1728 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130- The newest brewery in New Orleans is nestled right next to Avenue Pub on the parade route. These guys are brewing up great local beer. Go support them when you're in town.

5) Breaux Mart 3233 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115- This small locally owned grocery store also located on Magazine St has a nice diverse selection of craft and imports. They do a fantastic job supporting the local craft beer scene.

7) Cooter Browns 509 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118- A legend in New Orleans. Nice beer selection on tap and huge bottle selection. I would highly recommend the cheese fries, Radiator's Special and the NOLA Philly.

8) The Bulldog 3236 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115- Large selection of beers on tap and decent bottle selection. Nice outdoor patio which can be irrelevant in cold weather. Check out the outside fountain made from taps handles.

9) Le Bon Temps Roule 4801 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115- This place is a great neighborhood dive bar. A must check out for sure. The Soul Rebels used to have a Thursday night residency. I think they still might. Get over there.

10) Midway Pizza 4725 Freret St, New Orleans, LA 70115- I really dig this place. They have a great beer selection and I really enjoy the pizza here. It's not quite deep dish but similar and good.

11) Ms. Maes- 4336 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115 - One of the best dive bars in the city and at the corner of Magazine and Napoleon it sits on the parade route for one of the biggest parades Bacchus. Perfect mix of craft beer, domestic and liquor. Bring cash.

12) Courtyard Brewing 1160 Camp St, New Orleans, LA 70130 - Courtyard is a brewery meets divebar with incredible beers brewed onsite. I've never had a bad beer here. From localbeer classics like Dark Milds to hoppier options like Say Something IPA. OR you could go big and get a Wheatwine. Grab a burger from Burger Nerds while you are there too!

13) Ecology Brewing 1401 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70113- Ecology is brewing up classic styles such as Belgian Tripels, Scotch Ales and Czech Style Pilsners but they have a wide range of styles available. Grab a 4 pack of that Radio Lager when headed to the parade route.

14) Urban South Brewing 1645 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70130- Quite possible one of the largest craft beer producers in the state, Urban South is a brewery that has a beer style for everyone and every occassion. From light beers with Paradise Park, hoppy offerings like Grapefruit Holy Roller, and even the cali sober THC beverage Driftee.

15) Elios Wine Warehouse- 6205 S Miro St, New Orleans, LA 70125- Awlays a favorite place of mine to buy beer. Been buying here since my college days at Tulane. Amazing selection of craft and domestic beers.

MID-CITY

If you're in Midcity it's most likely because a local dragged you to see Endymion. If you find yourself out there here is where you go!

2) The Bulldog Midcity 5135 Canal Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70124- See The Bulldog Uptown. The difference is there is a lot more space at this location.

3) Skeeta Hawk Brewing- 455 N Dorgenois St, New Orleans, LA 70119 - A more recent addition to the New Orleans craft beer scene, Skeeta Hawk opened in 2022. Located on the Greenway, they are a veteran run brewery that is making delicious beers!

4) Bayou Beer Garden 326 N Norman C Francis Parkway, New Orleans, LA 70119- Located in a unassuming double this bar looks like your neighbor is just throwing a party. Great beer selection with nice food options. The Disco Fries were always a favorite and appear to be still on the menu!

5) Finn McCool's 3701 Banks St, New Orleans, LA 70119 - This Mid City favorite is a must visit when in town. One of the best Irish pubs we have in town. Make sure you get the Scotch Egg.

Appreciate y'all reading. Yes, I understand there are a lot of places I didn't list, especially breweries. I didn't leave any off because I don't like them I just didn't want to list ALL the breweries. If you are looking for a list of all the breweries in New Orleans look in the tabs at the top of my page! Cheer!