NOLA

NOLA Brewing is here today because our founder, Kirk Coco, read something on a beer bottle that pissed him off. It was in the days after Hurricane Katrina, a time when people were feeling fiercely loyal to the battered city of New Orleans. Kirk was drinking a lot of Dixie beer in those days. It was the only beer brewed in New Orleans. Or so he thought.

There was a time when New Orleans was the brewing capitol of the south, when dozens of breweries operated in the city, among them nationally known brands like Dixie, Falstaff, Regal and Jax. Dixie was the last one standing, until Hurricane Katrina shut down its Mid-City brewery, prompting its owners to license production to an out-of-state brewery. Beer was no longer being brewed in New Orleans.

It was that realization, sparked by the words “Brewed in Wisconsin” on the side of his Dixie bottle, which pushed Coco to open NOLA Brewing. He brought in longtime Dixie brewer Peter Caddoo, and two years later they were selling NOLA Blonde and NOLA Brown to a populace thirsty for a local product.