Founded on a simple dream – craft beer to complement Cajun and Creole food and life. This dream was six years in the making and began when the brew master was stationed in Germany. Each area of Europe has its own beer and cuisine which makes traveling through Europe a culinary delight. Bayou Teche Brewing has brought that delight to Acadiana, pairing the unique foods and lifestyle of south Louisiana with its unique biere.
LA 31 is a meandering rural highway bordering Bayou Teche in south Louisiana. The Teche begins at Port Barre, LA and lazily flows south to the Atchafalaya River at Berwick, LA. Along the route there are homes, camps, plantations and fields which make for a leisurely drive through the country of south Louisiana. Heading south from Arnaudville, on the east side of Bayou Teche is LA 347. This side of the Teche also meanders but the road does not border the bayou as close as LA 31. What LA 347 does offer is the home of Bayou Teche Brewing and their LA 31 Biere (beer). This is American Craft Beer week and a tour of Bayou Teche Brewing was a great way to honor craft beer.
LA 31 Biere
The Knott’s brothers own the Brewery and along with their families run the day to day operations. The day of our tour we were lucky to have a private tour of the facility given by Laurin, wife of one of the brothers. The brewery began on St. Patrick’s Day 2009 in a discarded railroad car. The new brewery is nothing different from other microbreweries we have visited except that the Knott’s added personal touches. Each vat had a name not just a number and the name was a nearby town: Cecilia, Port Barre, Leonville, Breaux Bridge to name a few. Some of the brews are aged in Jack Daniel barrels and others in wine barrels from France. All of this gives their biere a uniqueness not to be found elsewhere.
Beginnings
The tasting room offers a tasting of eight bieres for $5.00 and of course we had to indulge. Wisely we decided to share a flight. The uniqueness of the biere was revealed in each taste. One of Laurie’s favorites was LA 31 Biere Noire, a dark ale, which pays homage to the strong black coffee of the Cajuns, Café Noir. “Café noir was more than a cup of coffee – its presence conveyed love and appreciation, and expressed a cheerful welcome.” John’s favorite was Acadie, a pilsner, in the Biere de Garde style – beer for keeping. This brew honors the descendants of survivors of Le Grand Derangement – the expulsion of the French from Acadie. We were lucky enough to taste one of their experimental bieres – a cherry flavored brew that Laurie could have sipped for the rest of the day.
Tasting Room
Being of Cajun descent, many of the biere names brought back memories of our grandparents and the times spent among them.
Tasting Flight
C’est Bon!
Breaux Bridge and Cecilia Vats
Leonville and Port Barre Vats
Labeling Machine
The sign says it all
Beware of alligators
Biere and Music
Aging Barrels
Enlarged Brewing Facility
I do not get this beer in the Dallas area, so looks like a road trip to get some and bring back to my tasting group. Since we are at 9486 different beers tasted; this group will help us hit the 10,000 mark.
That is a lot of beer tasting. LA31 is worth a road trip. Enjoy!