New Breweries Report

Good to see some entrepreneurism – and beer-related, at that – in this "economic climate" we keep hearing so much about. New Orleans' NOLA Brewing Co. is up and running on Tchoupitoulas St. in the Big Easy and plans are afoot for a new outfit called Three Rivers Brewing Co. here in Columbia, S.C.

NOLA earns the distinction of being the only packaging microbrewery operating within the city of New Orleans. (Abita and Heiner Brau are north of Lake Ponchartrain, out of town, and Big Easy, which was originally brewed in Marrero anyway, is brewed under contract by Heiner Brau.) It was founded by Kirk Coco and right now features two products: a Blonde Ale and a Brown Ale, brewed by the inimitable Peter Cadoo, longtime member of the Crescent City Homebrewers and former brewer at the venerable Dixie, still shuttered since Katrina and currently being brewed by the Minhas Craft Brewery in Wisconsin.

Here's a fine read on NOLA Brewing Co., its clever twist on the familiar "Nola" name, and the greater Crescent City brewing scene in general, courtesy of The New York Times.

Meanwhile, some 675 miles to the northeast, entrepreneur Doug Aylard hopes to open Columbia's only microbrewery in August, in a mixed-use zone off North Main St. Planned brews include Turkey Hunter Ale, Half-Wit Hefe Weisse, Spiderbite, Broken Down and something about a "lizard man" (I'm not making this stuff up), according to this report from The State. Here's more from the Free Times.