The trail has seven breweries so far, all accessible from Interstates 10 and 12: Abita Brewing Company, Bayou Teche Brewing, Chafunkta Brewing Company, Covington Brewhouse, NOLA Brewing Company, Parish Brewing Company and Tin Roof Brewing Company.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Hoist a mug in celebration of Louisiana's brews.
That's the latest tourist attraction that Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne is celebrating, introducing the Louisiana Craft Brewery Trail to tout locally-made beers.
The trail has seven breweries so far, all accessible from Interstates 10 and 12: Abita Brewing Company, Bayou Teche Brewing, Chafunkta Brewing Company, Covington Brewhouse, NOLA Brewing Company, Parish Brewing Company and Tin Roof Brewing Company.
Dardenne, who oversees the state's tourism department, introduced the craft beer trail at an event Monday that included representatives from the seven breweries and samples of their Louisiana-made beers.
"This is proving to be a growth industry throughout the country, growing 15 percent in volume and 17 percent in sales over the course of the last year, and it's certainly catching on here in Louisiana," Dardenne said. "We're very proud of these local industries."
Brewery leaders say the trail will give them increased attention - and hopefully, sales.
"We don't have some huge budget, and we don't advertise," said William McGehee, a founder of Tin Roof Brewing, whose small brewery was the site of the trail kick-off. "For all of us little guys, the local guys, it really means a lot. Any bit of publicity helps us."
Tin Roof, located near downtown Baton Rouge, rolled out its first beers in 2010. The brewery has grown to have three flagship beers year-round and three seasonals, producing 3,500 barrels last year and expected to reach 5,000 barrels this year, McGehee said.
"We're making as much as we can," he said.
Information about Tin Roof and the other craft breweries around south Louisiana is available at: www.LouisianaBrewTrail.com . The site gives visitors details about each brewery and about things to do nearby, places to stay and dining options in the area.
"There are a lot of craft beer drinkers around the country and the world, and they look for places to go to visit to see and taste craft beers and visit the breweries where they're made," said Kirk Coco, president and CEO of NOLA Brewing Company, based in New Orleans.
Best-known outside of Louisiana is Abita Brewery, which ranked 14th among craft breweries in the U.S. by volume last year, according to Dardenne's office. But the number of new, locally-made beers has grown in recent years.
"Five years ago there were two (breweries), and now there are seven and I think another five or six opening in the next year. So we're growing very quickly," Coco said.
NOLA Brewing has 10 different types of beer on the market and others available in its local tap room. The company sells across much of the Gulf Coast, producing about 6,000 barrels last year, Coco said.
Dardenne said locally-brewed beer has been a part of Louisiana's history, dating back to the 1800s in New Orleans, and he said the brewery trail was another way to promote Louisiana, dovetailing with the state's culinary trails.
"What greater food to be paired with a beer than seafood, and what greater beer to be paired with seafood than a Louisiana-crafted beer?" he said.