The Must-Drink-At Breweries in New Orleans
New Orleans is known for many things: Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras, world-renowned cocktails, Creole cuisine, and the French Quarter. Looking for great beer usually isn’t at the top of the to-do list when people visit New Orleans, however, the beer scene is growing quickly and there are many breweries that are worth a visit.
At one point in the late 18- and early 1900s New Orleans was actually the brewing capital of the south with over 30 breweries in the city. While the passing of time wasn’t kind to these early brewers since all ended up closing at some point, there has been a resurgence in recent years, especially since Hurricane Katrina hit the area.
Below are our favorite New Orleans breweries, organized by district. Many of these breweries are within walking distance from our vacation rental homes in that area, making it an even easier choice to grab a beer or two while in town.
Breweries in the Lower Garden District
Urban South Brewery
1645 Tchoupitoulas Street | urbansouthbrewery.com
Whether you’ve tried Urban South beer before or not, their New Orleans taproom is well worth a visit. The decidedly family-friendly location is full of brightly colored picnic tables, arcade games, and corn hole pitches. They also have juice boxes for the kids! Although the on-site menu is quite small, it’s hard to argue with a smash burger or beer cheese.
Urban South offers a brewery tour hourly every Saturday and this is one of the most interesting ways to experience a local brewery. Getting up close with a brew system and learning about the company firsthand while sipping on a cold pint is a great way to spend an afternoon.
Wetlands Sake
634 Orange St STE B | wetlandssake.com
A departure from the traditional picture of a brewery, Wetlands Sake does deserve a place on our list of breweries to visit in New Orleans. Not technically a beer, sake is also alcohol brewed with 4 ingredients so we think it qualifies! And since Louisiana is the country’s third largest rice producer, it makes sense to harness its ability to create a tasty and satisfying adult beverage.
Established in 2021, Wetlands Sake is very new to the brewing game but this doesn’t hold them back at all. They have quickly grown to be a local favorite in the heart of New Orleans. They donate a portion of their profits to aid in the conservation of America’s wetlands and hope to turn sake into a more mainstream part of our lives. With 8 rotating taps, visitors are encouraged to try out a flight so they can get a well-rounded tasting experience. They also share their outdoor space with the restaurant next door so guests are able to enjoy food with their sake.
Breweries in Marigny
Brieux Carre
2115 Decatur Street | brieuxcarre.com
With a goal of being as weird and interesting as the city they live in, the creators of Brieux Carre Brewing have been turning out unique beers since 2017. The small taproom just off of Frenchmen Street has both indoor and outdoor space and allows you to bring your own food in with you. The taproom introduces new beer flavors weekly, though there are always a few more traditional styles on tap for less adventurous palates.
Breweries in Bywater
Parleaux Beer Lab
634 Lesseps Street | parleauxbeerlab.com
This microbrewery just a short walk from the French Quarter has created its own little oasis in the middle of New Orleans. Their aim is to always push the limits of experimentation, hence the Beer Lab title. They pride themselves on not having a flagship beer and are always eager to try out new styles and recipes. With 12 taps exclusively serving Parleaux beers, you can make yourself comfortable inside or head outside to their spacious garden patio that’s full of swings, board games, and hanging lights. The brews on tap are constantly rotating and offer visitors a unique experience in craft beer innovation.
There is no on-site kitchen but Parleaux Beer Lab does host food popups frequently on the weekend and offers a small selection of salty snacks daily, as well as freshly baked pretzels on Fridays and Saturdays. They do welcome you to bring in your own food, so check out some of the local eateries like Pizza Delicious, Rosalita’s Tacos, or The Joint BBQ for a great beer pairing!
Breweries in Mid City
Second Line Brewing
433 N Bernadotte Street | secondlinebrewing.com
Second Line Brewing is a minority, women, and veteran-owned brewery that is dedicated to celebrating the people and traditions that make New Orleans as special as it is. They strive to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion in the craft beer community. Both family and pet-friendly, Second Line features a large outdoor beer garden with garage doors that open into an indoor tasting space.
With no kitchen on-site Second Line Brewing hosts a regular rotation of local food trucks to feed their visitors, as well as a schedule full of live music events, bingo games, and movie nights. They do welcome outside food into their space but recommend supporting the on-site offerings when available.
Zony Mash Beer Project
3940 Thalia St. | zonymashbeer.com
Located in the historic Gem Theatre, Zony Mash Beer Project was named as an homage to a popular New Orleans funk band called The Meters, whose album of rare b-sides inspired it. Head brewer Mitch Grittman is an award-winning home-brewer and prides himself on the wide variety of interesting ingredients that he incorporates into his brews. Whether it’s coffee from local roasters, juices like carrot and boysenberry, or ingredients like baked pastries, marshmallows, and coconut flakes, the beers produced by Zony Mash are worth a try. And their can art will have you buying some just based on looks!
With 21 taps and a new selection of craft hard seltzers, even the shyest beer drinker is sure to find something tasty. There is no kitchen available on site but the events calendar at Zony is packed with musicians, bands, and food pop-ups nearly every day of the week.
Breweries in Uptown New Orleans
Oak St Brewery
8201 Oak St | oakstbrewery.com
This family-owned and operated brewery got its start thanks to a 25-year passion for home brewing that led to the opening of a taproom and production facility in the summer of 2020. Quite new to the brewery scene, Oak St Brewery has been working hard to create its mark. The taproom is both kid and dog friendly and offers a significant variety of bubbly beverages. Not only do they have 10 beers and 2 hard seltzers on tap, but Oak St also makes their own root beer and Italian sodas! There is fun for the whole family at Oak St Brewery.
They do invite you to bring your own food when you visit, however they also host a variety of food popups and collabs throughout each week featuring foods like pizza, tacos, dim sum, and lobster rolls. And if you’re looking for fun, the event calendar is packed with activities like rock band/guitar hero competitions, a dart league, and dungeons and dragons game nights.
Port Orleans Brewing Co.
4124 Tchoupitoulas Street | portorleansbrewingco.com
Located just down the street from the Port of New Orleans and a short walk from the Garden District, Port Orleans Brewing is dedicated to serving locals a well-crafted beer. While you may be one of the only tourists in the building, don’t let this stop you. The staff and locals at Port Orleans are always welcoming and eager to share their favorite spots with you.
The beer selection at Port Orleans is quite varied, allowing most visitors to find a beer that they love. With a tap list that regularly includes multiple lagers, sours, IPAs, and a good balance of seltzers, dark beers, and blondes, there is no shortage of selection.
The on-site kitchen Avotaco has a fantastic selection of tacos, guacamole, quesadillas, and burgers which is an excellent pairing for the beer brewed at Port Orleans. You can even pair your beer flight with a guacamole flight!
Breweries in the French Quarter
Crescent City Brewhouse
527 Decatur Street | crescentcitybrewhouse.com
Opened in 1991 as the city’s first brewpub, Crescent City Brewhouse is the only one located in the French Quarter which makes it a very popular destination for tourists. German brewmaster Wolfram Koehler uses traditional Bavarian principles to create small batches of award-winning beer in-house for visitors to sample in a flight or a pint.
The full-service restaurant on-site and live jazz each night makes Crescent City Brewhouse the perfect place to have dinner during your visit to the city.
Breweries in New Orleans East
Faubourg Brewing Co
3501 Jourdan Rd | faubourgbrewery.com
Formerly Dixie Brewing, Faubourg (FO-burg) Brewing has been operating in New Orleans since 1907, except for a brief period following Hurricane Katrina when they moved out of state to recover. They are the oldest operating brewery in New Orleans, so definitely deserve a visit.
With the massive front lawn serving as the patio and a large indoor tasting room & merch store, the newly built production facility is a must-see in New Orleans. Their on-site kitchen is operated by Fete au Fete restaurant Thursday through Sunday and serves up some truly scrumptious Cajun-inspired pub eats.
If you have time, the brewery tours are a great way to spend an hour learning about the company’s history, exploring their beer museum, and checking out the 100-barrel production area.
Breweries in the Irish Channel
NOLA Brewing Company
3001 Tchoupitoulas Street | nolabrewing.com
Founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, NOLA Brewing is the perfect marriage of well-brewed craft beer and delicious New York-style pizza. The team at NOLA realized very quickly that their brewing processes could be used to produce the perfect water for pizza dough. Thus, NOLA Pizza was formed! Their 48-hour fermentation process turns out some of the best pizza in town, and the locals know it. When visiting NOLA Brewing on a Friday or Saturday be sure to take a free brewery tour as well.
Short for New Orleans Lager and Ale, NOLA Brewing has cultivated quite a reputation since its opening in 2008. Their brand is built on the idea of serving and engaging with their community, which they do through hosting events like yoga nights, trash clean-up days, playground building events, charitable donations, and collab brews. They also only sell beer in cans, since New Orleans doesn’t have any kind of glass recycling program.
Brewery Hopping in New Orleans
Whether you opt to visit just a couple of New Orleans breweries or want to spend an afternoon brewery hopping, most are close enough that you can move between them fairly easily. Walking from one craft brewery to the next and sharing a beer flight at each is a great way to experience a new city from a local’s point of view!
Featured Image Credit: urbansouth_nola via Instagram
