The Brewers Association, a beer industry non-profit, has ranked Louisiana 48th out of the 50 states for breweries per capita in a recent report.  This is not for lack of love for beer, but because Louisiana’s regulatory and tax environment for breweries is unfavorable. We’ve set the wrong incentives, that is all, and it is easy enough to fix.

Andrew Godley of Parish Brewing has threatened to move his Broussard operation out-of-state because of Louisiana’s sometimes unfavorable conditions.

Kirk Coco of NOLA Brewing has even said that state regulations could shut down the industry.

With large companies like Abita Brewing accounting for hundreds of millions of dollars each year and the impending revival of Dixie Brewing in New Orleans, there is no doubt that an overhaul of the existing legislation is called for.

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We should be setting financial and regulatory incentives that not only protect the public, of course, but they should never prevent business from flourishing or being founded to begin with. Like many other areas of regulations, the unforeseen consequences are playing a large role here.