The Dixie Brewing Company is a regional brewery founded in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1907. Its beer, currently contract-brewed, was brewed at what had been the only remaining large volume brewery within the city of New Orleans, prior to the city's 2005 levee failures.
Video Dixie Brewing Company
History
Dixie Brewing was founded by Valentine Merz, and began production in 1907. During Prohibition, they became the "Dixie Beverage Company."
In 1989, its owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, emerging reorganized in 1992 with a new line of speciality beers, including: Jazz Amber Light (introduced in 1993), Blackened Voodoo (a dark lager), and Crimson Voodoo (a red ale).
In 2005, the Dixie Brewery was severely damaged when Mid-City New Orleans flooded from the levee failure disaster during Hurricane Katrina. After the area was drained the brewery complex was looted with much of the equipment stolen. Despite early claims that the brewery would be restored, it remains off line as of December 2010 and the future of the facilities is uncertain. The brand remains in business, brewed under contract by breweries elsewhere.
The building sits in the footprint of the new Department of Veterans Affairs hospital under construction in New Orleans' Mid-City neighborhood. "Right now, what we're doing is stabilizing the structure that we're going to maintain, which is that iconic tower with the Dixie Brewery on there," said Liz Failla, project coordinator for the VA. The design preserves and repairs the six- and four-story sections of the old brewery. Failla said a modern brick and glass structure will rise from behind the historic facade.
Dixie is currently contract-brewed, though there were efforts to encourage local government support for the return of the Dixie Brewery.
Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans, bought a majority stake in the Dixie brand in 2017 from Joe and Kendra Bruno, with plans of returning the brewing operation to New Orleans within two years.
Maps Dixie Brewing Company
Popular culture
The brewery and/or its beer have been featured notably in films including RED, Southern Comfort, Tigerland, Steel Magnolias, Stone Cold and Tightrope. It is briefly mentioned in novels such American Psycho and A Confederacy of Dunces.
See also
- Abita Brewing Company
- Nick's Original Big Train Bar
References
External links
- Dixie Brewing Company website
- Times Picayune report, March 2013
- Brewery Age containing article about Dixie's post-Katrina status from Oct. 2005
- Article about status and contract brewing from Feb. 2007
- Photos of the abandoned brewery in 2010 (Abandoned USA)
Source of article : Wikipedia
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