NEW ORLEANS — Faubourg Brewing will be scaling back operations at its Jourdan Road facility in New Orleans East.
Brewing and packaging operations are set to cease because the brewery was unable to meet the company's current production demands, majority owner and operator Made By The Water, LLC., said on Tuesday.
The Alabama-based MBTW issued the following statement to WWL Louisiana's Paul Murphy explaining the decision to stop manufacturing – at least temporarily.
"On June 14, 2022, our company, Made By The Water, took over majority control of Faubourg. Relative to recent media inquiries, the Faubourg facility at Jourdan Road is not closing at this time," stated MBTW CEO Alexi Sekmakas.
"Made By The Water has reached a point where the brewing facility in New Orleans East cannot meet the current demands of our family of breweries. While our first preference was to expand the brewery operations at our current facility, unfortunately, despite our best efforts and those of local stakeholders, that is not feasible. As a result, we are shifting most of our brewing operations to other MBTW facilities and contract brewing partners while we explore options for a new manufacturing home in the area. We intend to have MBTW corporate headquarters remain in New Orleans at the Jourdan Road facility where our administrative, sales, marketing and finance teams are located. We also intend to have the taproom and event spaces remain open."
Faubourg later released a statement to WWL Louisiana:
“While operational control of the brewery rests with MBTW, it remains a major priority of Mrs. Benson to continue to build on economic development especially in New Orleans East while trying to build a manufacturing facility from the ground up - we have encountered issues like any business and each step of the way we were met with the full support of Mayor [LaToya] Cantrell and her office as well as our councilman Oliver Thomas," a spokesperson for Faubourg said. "They have listened to our concerns and helped us and personally met with us to determine solutions.“
A merger between Faubourg Brewery and MBTW was announced last year. The family-owned craft beer company owns and operates breweries that include Oyster City in Apalachicola, Florida, Catawba in Asheville, North Carolina, and Palmetto in Charleston, South Carolina.
In a statement released last September announcing the merger with MBTW, Gayle Benson, owner of Faubourg Brewing Company said, “Our partnership with Made By The Water allows us to grow the Faubourg brand, and bring in a partner that is a leader in building craft beer brands. I pride myself on making New Orleans first, and I think we can bring all of the best in craft beer from these historically strong craft beer areas in the Southeast and make New Orleans the primary focus of the industry. Our goal is to help New Orleans become as well known for its beer as it is for its cuisine and to see the local craft beer industry continue to grow and create quality jobs.”
Soon after the merger MBTW began closing breweries it owns and moved beer production of those brands to the Faubourg facility.
According to an October news report from The Times-Picayune, Made By The Water permanently closed its Catawba brewery and in September brought its beer production to the Faubourg facility.
The $30 million Faubourg Brewery was anticipated to be a job creator for New Orleans East as well as beer production according to the brewery's announcement on the merger.
The merger was also expected to make Faubourg one of the largest craft beer producers in the United States, and the largest in the Southeast according to the brewery.
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