NOLA Brewing enters Florida with Brown Distributing

New Orleans craft brewery, NOLA Brewing Co., has signed a distribution agreement with Brown Distributing for the vast majority of Florida.

In 2008, Kirk Coco and Peter Caddoo (former Brewmaster at Dixie Brewing Co.) began their initial dream of bringing production and manufacturing back to New Orleans, founding NOLA Brewing Company. Since Dixie’s departure from the city in 2005, NOLA Brewing is the only operating production brewery in the city of New Orleans and Orleans Parish. Since their opening, NOLA has made a name for itself brewing in the heart of Louisiana and will be offering a full line-up to the Sunshine State. They will initially launch with Rebirth Pale Ale, Hopitoulas IPA, MECHA Imperial IPA and Irish Channel Stout. 7th Street Wheat is slated to roll into Florida by Summer 2015.

NOLA’s beers have been available in the Panhandle for over three years and they have received an enormous push from fans to offer their beers throughout the rest of the state. CEO Kirk Coco for NOLA explains “Florida is becoming a very craft centric state with great local breweries like Cigar City, 7venth Sun, Funky Buddha, Pensacola Bay and many other up and coming breweries. We wanted to have our beers in the mix, and get the great opportunity to participate in the craft beer community as well as have a great excuse to go to Florida more often!”

To help maintain a consistent supply of beer in the pipeline, NOLA is just completing a production expansion that will help to support their new markets. “We are more focused on maintaining our quality and developing a solid, slow growth plan while keeping our beers unpasteurized, to deliver the freshest and most aromatic beers to our consumers.”

When searching for a new distributor in Florida, NOLA explored different options and landed with Brown Distributing for handful of reasons. Kirk explains, “We were fortunate enough to meet with all of the distributors, but when it came down to making the decision, we felt the folks at Brown Distributing just understood our brand, our growth plans and were the most capable team to support our beers.”

Brown Distributing Company, headquartered out of West Palm Beach Florida, will be representing NOLA’s beers outside of the Panhandle, throughout Florida (from Tallahassee to Key West).

“We are really excited to bring a piece of New Orleans down to Florida. We always look to partner with world class breweries and we are confident that with NOLA’s unique line-up of beers and amazing reputation in the Southeast that they will fit beautifully into our family.” said Ian Salzberg, senior marketing manager at Brown Distributing.

NOLA Brewing will be available and hitting the shelves and taps around Florida by November 2014.