Farewell to Meat - NOLA Brewing Co.

Welcome to Part II of our series on saying "sayonara" to meat. In this week's entry, we take a trip inside our local microbrewery with the easiest name to remember. And yes, meat will be involved.


The coolest job you've ever had has nothing on working at NOLA Brewing Co. The vibe inside the warehouse-turned-brewery is relaxed and humorous, and more often than not employees find themselves sitting around a large wooden table and telling stories after working long hours brewing some damn fine beers. But the best part of working at NOLA? All, the free samples you can drink, otherwise known as "taste testing."

And if that is not enough, you can bring your dog to work.

There are actually two canines that regularly roam the NOLA warehouse on Tchoupitoulas, but one is much more photogenic than the other. Say hello to Hops, a three-legged bulldog... whose owner is a brewer. Are you thinking what we are? Double entendre!

While our musings may create the impression that NOLA is all fun and games, the Blonde or Brown in your glass doesn't just magically appear. The brewing and fermentation process behind the NOLA beers is a complicated formula of time, temperature, water, hops, and malts. And cleaning... lots and lots of cleaning. Thankfully for you and me, the team behind NOLA is comprised of passionate beer makers with wide ranging levels of experience, each contributing in his or her own way to the end product we all enjoy.

As a token of our gratitude (and as an excuse to tour the brewery), your faithful bloggers offered to throw the NOLA team an afternoon cookout this past Sunday. Upon advice of owner Kirk Coco, we brought along a standard Weber kettle grill, only to be trumped by this custom built keg grill owned by brewmaster Peter Caddoo. We're pretty sure that Kirk intentionally set us up for embarrassment, but we're OK with it.

The grill was fashioned from a keg of Dixie and proudly bears its hometown origin.

On the menu were both skirt and hanger steaks, courtesy of Cochon Butcher. All these cuts needed were an aggressive seasoning of kosher salt, but Rene whipped up a parsley chimichurri for an added touch of flavor. Skirt steak, one of the most overlooked cuts of beef, benefits from a quick walk across super hot coals, creating a nice crust while the inside stays moist and juicy. Hanger steaks are difficult to find outside restaurant menus but taste almost as good coming off your backyard grill as they do at La Boca.

While waiting for the coals to catch fire, an intrepid Bostonian transplant jogged by. Curiosity caught the best of her, and she wandered inside the gate for a closer look. After she informed the NOLA Brew crew that she was training for this thing called a marathon, they cajoled her into having a few beers as part of her rehydration regimen. Chalk up one more loyal customer.

(Pictured from left to right: Beer Wench, Mike "Indy " Grap, Brewmaster Peter Caddo, Vice President Dylan Lintern, Brewer Melanie Knepp, and President Kirk Coco)

Pay no attention to the man with the large chef's knife, but he thinks you should drink his NOLA Brown with your next steak. The Hopitoulas IPA ain't a bad choice either. While NOLA's beers are usually enjoyed straight from the tap at your favorite restaurant, you can now pick up NOLA draft packs at your local grocer. These cardboard boxes hold a case of beer and will stay fresh long after you pour your first pint.

People sometimes say that the best tasting steaks are the ones they cook at home. I have never really subscribed to that theory. But I will say that a steak cooked on a keg grill in a brewery on a Sunday afternoon after a Saints playoff win is a damn good steak. Especially when you have all the beer in the world to wash it down with.