Left Hand Brewing is adding the 18th state in the Union as its 36th state of distribution.
Beer hit Louisiana shelves this week from Left Hand with kick-off events at various southern Louisiana bars and stores, including a collaboration beer with New Orleans’ NOLA Brewing.
Left Hand officials said that it has signed a distribution deal with Crescent Crown Distributing, which sends beer to most of the state, but it does not have distribution to the northwest part of Louisiana. “[For the] future who knows … if we find the right distributor partner and if there is demand from the market,” it could expand into that area as well, Left Hand Media and Communications Manager Emily Armstrong told The Brewer Magazine in an email.
The expansion will be an extension of Left Hand’s Southeast presence, which includes Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Left Hand, now in its 22nd year of production, made more than 82,000 barrels in 2015 with plans to expand to more for 2016.
Partnering with NOLA, Left Hand used its former 20-barrel brewing system which was purchased by NOLA in 2008 to create a collaboration to celebrate the expansion into the territory with “Hey! Collab Coffee Saison,” using Hey! Café coffee of New Orleans.
“We have always followed NOLA’s success and have been fans,” Armstrong said. “So there is a natural tie in. We always enjoy meeting local breweries and appreciating their beer but our relationship with NOLA is a bit more than that.”
Hey! Collab Coffee Saison will be available on draft only. Two batches were made for the event and Armstrong said although there are no plans to make it again, “we could do it again, who knows.”
Crescent Crown has distributed Left Hand’s beer in Arizona for the past 10 years said Chris Bourg, the Executive Vice President and GM of Crescent Crown, Louisiana.
“We are humbled to be chosen as their distributor partner throughout our Southern Louisiana territory,” he said in a statement from the brewery. “In addition, we are honored to represent such industry pioneers and brewers of award winning beers.”
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