Shreveport is a step closer to having its first of two planned craft breweries.  

Partners Robert McGuire and Jared Beville have taken delivery of their 5-barrel brew house and brite tank from Glacier Tanks in Portland, Oregon.  The stainless steel equipment, once installed, will form the backbone of Red River Brewing Company along with two 10-barrel fermenters and space to add more at 1010 Marshall - across the street from the Central Station.

The partners plan to start offering their hand-crafted beer to local establishments by the end of July or early August.  It will be called Louisiana Hay Ryed -- named for the legendary Louisiana Hay Ride country music show.  It's an American wheat beer with a subtle rye spiciness.  They also plan to offer tours of the local brew house once it's up and running.

A second craft brewery is also taking shape in the 1200 block of Dalzell.  The husband and wife team of Andrew and Lindsay Nations have ordered their brew house from another manufacturer in Oregon and are now overseeing its construction.  As Andrew said on their website blog:  "Our system is a 3-vessel brewhouse, consisting of two 40-barrel fermenters and two 60-barrel fermenters. This will allow us to brew up to 80 barrels of beer in a twenty-four period and an annual capacity of roughly 3,500 barrels out of the box. That’s roughly 160 kegs worth of beer in a single day."

The Nations hope to have their Great Raft Brewing Company up and running this fall.  We'll let you know when their brew house is delivered.

Step aside Abita, NOLA, Tin Roof, LA 31, and the others.  Shreveport is about to enter the craft brewery market in a big way.

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