Abita Brewing Co. Review

The facility is amazing! Their tours are fun and very interesting. The staff is very friendly and all of their brews are very good. You're allowed to sample 4 types of their crafts after the tour which is the same as a flight. Be sure to try Purple Haze and the Bayou Bootlegger! Some of their sodas are also good but have a tendency to be a little too sweet.

Great tour- although we took a few pictures and got locked out of the brew room at the end of the tour! Had to bang on the door for a few minutes until someone opened it. The beer selection is pretty awesome. Must try AndyGator! Bought a growler full of it while we were there.

Ooo !!
That smell !!!

Great venue and view. They have brewery only trial beers and single keg one offs.

My cousin took me here while our wives were shopping antiques - what a fantastic afternoon! The tour guide was knowledgable and funny. The beer tasting was the best beer experience I've ever had in the US - no one else even comes close. Had plenty of beer after the tour, and loved the Andygator (a doppel bock helles) so much that it's now my go to beer in my home (and I live in central VA, home to plenty of really good craft brewers).
I lived in north central Bavaria for over 20 years, and have had the pleasure of drinking some of the best beers in the world. The Andygator is as close to my Bavarian favorites (all small breweries, can't find them in the USA) as I'll find in this country!

Beer from the tap. Need I say more.
Also they had some new beers that are out yet for you to try.

Did the tour Saturday. Fun place, super friendly and great munchies.

I've had two experiences here... the first was an organized group tour that was quite interesting. We got a free beer and fantastic tour, but other than the tour guide... not much on customer service. Cut us off 20 minutes after the tour at the request of the tour operators. LOL
This year we came for a promotion they were having... and another free first beer deal. We were all in the newly remodeled pub area and getting our beer in glasses. Then they switched to plastic. 16 oz pints to 12 oz plastic... same price. I realize that as a brewery, you might not have your front house polished; but you should. The male bartender refused to let me keep the glass and the kicked us out at 8pm.
The irony is that as a craft beer lover, my friends ridicule me for hanging on to Abita... I like some of the IPAs. As one of the largest independent breweries, you would think brand protection would be on their minds... guess not. I'm done with them.

A long time fan of Abita Beer, was happy to visit the Abita Brewing Company for the first time.

The tour didn t disappoint. A simple and straightforward history, along with some well placed jokes / puns made it enjoyable. No need to delve too deeply into the science behind the beer - just enough details to get you though.

The tour includes 4 tokens, redeemable for a wonderful taproom. All four, The Bayou Bootlegger, Turbo dog, Purple Haven & The Boot we re all enjoyed.

funniest brew house tour I ever did. If you like beer, then you have to attend the brew house tour. you can taste all styles of beer they are brewing.

I haven t taken the tour for over a year and I hear it s made some changes. My experience before the changes were great. Good time, great beer sampling and lots of fun.

Awesome variety of beers, and not all IPA's either! Friendly staff and cool digs. Worth the drive!

Kristen was amazeballs on our tour. Place totally smells and tastes like beer.

Great beer, more selection available than anywhere else. Try the experimental brews. Friendly staff. Big brewery, good tour that you get tokens for samples afterwards. No food though.

One of my favorite beers, so visiting the brewery was special. They have some great beers that are only sold on the premises. If you are a fan of stouts, the Imperial Stout is a must have. We got there late so didn't have enough time to sample more, but will definitely return next time for a longer visit.

The staff was very friendly attentive and helpful. The tour guide did a very nice job of walking us through the plant and explaining the brewing process. You get four coins when purchase the your that you can cash in for beer samples. There is a very wide variety of beers to sample and one of the bartenders even mixed a custom drink for my date consisting of the strawberry beer and thier cream soda

If you tour lots of craft breweries like I do, don't expect to be wowed by the tour here. It's very showy and feels more like a tourist attraction than anything. However, it did come with some nice elements that make it worth checking out. If anything, though, go here for their special brews. They have a large selection of one-offs and test brews in the taproom that you won't find anywhere else. If I lived close, I would frequent this place just for these. They also have a wide selection of Abita/Louisiana-themed merchandise for sale. Definitely worth the trip!

Friendly and prompt service but you are a new trucker, please ask for guidance while manouvering on the property. It's very small

The free self guided tour is worth the effort. The people working here are extremely welcoming and warm. If the selection of quality beer wasn't good enough, the merchandise can be very affordable. Frosted glasses and bottle openers can be anywhere from two to four dollars. Definitely stop by if you have the chance.

Did the self guided tour...their bar was amazing...the Andygator was great, but later this November they are releasing a Cousin Eddie's Egg Nog beer...

Overall, Abita offers a great brewery tour, but could use some reorganizing in terms of the tasting room experience. The guide leads you through the state-of-the-art facility over the course of about 30 minutes and gives you a full explanation for the entire brewing process from start to finish. In addition, you receive free tasters of their beer in the tasting room before/after the tour. But it is here where the experience could use some reorganizing. Quite a few of their beers are not available for tasting, only purchase, which seems a bit ridiculous to me. The tasting room is also cramped and shoved in next to the gift shop like an afterthought. Once the tasting room gets reorganized I think Abita will have a great overall experience to offer, not just a great brewery tour.

Very wide selection of beer for every taste! Tours of the brewery are available and merchandise as well.

Very nice people and interesting tour. It's not very long but you're ready to get back to the tap room so you can sample the beers. Very inexpensive tour that gets you 4 beer tokens. Great beer. Not a huge tap room but they have indoor activities and I got the sense that their outdoor area is used for events and games. A little off the beaten path but easy to find and plenty of parking.

We are not beer drinkers, but the tour here was very interesting and we love the root beer! You get plenty of time in the tasting room to try their various blends... including the root beer!

Great place to visit and try out new beers.
Abita offers a wide selection of beers which aren't widely available.
Plus you can take some home if you like one!
Worth the drive up from New Orleans to visit.

I sat at their bar and tasted a few brews. Stacey my bartender was friendly, and knowledgeable. The property looks well maintained.

Pleasant staff who were very helpful in providing samples to select the right drink. The free new loyalty program allows for discounts and rewards for gear and some tap room purchases.

Peyton is a great bartender. The location is a great place to try local beers and in general very reasonable priced.

Delivered here a couple of times they get you in and out quickly

What a great brewery to visit! We enjoyed the tour and the visit to the beautiful Tap room. A great beer selection and some wonderful gifts to bring home to everyone too. I have been a long-time fan of Abita beer and to be able to visit the brewery was a special treat! Great staff with much knowledge of the beers and surrounding area.

Not good appointment was at 6 am will shout plant down if I was late but the person in receiving said 7 am Brooker lied

One of the best brewery tours in the US. Friendly staff. And taste 20 beers. Come on....

Decent Beer Selection. I was hoping for more brewery test beers. Maybe they were just out of everything. Except basic flagship beers. Staff was Friendly

Great place, beer is great, but..we went to refill our growler we just purchased and they had shut it down! No last call for growlers.

Great modern, green, local- and environmentally friendly brewery with great brews and a great gift shop!

Amazing local brewery!! The pub is so quaint...will DEFINITELY be returning!!

Y all need friendlier girls working your gift shop. I was so embarrassed with my friends from out of town because they were so rude. We didn t even get greeted when we walked in the door. Just a flat ARE YOU HERE FOR A TOUR . Like damn, okay..hi to you too then. No one asked if we needed help finding a size or specific item, didn t ask if we found everything we needed. Nothing. Every question my friend had was answered like she was an idiot. I COULD HAVE DIED. The stars are for the the beer, we come here all the time and love Abita Beer. Unfortunate we re in the south and some people don t know what southern hospitality is..

Had a wonderful time at Abita, sampling over a dozen of their craft brews. If you're traveling through Louisiana and love beer, this is worth a visit!

Twelve minutes off Highway 12, my girlfriend and I arrive 1 minute before the brewery opens on Memorial Day. I back my truck into a spot near their pergola arches and see an old Bobcat skid steer pass by leaving new crushed stone on the lot. He returns to his pile of clean stone resting far-off away on the southwestern part of the lot. My girlfriend and I look at each doubtfully.
"We're here."
"Yeah, there's also that 'Open 7 Days a Week' sign," she smirks.
"It's also..."
"Yeah, Louisiana."
"Yeah," I say with a shrug.
More hopeful, we exit the car and walk through the double-door entrance. A nice lass with glasses setting up the gift shop counter greets us. Only making eye contact with me, and not my girlfriend, she tells us, "We're only doing self-guided tours right now. The upstairs has educational videos on the TVs."
"So *we're* doing the tour and not y'all?"
"That's right," she says realizing her incorrect phrasing.

So through the elevator to the mezzanine level we go. We arrive at an empty floor. I mean, it's empty except for their 1,500-barrel industrial-grade tanks rising from the floor. Tanks for kettling, for boiling, for storing, for fermenting, for kegging. We meander to the 90-inch Sharp Aquos TV with media player controls underneath. It's silent. None of the TVs are on. No sound but an ominous intermittent beep from another room like someone forgot to turn press "Cancel" on the kitchen microwave. The screen on the media control mounted into the wall blinks with button-pushes, but the TV remains black. I press the Power button the left side of the TV. A menu of video options show to us: Welcome to Abita, Self-Guided Tour, Guided Tour Bottling, Guided Tour Mezzanine. We stick to the Self-Guided Tour since we're a compliant sort. Drunk with power, I turn on the other TV. We put it on the "Welcome to Abita" video. The dissonant noises clashes together in the tile and stainless steel room. I raise my arms as if conducting a symphony of cacophony. It would be total pandemonium if it weren't for the calming macros of hops and barley wallpapering the room. The intoxication of the chaos I've generated leads me to smell the chocolate, pale, pellet, and crystal malt grains without any sort of edifying value.
"Do you know what you're smelling for?"
"Nerp."
"Okie. Wanna get some beer?"
I nod, and we head downstairs. But not after I move the table of tupperwared malts to take a photo for this specific Google review. I feel like I'm flying, I'm having such a good time.
"Want me to get a flight?"
"Umm..."

[long stare in silence as we descend the elevator]

"... sure thing."

The only other thing of note was the weird transom window resting in the corner near the grill. I wanted to ask Brenda behind the bar about this odd decor item but decided against it.

A good trip if you're spending several days in NoLa. The brewery tour is pretty standard. The merchandise selection is great, I picked up a couple of pint glasses and a t-shirt that you can't find online. The Abita Springs area is gorgeous.

Fun Tour with a great Host. In this place you're greeted with warm southern hospitality. The beer is of course excellent and the brewmasters were available on hand to answer any and all questions about the beer making process as well as the nuances that go into making a great beer.

Nice gift shop and a very comfortable bar in the lobby. It's worth it to make the trip up from New Orleans to see this place.

We had a Wedding Reception there tonight! The bartenders were awesome!! Great experience!

For truckers: The turn off of Hwy 36 can be a little tight, the backing is easy. Slide tandems to rear before backing in. The turn out onto 36 will be tight as well. Just use caution when coming in to pick up and deliver. Once inside gate walk back past the whse to the office building and check in there.

Update...
Thank you so much to Stacey at Abita. After seeing my review about our visit Stacy stepped up and reached out to me. Not only did she apologize for our experience she made sure we got our tee shirts. Now I can say I have been to Abita and have a shirt to prove it. Thank you so much Stacy. You are awesome. CHEERS!!!

We went out of our way by a lot (over an hour in a Motor home pulling a Jeep) to go get a couple of shirts on our way home to NC. We got there about 3:00 on Friday July 12th and were met by a young lady letting us know they were closing due to the storm. We explained we were from NC and only wanted to buy a couple of shirts. She explained the gift shop had just closed and the floors had been moped but we could go to the tap room and get a beer to go. Again we explained we only wanted a couple of shirts. She then told us we can get them on line. We were there to spend our money and they were there also. It s not like they were gone home already. They were there. I have been to many Breweries across the country and have a shirt to prove it. I have been to Abita but have nothing to show for it. PH is the go to beer for my wife but it might be time to find something else.
I have been to other breweries (Great Rate in Shreveport) that let us in to get shirts 4 hours before they opened. Terrapin (Athens Ga) that gave me merch. I think they understand how to grow their brand.
Again we were there to spend money and got turned away because a storm was coming the next day and the floors had been mopped. Very disappointed.

Even during COVID protocols and reduced seating the staff was very accommodating. They were able to help me buy some Big Easy IPA (something I cant get at home), a beautiful sign for my man cave at home and several 'The Boot' glassware. Even helped me bring it out to my car, of course tlwith face masks.

This place has evolved so much. I've been going almost 6 years. There are always events to attend. You can get to it from the trace and it's also just a great place to chill in like a regular bar

I was so impressed with the quality and variety of beer at this brewery; everything from their barrel aged stouts to their gose and wheat beers were well balanced and incredibly tasty!

Great 30 min guided tour filled with information about the brewing process and machinery. Very nice gift shop and tasting bar.

On a whim, decided to stop at Abita en route to New Orleans. Their website said that tours were cancelled for the day. Now, most breweries have a tasting room and tours out of there. I incorrectly assumed that meant they just weren't doing tours as their room hours were the same. Arriving, walk right inside and ask a server how much tastings were. At that point was informed they were closed for a private party and that I needed to leave. Very polite about it all, just wish they would specify that no tours means closed or straight up say closed for private event.

Great brewery. They have excellent service and the beer they make is delightful! They also have food.

I've been to the brewery a few times in the past and enjoyed their tours immensely. This night was special, it was Trivia Night! Excellent drink specials and a fantastic time with friends celebrating a birthday for a friend. It was an amazing time! The staff was great and the drinks were great as always!

It was my first brewery tour. I just came from global wildlife center, and I was hot, and it was about 20 min away. From out of town, and both were in the travel magazine at hotel.

The grounds are so pretty and it just kept getting better. I thought it was really nice inside. I got super lucky. Asked to do a tour and the cashier said there was a vip tour starting in 1 min. Go upstairs and start to do the self guided tour for free. So I did, few minutes later i was part of the tour. 6 friends on a trip from my state. The tour was really interesting and I enjoyed. After we went to the tasting room and i had a couple samples.

It was so nice in there. If I wasnt visiting, I would make a way to trivia night on thursday. Looked like a fun place to hang, and they have bands at times.

Great beer and a short tour. Always ask what is new on tap and definitely try it! Just a note though, starting in September 2015 tours will no longer be free. I think they will be $5.00 and you will get 4 beers. Still a great deal! If you like beer, do the tour!

The was definitely worth it. Great tasting experience and friendly staff.

If you like beer you NEED to stop in and do the tour. You can't beat the price of FREE for a tour and as much beer as you can drink in an hour.

We had Daryl as our tour guide, he was very knowledgeable, funny, and personable. I am from Texas and this was the highlight of my trip to LA, I would come here twice instead of going to bourbon st or the French quarter.

Wonderful beer. Great tour. They often have food trucks there for a meal. A great way to spend a few hours on an afternoon.

The tour was very interesting and informative. Jeff (tour guide) was friendly and answered all questions. Beer samples were very good. I will go back to the Brewery. Their restaurant in town, not so much.

Love some Abita! The brewery is very nice and clean, plus free Abita samples!

Love the beer and the location. We really enjoy the monthly food truck round-up.

Great free tour and of course the best beer! Brenna was awesome. We had a few beers after the tour and then had to leave for home. I need a job here!

Cool tour because of the unlimited beer and pretty good tasting beer

Coming from California where we LOVE our microbreweries I was so excited to check this place out. I don't know if it was bad timing or what but the staff was very unpleasant. Every single one of them just stood behind the bar on their phone. Had zero interest in talking to us, and trying to purchase beers to take home was very painful. I'm still unsure if they just aren't allowed to sell there or if it was a Sunday law IDK there are beer bottles all over the place so it seems like you should be able to take some home with you. If you're with a bigger group where you want zero attention I'm sure it's awesome, but if you like to chit chat about the place/bartenders find somewhere else.

Visited on Father s Day, it was pretty busy, and the hostess was obviously frazzled and unorganized, so she triple sat the server on the patio, and our server ended up being angry or frustrated or something Bc she didn t speak two words to us the entire service. She also tried to charge us for a sweet tea that she never brought and we ended up having to get water from a hostess after waiting 10 minutes and being thirsty on a hot day. Really had higher expectations for this place. The beer also came out lukewarm which was honestly the only reason we walked in. Disappointed.

Good beer, nice location. Love that there is inside and outside seating. Enjoyed sitting on the patio with a flight today. If you are passing through, give them a try. It has a nice feel and knowledgeable staff. Plus, a nice selection of shirts.

A Magnificent experience. The. Amount of beer that this small facility makes is amazing and the experimental beers are great.

Great beer and the whole trivia thing sounded fun but the food vendors were rude and it took away from the experience. Guess this is why we stray from here.

Very friendly (super) employees! Great selection of a variety of beers!

I have long been a fan of Abita, however, my most recent experience with both Turbo Dog and Amber is very disappointing. The flavor appears to have been "watered" in both and are now less satisfactory. Is there a change in the brew process or formula along with the new packaging?

We took the tour
Cool place
Beer is awesome but root beer is even better
Good parking for buses
Tour is $5.00 includes 4 beers

Thanks

Melanie Mahaffey Jones, Melanie Mahaffey Thomas,
Melanie Elaine Thomas, Barry R Jones jr,biloxi , ocean springs, ms , Mississippi

Although there are many breweries, ABC is one of the very best.

We really enjoyed our visit to the Abita brewery. The staff was very friendly and the self guided tour was fun, albeit short. They have a full array of Abita merchandise in all sizes. Their taproom has all current brews on tap and they do free samples . Note that they sell very few flavors of beers/drinks at the brewery to make sure they aren't competing with their local retailers and distributors. If you like beer, you should go! And if you're an Abita fan, you must go!

Went and there was a bunch vendors selling Christmas stuff. Enjoyed the tour and the friendliness of that staff, enjoyed the beer and enjoyed the market except the booth selling tacos. They were rude and unprofessional. I am shocked they are allowed at a business like Abita.

Really great brewery, the tour they do is good you get to see all in the back. Tour takes like 30minutes, guide could answer all our questions.

Always wanted to stop here. Even though they don't make my favorite brew anymore, they do make Hop99 now and it's pretty darn good.

That make great root beer too.

Though most of the people there are locals there for the free bear we still have a great time. The beer is free for the tasting and the tour is nice. Not to long so that you get bored but long enough to make the trip worth it.

Great environment,great staff, great beer makes for a great time